Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race

The 11^th day of race, 8 pm. To begin with, I’d like to tell some words about the results after 10 days. I have realized more than once that the 3,100 race standard is very high and very good. The first 4 guys – Ashprihanal, Pranjal, Atmavir and Igor Mudrik – have transcended the result of this year’s 10-day race winner (678 miles). With my mileage (633 miles), which is quite good for the 3,100 race, I would get the 3^rd place in the 10-day race. We have already run 10 days happily and we’ll be keeping it up. Today the temperature (23-25 C) is moderate with 100% humidity. Everybody is running though. No one is suffering too much. Tomorrow we will see how it tells on the miles. I saw Ashprihanal at 10 am and the next time at 7 pm an hour ago. We must have been hiding from each other. It happens sometimes –  we can be running on the same track but do not see each other.

The 10^th day of the race, 7.40 pm. It hasn’t been hot today, +25 C  but it’s very humid and some of our runners are a little bit “battered” by these conditions. Purna-Samarpan has just started running, before he was either walking or lying in the car. Atmavir has the third hard day in a row. Since the early morning he has been walking and said that he felt weak but later started running. All our runners including myself have reached 600 miles and at the end of the day we will have more. Sarvagata has already improved his personal result of 10day race  which was 605 miles. He is already gone beyond to the unknown area. My 4^th day is going at good speed. Earlier I told about my night sleep schedule.  All these years I have had the following schedule:  6 am is the start and 7 hours of running after that. The first break is at 1 pm. Sometimes I look at the number of laps and my break may depend on those. Then I make a break for 20-25 min (including feet treatment). The second 20-25 min break I have at about 6 pm. The third break for 10 min at 9 or 9.30 pm. This one is only to lie down and give my legs some rest before the final part of 10-13 loops. My day finishes at 11.20-11.30 now.

Ashprihanal confessed that he has a psychological issue which he calls a “speech defect”. For 11 years that he has been in the 3,100 race and 1.5 months of running every year he has developed  a habit to talk while moving. When he is in Helsinki, he often catch himself asking his friend to have a cup of coffee together passing by him. Only afterwards he realizes that he didn’t get the answer.

Author: Utpal All the runners had gone home last night, except for one.  There were just a few minutes left before the curtain of midnight would descend over the course and even if you ran an extra lap it wouldn’t count.  I know he has done something like this before. but suddenly, much to the astonishment of the handful of helpers who were still there, Pranjal decided to get one more lap in before the cut off came. Read more

Author: Utpal It was a dream of our family to be here helping him.”  Sarvagata’s sister is beaming with enthusiasm as she runs beside her brother on this the 9th day of the race.  The sun is low and golden in the sky and the air is still and clear.   It just may be as beautiful a morning as the race will see all summer.  The irony of all this is that in fact Sarvadhara (Sarvagata’s sister) is currently committed to leave later in the day for Chicago.  She flew in from the Ukraine just last night and came immediately here, only to arrive by fate, just as her brother was going home for the night.  Read more