Archive for the ‘race interviews’ Category
July 20, Utpal: This Race is so Sacred
July 20, 2015Archived – click Post Title to view all. “I come every day because I can only be inspired by this race.” Dipali probably does a lot of things really well. The only thing I ever see her do most days though is run. For hours her light strides prowl here and there around the Queens neighborhood in which she lives. There may be some strict trajectory to her flights each day but most often she seems to flit here and there. She will suddenly pop up unexpectedly on some road you are walking when you least expect it. The light cadence of her shoes dancing across the sidewalk. A perpetual smile beaming beneath a large pair of sunglasses. When the 3100 mile race is going on of course her orbits more frequently mesh into the cycle of the runners. She loves the race very much but it has never called her to it. Her race is Flushing Meadow and the yearly 6 day race. “Right now I am truly inspired by Ashprihanal’s performance. I saw him last year start the 10 day race. And I thought, that boy is on some special record, which he did. He was doing 83 miles a day.” “This year I saw his first lap. I have never seen Ashprihanal go out so fast on lap one. I thought, he is after the record here. Intuitively I felt it.” “To break down what he is doing, he is running an average of 76.58 miles a day. From day one I have seen every record go of his predecessor…
July 19, Utpal: One of the Best Things I Ever Did
July 19, 2015Archived – click Post Title to view all. Every runner who comes to participate in the 3100 mile race has to have a deep inner feeling and conviction that it is the right thing to do. It also goes without asking that they also need to be incredibly fit and well trained. Over 19 summers many runners have come, and each has had their own unique inspiration. One that was strong enough to shake them loose from a comfortable life back home into doing something that is the hardest thing in the world to do. Grahak’s story of how he came to be here for the first time is particularly special. It also shows just how much Sri Chinmoy knew and cared for both the inner and outer aspects of each of his students. “In 2005 I had just finished a one mile race in Qingdao (Christmas trip in China). I got second, which was pretty rare for me. I was in the function room of the hotel. Sri Chinmoy was handing out the awards, and he said to me. Have you run our longest race?” Confused a bit he replied that he had done the race and come in second. “Than he asked me again in the lobby of the hotel, the same question. Than it started to inspire me, or hit home, exactly what he was asking. After that it took me a year or 2 to get up the courage and I applied to do the race. “It was definitely insightful by Sri Chinmoy because I had been thinking…