Posted in race interviews on Jun 24, 2015 by Alakananda | Comments Off on June 24, Upal: Inwardly Happy
Archived – click Post Title to view all. When Kaneenika started running this morning at the 3100 mile race she was taking her first steps into uncharted territory for her. Many times she has run the 10 day race in Flushing Meadow but for her today is the start of day 11. A new milestone in an exemplary and distinguished career of this 45 year old runner from Bratislava Slovakia. When I approached her to speak this morning I asked if I could run a lap with her. She laughed, “I have run many laps.” As of this morning she had run around the block 1088 times in the previous 10 days. I first ask a typical and quite possibly a rude question. Is she happy? From the vantage point of the sidelines Kaneenika has been radiant every day since she started. Her face brightened almost always by a gentle clear smile. I add as well to that question that it has to be hard to be as happy as she appears to be. “It is always like that during these races.” I am curious just how different it must be for her here rather than the one mile loop in Flushing Meadow where she has run for so many Spring races. “I have been feeling it since day 3……..or maybe from the beginning of the race. Even though I have had experiences from the shorter races. This is just so different.” “I never really wanted to do this race before. Believe it or not. It just happened last year, that I got…
Posted in results on Jun 24, 2015 by Stutisheel | Comments Off on Day 10, results
First five runners surpassed the 667 miles of the first place in 10 day race this year
Posted in race interviews on Jun 23, 2015 by Alakananda | Comments Off on June 23, Utpal: We Can Dive Inside
Archived – click Post Title to view all. Last year Vasu set a personal best in this race by breaking his previous record by 1 hour and 15 minutes. In fact in each of his 3 previous races he transcended himself each time. For we impatient voyeurs on the sideline, a handful of minutes extracted from 47 plus days of struggle seems almost incomprehensible. A blink, a mere wisp of time and space, a fragment that our minds can barely hold to, but is still one which we can so easily measure and calculate. To Vasu however, that 75 minutes was pure bliss, something that revealed the eternal. That absolute act of self transcendence is at the core of why he continues to strive and struggle so hard, each and every time he comes. That fragment of time for Vasu represents a kind of perfection of transcendence. One that has inspired him to come again and again. To seek out a glimpse of heaven in the hardest race on earth. “On the physical plane I am having some problems with my knee.” Vasu reaches down and points to an area just below his left knee. His feeling of late is that even though it has been so bothersome that he has had more than 4 days of difficulties he believes the source of the problem is a mental one. “I think this is my mind.” His idea for a cure is a simple one. For nearly all of us his strategy is easier said than done. “I need to be more in…
Posted in race interviews on Jun 22, 2015 by Alakananda | Comments Off on June 22, Utpal: My Soul Running
“I am having a good time this year, but I still remember the 10 day race.”
Atmavir has had a long and remarkable history running the 3100 mile race. Starting in 2007 he ran 7 straight years. His best performance was in 2009 when he ran 45 days and 3 hours. Last year he decided to take a break. In order to prepare for this year’s race, he ran the 10 day race in the Spring.
He had a good performance but in the later part of the race he got sick. A real wake up call to the whimsical reality of what can happen to expectations and performances in multi day running. “Everything changes,” he says. “You need to change your approach.” He knows that one moment you can be doing well and then have a sharp reality check delivered by surprise.“I don’t have real ambitions this year. Maybe that is why I am doing so well. I am personally surprised by myself.” As of the start of day 8 he is in 2nd place with 597 miles. He ran 70 miles yesterday. “I was really happy about yesterday. It was extremely difficult weather for me.” Over the years heat and humidity have been his staunchest foes.
Read more: http://perfectionjourney.org/2015/06/22/june-22-my-soul-running/#more-44149
Posted in race experiences on Jun 22, 2015 by Stutisheel | Comments Off on Day 9, Stutisheel
