Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race

Author Utpal 18 July It is only in a photograph that you can really stop and adequately capture the speeding world around us. Time never stops, nor life, nor the race nor really anything that is part and parcel of creation. Just as one footstep continually follows another, thoughts tumble one past another. All experiences, so powerful and real for an instant are then continually being replaced by hopefully higher ones. But int that instant the photo was taken you can at least attempt to reveal and comprehend a precious moment of a life in constant movement. Read more

Author Utpal The runners have all now completed 5 full weeks of running. That is 35 straight 18 hour days. If you or I, or in fact most of the world set to work for that same period of time we certainly would most likely want to see some obvious benefit. A reward, that we could hoist aloft or even some fancy folded paper that could be stuffed into a bank account. At the end of the road for these 10 athletes there is no tangible reward whatsoever. Perhaps some bragging rights if you were that kind of person but certainly none of them are that. What all of them in fact do receive is applause and songs and as much congratulations as can be mustered by a hastily assembled group of enthusiastic friends and well wishers. Read more

Author Utpal 16 July It is a much different place when the Sun slips away. The heavy chore the runners bear, never an easy one, certainly never finds much additional lightness in their steps, with the inevitable arrival of the dark night. For some it offers a cool reprieve from the heat of day and an anonymity when the shadows draw so close you can almost disappear. Invisible, but not for long, at least until you hear of course the hopeful call of the counters, who always cry out, “I got you.” Read more

Author: Utpal 15 July When you are sitting comfortably back in your armchair it is actually pretty easy to claim to be some kind of expert on what is really happening at the 3100 mile race. You might even be able to convince others but convincing yourself is another matter. Read more

Author:  Utpal 13 July A few days ago an American baseball player named Derek Jeter reached a major milestone in his career.  This New York Yankee short stop managed to complete his 3,000th career hit as a professional baseball player.  This is an exceptional achievement for a player.   He will be only the 28th person to accomplish this feat in the history of the game.  I am not much of a fan of the sport but when ever I hear numbers like 3000 I am compelled to take notice.  It does sound a lot like 3100 miles after all.  Read more

Author: Utpal 11 July It is a place where anything can happen.  The moment you get even the tiniest bit complacent than of course that is precisely the moment you will find yourself being suprised.  Taking any aspect of the race for granted is never recommended at any time, not even up until the very last lap on the last day.  There are never certainties,  not for the runners nor as well for those of us keen observers of all its ebbs and flows.  I like to think that a miracle can happen here in a heartbeat, that in an instant the sleeping giant will awake or the champion can potentially tumble off his peak.  Read more

Author: Utpal 14 July Last night a rainbow boldly painted itself across the sky above the Self Transcendence race. There are probably quite a few boring technical and scientific reasons of why and how it was formed, but still in the brief time it glowed up in the sky, it was magical. For the runners it was particularly significant for it was for them a totally unexpected visit of nature’s beauty. They have been every which way around the course over the past month now and yet this was something totally unique and new. No one could recall every seeing something quite as spectacular as this ever on the course. Read more