July 12 How Could I Have Come So Far

There are some great adventure challenges in this world that everyone can appreciate.  There is probably no corner of the globe in which the climbing of Mt.Everest is not still recognized as one of the greatest of human achievements.  It is has been 56 years since it was first climbed and yet the list is long of those who still want to do it. Courtesy of féileacán

In describing why he wanted to climb it George Leigh Mallory said, “If you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won’t see why we go.  What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy.  And joy is after all, the end of life.  We do not live to eat and make money.  We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life.  That is what life means and what life is for.”  photo courtesy of 06eng

Mallory of course will attempt to climb Everest on 3 occasions, and on his 3rd attempt in 1924 he will disappear on his final push to reach the summit.  There is no life and death struggle going on for the 12 runners of the 3100 mile race.  They will not make headlines or receive glories to complete the event no matter how many times they run.  They run simply for the inner joy of doing it.  Sri Chinmoy once said of the race,

“Never think of sixty miles or 3,100 miles. Never take the distance in that way—never! Only run for the joy of it. When you run for the joy, even while you are running, sometimes you are thinking of me or of something very divine and sweet. Then by the time you would have normally come to nineteen miles, you will have covered twenty-three miles. You will ask, “How did I run so fast?” It is because your heart was enjoying some divinity when you were thinking of me or thinking of your soul. When the heart starts operating in and through the legs or the body, then the distance will always become much more. Otherwise, you will run five miles and then give up. When the heart runs, you will have already run twenty miles, and then you will say, “How could I have come so far?” The answer is because at that time you were in another world. The divinity of that other world was constantly helping you and supporting you.”

Excerpt from Run And Smile, Smile And Run by Sri Chinmoy.

There is always a special stillness at the race during those early hours of a Sunday morning.  The overcast sky makes it particularly muted.  All I suspect are waiting for the imminent approach of a steamy NY summer that seems to be whimsically absent, much to the delight of all who run here.  Ananda-Lahari is finding his running going well.  He is 65 miles ahead of last year.

There are some missing persons on the starting line this morning.  Stutisheel will find himself for the first time loosing a round to the familiar temptress known as  sleep.  His ride arrives and he is not ready.  He will start a bit late.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I don’t know, it was so funny,” says Stutisheel as he describes the strange experience of being late for the race start for the first time in 6 years.  By the time he has taken his moment of silence alone

at the starting line he will have lost at least 2 laps of running time.  Usually he is up by 5:10 but when Rupantar knocked on his door he was still dead to the world.  As he talks he is amazingly cheerful about it and describes it simply, “as always something new.” He feels good today and knows that he had a good 60 mile day yesterday and is still ahead of last years pace if even only by a light but steady breeze.

He describes that if he had overslept in his first attempt at the distance it would have upset him.  But clearly his maturity and experience are more than able to handle this setback to the start of his day 29.  “I will try and run a little faster.  Maybe take 2 breaks instead of 3, we will see.” He seems uninterested in keeping track of the other runners’ mileage.  Taking care of his own is more than enough.  He is clearly thrilled at the miles that first timer Vladimir is putting in.  He is very likely to set a record for novice runners.

He tells me a story about Asprihanal that took place a few years ago when he was just about to finish.  Sri Chinmoy was there earlier in the day and asked Asprihanal, “When do you finish?” He could not answer.  Then Sri Chinmoy rephrased the question into, “How many miles do you have?” He still did not answer.  Then Sri Chinmoy asked of Asprihanal, “How many laps do you have left?”  Nothing came.

Stutisheel with delight described Asprihanal as being so totally absorbed in his running that he could not answer any of these simple questions.  The reason he asked was of course because he wanted to come back at the time he was to finish so that he could honour him.  Afterwards Asprihanal was shocked that he could not answer any of the 3 simple questions.  He was simply unaware of his outer situation.  Stutisheel described him as simply being beyond.  He uses this example as a way to describe his manner of not being preoccupied with his outer circumstances.

He tells me, “we just run.”  He feels that he and the other runners are nothing special.  He dismisses those who come and call them heroes.  He mentions someone who had come by yesterday and told him it felt like an August celebration at the race.  He experienced so much joy when he came there.  He dismissed this praise and then the person said, “At least you have willingness.” This he also dismissed by saying, the willingness was also just a matter of grace. Stutisheel interview

 

His courage is unquestionable but it is clear now that Purna-Samarpan is going to have a much different 3100 mile race experience than he had anticipated.  He is now more than 200 miles behind Pavol who had a similar experience when he ran for the first time here last year.  Pavol was able to complete 2700 miles before the race finished.  He tells me about the visit of race veteran Smarana who had come to visit the race last week.  For Smarana who could only act as a helper it was a completely different perspective for him to watch and not to be able to run himself.  He says, though, Smarana was still happy.

He says that when he first came he had confidence in his ability to complete the race.  Problems arose with his feet and other things that slowly eroded his determination for this outcome.  Instead he looks on the race now more on a day to day basis.  Try and make as many laps as he can each and every day.  “Every day I try and run as much as possible.  I just want to be here every day.  2700 is now my distance goal.  I have become humble so far.  You cannot influence many things.  You can just try and do your best.  You never know what happens.  I am grateful that I am here.  It is definitely a very very good experience.”   Purna-Samarpan interview

Later in the morning he receives some yoga stretching advice from Diksha.  She recognized that he seemed to be experiencing the same back problems that she is currently experiencing.

Grahak is now nearly 100 miles up on last year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is no adequate way to really describe the amazing presence of team Lebedev.  Stutisheel along with his wife Atandra and daughter Alakananda seem to exist only to be here and be part of the 3100 mile experience.  Alakananda seems to have grown up here.  She first came as a preteen and now is on the cusp of turning 18.  For the family the race is all about Self-Transcendence not only spiritually, but it seems, on all other levels as well.  The race not only brings the family together it also seems to enrich and inspire all their divine and positive qualities.  At almost any time of the day either Stutisheel’s wife or daughter are there to gladly offer him assistance.  But far from being subservient they find this serviece is a way to bring forward their own achievements and make progress in both practical and spiritual ways.

When Alakananda and I are talking she is concerned about Asprihanal who seems to be sick today and is trying to sleep in one of the vans.  We move far away in order to not disturb him.  Her father had a similar experience last year and is also concerned for him.  He has been asking for updates on his condition almost on every lap.

 

She has been an ardent photographer of the race now for the past two years.  She says that when she is here most of the time helping she does not notice the small events and experiences that happen every moment in the lives of the runners.  She says that with a camera, “You can capture the little things that are so tiny you can hardly see them.”  She describes fleeting facial expressions that convey all aspects of the race.  Whether it be a look of pain or a moment in which a sincere smile lights up the face of a runner.  She says, “when you get a sincere smile they are so precious.”

She then mentions a picture of Pranab she took earlier in the race that she is proud of.  She says, “it is very rare to see Pranab like that, and you really want to remember people when they look like that.”

This is her 5th summer here and she says,”From the very beginning I took this race as a spiritual experience.  Inwardly it is still the same race.  You get all the experiences of a lifetime you get in two months here.  It is a little lifetime.”  She is also very frank about her relationship with her Dad and how things have become much better between them.

“This time particularly just being here is heaven.” When asked how this incredibly difficult event came be described as heaven she says, “You get the most joy from doing impossible things.  Things that you think you can’t do. This is where you can get the most joy in your life.  And this is what the runners are doing every minute.  They are transcending themselves totally beyond limits.  Beyond what all the other people in the world think.”  For herself she describes it as simply, “You do much more than you expect from yourself.”   Alakananda interview

 

 

Parvati’s group