Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race

Every day for half an hour since 6:40 Parvati’s group Enthusiasm Awakeners is supporting runners with singing. And here at this spot runners sometimes making sketches for girls.

We’ve got quite a rainy day today. Although it refreshed all around, it made the runners drowsy, as the temperature remained unchanged. The good thing is that they were not suffering from the dust attack coming from the construction. Our front-runners Pranjal, Asprihanal and Galya have crossed the 2,000-mile mark. It means the first finishes are only 15-16 days away. Pradan, one of the best doctors working on ultra races, has finally turned up to everybody’s joy. Almost all of them paid him a visit, got fixed and continued their journey in a much better shape. Purna-Samarpan said that Pradan had returned him to life within 10 min. He helped me as well. He said that my knee problems were caused by weakening of muscles round them. He intends to free me from crutches over the 3 days he’s visiting. I wish he had been here a week ago :)

9:07pm. It’s been a hot day, the temperature rising over 30 Celsius. 

 Humidity was low though By the end of the day Asprihanal had caught up with Pranjal, although he was not in his top-notch form. Galya Balatsky has been running confidently. His spirits are high as he is ahead of his last year’s results. If Dharbasana didn’t leave the course before everybody else, he would definitely lead judging be the results of the day. At 9pm he was the first to have covered 96 km. Rupantar made it very clear today that he was adamant about having a 52-day cutout as it used to be at the very beginning. It was broken when Suprabha slowed down and Sri Chinmoy allowed to hold the race until she finished. This year Ananda-Lahari and Baladev are on the verge of not making it before the cutout and they will need to really apply themselves to complete the race. Surasa and Purna Samarpan are likely not to finish in 52 days… However, Rupantar is very determined to re-establish the high standards of the 3,100-mile race.

4:15pm. After visiting the doctor it became clear that my 3,1000-mile race is over. It will take quite a long time to recover. My result this year is 1,386 miles in 24 days of running. The race and the life have once again demonstrated that one can make plans, but it’s God who has the final say… Our task is to do our best and take everything that comes with joy. It will take me quite a long time to integrate the experiences of this year’s race. But I am not crest-fallen – next year I am definitely doing the race. I’ll hanging at the race till its end. So I’ll be keeping you posted on what’s going on at the longest certified race in the world. Pranjal has been leading the way today, with the gap between him and Asprihanal being about 6 miles. It’s a cool day with a nice drizzle. Over the weekend  the runners get a great privilege of forgetting about dust and noise coming from the construction ground. Galya Vladimir Balatsky is the only Ukrainian and the only representative of the CIS. And a very good one for that matter. The first break after a 6am start he took only at 3:30pm having covered 60km. He’s been very consistent. He did lose weight, but he jokes that it’s better for the legs….:)

Friday, June 9, 2010 11:47 p.m local time. This is the third day with zero laps. I still cannot step on my right foot. Today I found that I can ride a bike almost without pain and rode a few laps with the runners. I am working up my ligament with special exercises, and biking can help to provide at least some training load. When you are in the camp and count laps, you can see all the runners more often than when you yourself run. You notice their mood, fatigue, self-transcendence… all of them are great! Almost for everybody it was a tough day: Darbashana, Sahprihanal, Ananda-Lahari and Baladev (Pavel) walked practically all day long Most runners had stomach problems. Purna- Samarpan started running again. Pranjal surpassed Ashprihanal’s mileage for the first time.

Thursday, July 8, 2010 5.48 p.m. local time. Today is my second day with zero laps. In the morning, Rupantar took me to see a Chinese physical therapist who had helped Suprabha a lot over the years. She asked me about my problems very carefully, pushed and bent my leg, talked to her colleague and said that it was probably a tear of a ligament. Not a serious one, but it would take me some time to recover. To my question about “how long” she answered that it was hard to say, but the next few days I wouldn’t be able to run for sure. Then she prescribed some procedures – electrophoresis, ultrasound, massage etc. I ‘ll go to them in a day. I feel quite good, but nevertheless I am walking on crutches This morning Asprihanal went to the course with a new energy after a one-day rest. It did not influence his position on the results board. He feels good. Surasa has some very painful corns on her feet, but she is a real warrior and runs all the time. It seems that the last year problems with his back returned to Purna-Samarpan – he did 27 laps the morning, then was lying in the van for the rest of the day and left early. Darbashana keeps surprising everybody with his speed and stability. Today in the evening he crossed the mid way mark (1550 miles) for the first time!!!

entire post by Utpal is available here Pranjal Milovnik finished running last night just before midnight. All the other runners had left earlier and he was alone on the course with just himself and an immense bright moon hanging low in the night sky above him. As he does most nights, he struggled on until there was simply no time left to run. He then pulled his small bag together and drove off on his bicycle to ride the 1/2 mile to the place where he is staying. Once there, he still had to negotiate locks, stairs and hot showers.