Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race

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 July 12 In their first 14 days here each of the top 3 runners had, what you could easily call, good starts.  On day 15 each of them would pass beyond the 1,000 mile mark and then from this moment on something inexplicably changed for all of them.  Since then the level of effort and overall intensity has risen to an astonishing new height.  Igor is the man currently holding down the 3rd position but really barely a slight breeze separates one from the other.  Read more

Day 33. 9:50 pm The day has been really nice – not hot, with the high in 28C. In the morning I managed to get out of the walkers club as Ananda-Lahari, Atmavir and Purna-Samarpan continued their yesterday’s walk. I had a good run in the morning and did 2000 miles in 32 days, 2 hours and 20 minute. ,In spite of all my setbacks, it’s 5 hours ahead of my second best 2,000 miles in 2009. We’ll see. Now I am feeling ok. Kaushal said that my current form was stable and I could pick it up a little. He ‘s spent 6 hours on the course and helped all of us tremendously. Purna-Samarpan had swollen legs and veins, now he is running. Ananda-Lahari and Atmavir are also trotting.Everybody is happy. Surasa has crossed a 2,000-mile mark. The race goes on!

Every time I try and write a little story about the 3100 mile race I hope to open up the door to some new aspect of the event. On one level it can be seen as being monotonously repetitive and that nothing new rarely happens. Fortunately I have observed that it is in the runners themselves that new lights are constantly being switched on and illuminations are being revealed all the time here. Something which is incredibly significant and personal to each one individually but also something that can move and inspire me as well. Read more

Author: Utpal This morning after I left the race I went for a run nearby in a local park. Quite by accident I happened to pick up a fragment of conversation that 2 runners were having as they passed by me going in the opposite direction. What I heard one of them say was, “If I could kill my enemies, the whole world would have more peace.” For some reason those few words crept into a little corner of my mind and just refused to vacate the premises. Read more

Author: Utpal 29 June Quite often great moments in sports are captured by film crews and news reporters and are then shown on evening news programs or are splashed across sports sections of local news papers. If you score a goal, win a match, or set a record at something there is a pretty good chance somebody will be there to capture it for posterity. It will then fly out into the endless electronic void. Where countless eyes will be peering as it whizzes by into the great information wasteland. Read more

Author: Utpal 28 June I hoped to continue my detective work at the race this morning.  The burning question that continued to vex me, was how all the runners could somehow improve from Day 14  to Day 15 Sunday.  I had no plan on using any third degree questioning in my sleuthing, because after all something quite remarkable had taken place.  Still I found it puzzling that everybody’s laps had increased by a phenomenal average of 7 in just one day. There first thing that surprised me when I asked about it this morning was that really none of the runners had even noticed.  For them it simply wasn’t very important and, also it was a long time ago, a little more than 24 hours.  Their collective responses seemed to be reduced to the patently obvious, we simply had a good day.  Read more