The mantle of heroine doesn’t fit too well upon Suprabha’s slight frame.  In a supermarket line or even out here at the 3100, as the only woman running with much younger men, after a quick assessment of her, one would probably be hard pressed to easily identify her as an exceptional athlete.  She certainly does not outwardly resemble someone who has the distinction of being, as Sahishnu called her, “the greatest super long distance runner in history.”  What defines this petite champion is not her outer strength and speed but her absolute inner dedication to this race created by Sri Chinmoy 13 years ago.  Yet even if the world does not celebrate her astounding list of achievements her incomparable distance records clearly demonstrate by themselves how incredible an athlete she really is.

The vocabulary of language is in so many ways inadequate to catalogue or even properly comprehend her accomplishments.  After so many years and miles of constant running competition, descriptive adjectives have long since failed to keep pace with her as she just keeps going and going on.  Suprabha tells me that once a friend came to her earlier in the summer and related to her that she had been listening to some old tapes in which her late spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy is speaking about her.  He said several times how miraculous it was that Suprabha ran this race.  Yet now she has done it again for a record setting 13th time.

If one has any belief, or just simply accepts, that heart power is far superior and more significant than the power of the mind or the body then what Suprabha has done, not just this year, but throughout her ultra-distance career becomes abundantly clear.  It would seem that it is in her receptivity and her inner spiritual connection, that she finds her apparently limitless strength and enthusiasm.  What would crumble most people to the ground, she simply accepts, not as adversity but as inspiration to reach higher and dig deeper.  All of course part and parcel of her spiritual teacher’s philosophy on life.  She says, “it has taken me until this year to really understand what Sri Chinmoy gave us in this race.”

There are just a handful of people on hand to watch her start the final 29 miles of her journey.  It is not surprising, it is not a particularly easy time for most people to be up and about let alone ready to run at 6 AM in the morning.  Yet as you see her standing alone, just as she has for the last five days, you cannot but help but appreciating the breadth and depth of her history here.  It is one that looms  imposingly vast behind her.  With each new race it continues to stretch out behind as she forges forward with ever new self-transcendence.  Just to imagine 13 years of 6 am starts is imposing and impressive by itself, particularly to those who cherish sleep and feel easily swayed by lethargy’s tempting call.

She tells me how she got up in the middle of the night and then thereafter would wake up almost every hour with happy anticipation that she would still be able to come back in the morning and run. That the race was not yet over.  She says, “I consider myself to be a morning person.  You have all your work lying in front of you.”  And yes she finds beauty in the evenings  as well.

She talks of still corners where night rests gently and as she describes the course you begin to understand how she has probably seen every bit and fragment of this place that she calls, “sacred ground.”  It seems no matter what gift nature and weather bestow upon her here it really does not matter.  This is her world and to most it would be a tiny hard block but to her it is a limitless universe of spiritual possiblity in which she has traveled farther than anyone else.

She is joined by some young girls and seems delighted in their company.  She greets a man walking his dog and says goodbye to him and asks him to pass on greetings to his wife.  Just as she knows the material world before her here she is also  friends with a large company of people who move in and out of the school, the houses in the neighborhood, and the homeless ones who sometimes take up temporary residence here.  She says, “I have known these people for years.” She has as much if not more enthusiasm for the race as when she first started off years ago.  She says the race, “is such an amazing thing.  It is an incredible gift, not just for me but for everybody. Everybody can find a place for themselves in this race.” She understands that as selfless as many people are who contribute to the race they also must receive something back from it inwardly

If she feels blessed to be part of it she also feels that it has something to offer all who identify and contribute in any way no matter their capacity.  She mentions not just the team that organized it, she says, “I felt the support of the whole marathon team.”  There are many others as well who played significant roles in making the race not just practically doable but also inspiring.  She mentions also those who come and perform music , or bring food, or even just come by and cheer.  “It does so much for so many people.”   She points to the flowers and speaks about those who not only planted them but kept coming back time and again over 2 months and cared for them.

She mentions a long list of medical people who have come and helped on numerous occasions, and all the little miracles that allowed them to afford not just the time but the money to come here.  For herself personally she says it was the financial support of her friends that made it possible for her to run this year, “I am so lucky and so grateful.   Without that I wouldn’t be here this year.”

She says that for her the next job is to simply, “to integrate back into society.”  It is no simple matter to abruptly shift focus from a very public outdoor world of running and meditation to a life that somehow fills up the other 10 months of her life.  As for next year and what it brings, that is a story that is yet to be told.  Savita reminds me that ‘this’ is the moment that counts.  The current one that still has almost a half day of running.  She says that it is enough to, “treasure every step, the race is so special.”  She too calls it sacred ground.

This year will not be her slowest race in 13 years.  That distinction goes to one some years ago in which an injury prevented her from really training and the race that year lasted almost 63 days.  When Sri Chinmoy heard that she was coming off an injury and was not race fit he told her, “good girl you have done more than enough training.  In your case it is all grace.”

So many repeat how much Sri Chinmoy loved this race and how often he would come here to the course.  It has been 2 years since his passing and yet in so many ways his inspiration is still so bright and luminous here.  Suprabha says of her race this year, “there were moments when I could actually feel Sri Chinmoy.”

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photo by Alakananda

Sahishnu says, “she has a supremely determined will.”

Her time is 60 days, 8 hours, 58 minutes, and 51 seconds.

Her 13th finish.  He adds, “from all of us and perhaps the world, congratulations.”

Suprabha’s finish

Race prayer from August 9th 2006

Today’s victory we celebrate

only to invoke a new goal

by Sri Chinmoy

“Now we think that we know but it is actually that we know nothing.”  One thing that is crystal clear and has no philosophical overtones is that this afternoon, after Ananda-Lahari completes another 42 miles he will have finished his 5th 3100 mile Self-Transcendence race.

In the great scheme of things it will not be his fastest race but it will still nonetheless be 6 hours faster than his effort last year.  Sahishnu will say at the award ceremony, “5 times is no joke.  That is 15,500 miles.  You have tremendous capacity. You can do 70 miles on any given day.  If it is God’s grace you will come back and transcend yourself even more, not by hours but by days and days.  We all see your capacity.  We all know your smile and your heart, but now you have to show the world that you are great as well as good.”

by Bhashwar August 1981

Inspiration is the first step. The second and final step towards God-realisation is aspiration. He who has no inspiration is no better than a dead man. He who has inspiration, soulful inspiration, is constantly running towards and crying for the Beyond.

Rupantar had asked Ananda-Lahari yesterday whether he was excited about finishing this years race.  He said, “no, I am grateful.  And I did not mean for the last day, or the last 3 days or the last hour.  But I feel grateful for the whole experience of being here and doing the race over 2 months.”

“When you finish it is just a moment.”  He says that all spiritual philosophies essentially come back to the same conclusion when trying to understand how to approach and truly appreciate the race experience and that is to try and,” live in the moment here and now.  I try and experience this fully.”

We have a discussion about ego.  I am puzzled at how the subject can still exist in this world in which so much of the outer personality is buffeted by adversity that it can still even possibly exist to be contended with.  He jokes at the inanity of this particular subject and says, “I spoke with other boys about this.  O yes you are spending all summer running around a concrete block, year after year,” and then laughs.  He says, “I think you can do it once or twice like this with a strong ego.”  Eventually you cannot keep coming back if the ego is too strong he suggests.  “The race is too long.”

It is a world here that is now showing so much change and yet in one respect it remains the same.

Suprabha continues to shoulder a burden that for a brief time seemed just too difficult to carry and now she makes the impossible look effortless.  She is not alone of course in many ways.  There are many who come and cheer and support but none can really grasp the magnitude of her journey.

There are a few of course who know a little better how hard the path is before her.  Yet they are all gone now.  Their journeys complete, and they take part in simple things that were not available for o so long.  Maybe they have yet to dream of the next big race a long year away. Then again perhaps they are simply understanding what the journey meant to their lives and gathering a harvest of inspiration to come back again for even more self-transcendence.

Ananda-Lahari is the 10th finisher in this years race.  His time was 55 days, 10 hours, 12 minutes, and 7 seconds. When asked to give he speech he responded with but one sentence.  “Never give up.”

Inspiration-flood

Is my mind’s beauty.

Aspiration-sea

Is my heart’s duty.

Excerpt from Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, Part 19 by Sri Chinmoy.

It is just a perfect morning to be wide awake.  Yet the first words he speaks today are, “It is like a dream.”  But this is a real and perfect dream for Pavol.  Today he will at last reach his goal.

On day 56 of last years race Pavol found a generous portion of solace for his mind but in his heart he felt he had not achieved his true victory.  He managed to complete 2700 miles on the penultimate day of the 3100 mile race.  It was a terrific performance considering how hard he had to work to get it but he had come to complete the full distance, not 2700, so it was a bitter sweet victory after 56 days of struggle.

On this bright morning he steps forward from the line with just 49 miles ahead of him.  There will still be a hint of brightness left in the sky when he crosses the finish line in the early evening.  He is not dreaming or sleeping in any way today. As he run he looks as though he is savoring each step. He does not look like one that he has spent 111 days here over two years going around and around thousands of times.

He is all too awake and alive and grateful to be here.  He is doing what his heart has asked of him. Tomorrow when he rises early and does not come back to the course, perhaps that will be a real dream.

This picture was taken by Alakananda at Asprihanal’s finish in 2007. Today is her birthday and she has offered this picture to all who have come to the race this morning.   For both herself and her Dad this picture represents their spiritual teacher’s love and affection for this race.  Sutisheel says, that you can see in this picture that he is asking her to take it.  So today she is giving it away.

On May 4th, his birthday, Stutisheel also gave it away and included the following aphorism.

I love the Supreme because I came from Him. I devote myself to the Supreme because I wish to go back to Him. I surrender myself to the Supreme because He lives in me and I in Him.

Excerpt from Service-Boat And Love-Boatman, Part 2 by Sri Chinmoy.

It is the last morning in which there will be 3 starters.  On Saturday there will be two, and from then on Suprabha runs alone.  She is 300 miles away from her goal.

I ask Pavol why he calls this all a dream.  He says, “I feel that this is all not real. I cannot believe that I am almost finished.  I will only believe when I run my last lap.”

He says, “Last year was hard and I made some big mistakes.  Last year I came to race and I had a problem with my knee.”

Despite his problems at the race last year he feels grateful for the experience he had.  He knows that he learned a lot and that both outwardly and inwardly it prepared him for this year.

He knew when he came this year that he had a much better chance to finish but he says, “who knows.  More and more things could happen.”

“I feel that for me this race is the best thing.  I feel I must come and be here.  I must try and finish it every year.  It is a strong feeling.”

He says that this for him is the best possible place for him to be.  He says that when Sri Chinmoy created the race he knew that those who came here would have incomparable experiences in all parts of their being.  He also says that not just the runners but also all those who help can receive something from being here and taking part if even in a small way.  He says, “it is here that they can make the fastest progress.  Because this is not easy.  The fastest spiritual progress is hard work.”

Those that have already finished still come most mornings. Though later tonight the first start to fly back home.

It is a family like no other.  For 50 plus days the three working as one.  Sharing in both joy and in pain.  They have already tasted Self Transcendence victory but today it is the simple joy of a birthday.

Pavol is the 9th finisher of this years race.  His time is 54 days, 14 hours, 26 minutes, 40 seconds.  Sahishnu says, “he had to pick himself up and invoke the higher spirits within.  He was steadfast and strong. He kept going and now here he is finishing.” Pavol finish

Ananda-Lahari tells me this morning, his 54th day on the course, that he walked all day yesterday.  I ask him if the reason he walked was due to lack of inspiration or due to lack of energy.  He answers quickly.  “Inspiration I have always.”

He is here at the race for the 5th straight year.  Over the years he has been much much faster and slower than he will be this year.  He has a personal best of 49 days and 14 hours.  It is a time that is almost 7 days faster than his current pace.  This year he is likely to finish on the 56th day, a slightly quicker time than he did here last year.

He is one of those very rare individuals in which the outer results seem to be secondary in importance to the inner achievement.  It is something that most of us like to strive for but so often fall into the obvious trap of wanting to see the results of our efforts all line up in our favor.  It is simple human nature to set goals and try to achieve them.  Ananda-Lahari is someone who is not oblivious about wanting to surpass his previous achievements, but more significantly, he wants to be satisfied and content within himself all along the way.  There is an outer goal he has worked hard to achieve here, but there is for him an inner goal that cannot be reached with footsteps alone.  It is reached with joy, positiveness, and prayer.    As he says, “I believe there is nobody here who is not trying to do their best.”

by Shraddha September 1981

Keep trying!

Ananda-Lahari tells me about his experiment with running fast.  He had done something similar last year when he spontaneously would run very fast loops particularly in the evening.  He felt as though his child like love of running had come forward and just enjoyed the feeling of speed and being up on his toes.  It is also something that he has done this year as well but it is a strategy that appears to have had created some serious consequence for his body the next day.  He says, “I pushed too hard and also maybe I was not too careful, and my body is too fragile for this so my body just crashed.”

He says in the beginning it was giving him much inspiration when he ran fast but despite the warnings of some of his fellow runners to slow down he did not.  “He says I wasn’t careful.  I am just coming back now to the running world.  My legs are still soar.”

He feels that the standard of the race is continuing to go higher at the 3100.  Today he started the morning walking and as the day progresses he will start to run a little more each lap.  He feels that nobody really likes to walk in this race but if circumstances dictate it than so be it.  He says, “running is more natural.  Then of course you make more miles.  The race is very long and it may seem that a few days more or less doesn’t matter.  But every day is like a 24 hour race.  There are many 24 hour races here.  If someone finishes in 45 days or in 55 days there is a 10 day difference in between.  That is really a big difference.  And if someone is walking that means he has some problems.  Even if you are having a comfortable day here still you have to do it for 18 hours.  In my case when I run I have less problems with my feet.  When I walk a lot I get blisters. “

He says he has been really inspired by the many different music groups who have come and performed on the course for all the runners.  “You can hear them only for a few seconds.  But those few seconds can be very intense.  All of a sudden you come to the place where they are performing music just for us.  There is something they create, some kind of atmosphere.  This can make a special moment for us.  It is really great.”

He feels that this year he has made inner progress.  He says, ” I pray a lot during the race.”  He says that he uses the purification power of prayer during his regular day to day life as well.  But it is only at the race that there are no distractions in doing it.  His mind is not encumbered by all kinds of normal problems and activities when he runs here.  He says, “you can concentrate on listening to your inner self.”  He says here there is almost limitless amount of time at his disposal to work on his inner life.

When I ask if his mileage really matters at all he says, “it is also about miles and making progress at running faster.  Definitely I would like to do better miles.  I definitely believe that this (running the 3100) is what I am supposed to do.  This is a great opportunity for practicing a never give up attitude.  We don’t have to be perfect, we just have to try our best.”  He believes that it is possible that he can correct some of the things he is doing and get a better result in his timing.  He tells me, “I am happy with my effort, but I am not happy with my miles.  I have such gratitude for this race.  I love to be here.”

On this, his 53rd day on the course, Pavol is just 161 miles from completing his journey.  Just like Pushkar, his race in many ways began one year ago when he entered the 3100 for the first time in 2008.

His race last year was an epic struggle almost from the beginning.  An injury prevented him from ever really being able to run.  He courageously stayed on the course however for 56 days, at which time he reached 2700 miles and was obliged to stop, 400 miles short of his goal.  On the following day Suprabha finished her 3100 miles and the race was officially over.

5 days ago Pavol crossed a self-transcendence threshold that has weighed upon him for the past year.  Late friday afternoon he past the 2700 mile mark and then just kept going without a pause.  Knowing full well that not only was each step, one step further than he had ever gone in a race before, but also that his goal was now most certainly and assuredly fast approaching.    It now appears that on Friday, sometime in the evening of his 55th day on the course he will complete running the Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race.

From time to time Pavol has written some short poems about his experience here.  Today his poem is:

No Mind

No Form

No Break

I am only running.

For many of us a break is often a gentle refreshing pause in a hectic day that seems without end.  It may mean stepping out of the office, having a coffee, reading a newspaper, or just staring out the window and wondering where the day has gone.  None of these things are even remotely possible to the runners here.  At least not until after they have completed the race.

Of course our idea of a busy day pales into shadowed insignificance, when compared to the 18 blazing hours a day of almost continuous movement that the runners have put in here at the 3100 mile race over the past summer.   For them taking a break may be a fleeting 20 minute pause.  To lie down and be so briefly reclined that they cannot even come close to the soothing world of dreams.  Then immediately pull themselves up and tie on their shoes once more.

Eating is no excuse to stop either.  Food is pushed into plastic bowls and cups and snatched from a table where it has probably already gone cold.  Stabbed with a plastic fork until it is gone and all the while moving, moving, and more moving.

Pavol tells me this morning that he had a hard day yesterday.  “My feet were very painful, I could not run, only walking.”  He has noticed how often others have taken breaks and he was impressed that Diganta, on his last four days did not take any breaks.  Also he says that Diganta ran almost until midnight each night at the end as well.  He tells me that on his last two days he will also not take any breaks.

He says that when he passed the 2700 mile mark he still saw a real challenge in completing the final 400.  He says now however that with less than half of that distance remaining it is just getting easier.  Tomorrow, when he passes 3000 miles he says will be his joy day.  He tells me that today also is for him is a joy day because he is able to run very well.  Yesterday was so hard, I could only walk.”

He says that he is not bothered by the fact that there are so few runners left on the course.  He tells me that he stayed here almost until midnight last night.  Suprabha had left much earlier and Ananda-Lahari went home at 11:30, when out of nowhere 3 runners came and started running around the course as well.  He says, “wow, it was very nice.”

He says for him everything about this year is different compared to last year.  Where last year he was forced to walk most of the race this year he says, “I am running nearly every day.”  Only a couple of days this year has he been only able to walk.  Last year he says, “was pain, pain, pain.  This year, not too much pain.”  As he says this, smile brightens across his face.  “Running is a special thing.”

He tells me that when he was young, “I hated running.  O my God, it was so hard for me.” He recalls how difficult it was for him to run 1500 meters at school.  He describes having to run for just 12 minutes and how difficult it was for him, “absolutely hard.” He tells me that despite this he loved all sports.  He enjoyed hockey, volleyball, table tennis, soccer, and others.  His first sport was soccer which he started around the time he was 8 or 9.  Yet inevitably running was part of the training which he resisted.  He says, “I came to play football not to run.”

Subsequently because of his trainer’s urgings, he eventually started to run a couple of times a week on his own. Initially he was inspired to just go out on his own for just a few kilometers.  He says, “this is when I started to really like running. I had a new feeling.” As he continued to play soccer the training became harder which also included more and more running.  He says it was hard, but afterwards he would feel good.

When he became a student of Sri Chinmoy he noticed that many in the group where running every day and this gave him even more inspiration to explore the possibilities of running.  “I started running every day.  In the morning I would run 3km, 20 minutes, every day.” He feels that his body was not ideally designed for running, but never the less he had a positive experience by running every day.

He hadn’t been with the group long before he took a trip to a 24 hour race in Germany in the fall and helped as a counter.  He was impressed to see a man in his 50′s just running and running and running.  Even the rain came and did not slow him down.  He was so impressed he said, “wow, I must try this.”  The following spring while listening to a recording of Sri Chinmoy’s music he got inspired.  “I will go to Basel and run the 24 hour race.”

What makes his decision to enter a 24 hour race so remarkable, is at the time, he had never even run a marathon.  The furthest he had run was 20km.  His friends in Bratislava Slovakia were perplexed.  He told them, “I feel, I like, I go.”  He describes the experience in Basel as, “It was a funny race.  It was cold.  At night it was 4 degrees C., and rain.”  He tells me that just one hour after the noon start the rain came and did not stop.  To compound his problem he had only brought two pairs of running shoes.  One pair was old and the other pair were too small.  “After 6 hours I could no longer run and my legs were dead.”  There was a pain in his knee so he could no longer run only walk.”  In the end he switched to wearing a pair of sandals and walking in the rain and carrying an umbrella.  He overslept that night when he took a break at midnight and did not get up again until 5 the next morning.  In the end he covered 103km.  “It was a very nice experience.”

For the following week he was in pretty bad shape but still he feels that the inner seeds of inspiration to run long races had been firmly planted within him.  “I was very happy.” His interest in the sport of ultra running has gradually grown in importance.  Where at first he felt his body was not suited to it he has gradually learned to adapt and find solutions to the pains and problems associated with this ultimate endurance sport.  In just two days more he will climb for the first time to the top of the multi day Everest.  Each new step taking him forward.  Each one transcending the last.  Each one bringing him closer to a goal both within and now at last just 161 miles away.

When he arrived this morning he showed not a hint of excitement or anticipation, it appeared for all intents and purposes like just another day at the office. Not one he has been working so hard to reach for the past 51 plus days.

In his first few laps of the day he moves slowly and easily.  He says it will not be until he has 10 miles to go that, “I will have the feeling that it is really going to end.” For now he says it is just like any other day.  The major difference today being he says,”except that it is very quiet, because most of the people have finished,” and with this remark  he laughs.

He has received lots of encouraging messages from friends and family back home in Austria and from Italy where he lived much of the past year.  He tells me with real amusement about a fax he received from his two brothers.  One wrote simply, ‘greetings,’ and the other wrote, ‘Who ever runs the fastest finishes first.” He finds this amusing and I ask him if he thinks people understand what he is really doing here and has done over 4 summers and he says, “I don’t think so.”

A few days ago, a story was printed in the New York Times, written by a journalist who was describing what it was like standing in one gallery of the Louvre for two hours.  He just wanted to observe how the visitors reacted to the display of magnificent artworks that were notable, but were certainly not as prestigious as, lets say, the Mona Lisa.

He realized that most people moved quickly through the gallery rarely even pausing for even one minute in front of any of the priceless pieces of art.  If they did even stop, a precious amount of time was spent just looking at the label and not on the art. Some just snapped photos and moved swiftly through.  Perhaps trying to take in the whole museum in a single day.

Of course Diganta is not on display here at the race, nor are any of the runners who have finished their tasks or have yet to complete their journey.  He moves slowly so he can be easily seen, but our minds eye will never really catch the transcendent beauty and magnificence of what he or any of others have done here.

Later in the early evening at his finish Sahishnu will say of Diganta, “You are soulful, you are thoughtful, you care for all the other runners, you have always been an asset to the race, and you still know how to run.  People don’t realize that if you don’t run 41 or 42 days that you are not any good.  You run with such grace and poise, that Sri Chinmoy would be proud of you, and we are all proud of you.  Four times here, no joke.”

By Shraddha April 1979

I tell you once and for all:

Simplify your life-pilgrimage.

God will be proud of you.

Intensify your heart-pilgrimage.

God will be proud of you.

Purify your mind-journey.

God will be proud of you.

Cancel your vital-journey.

God will be proud of you.

Expel your body-journey.

God will be proud of you.

Excerpt from The Wings Of Light, Part 18 by Sri Chinmoy.

He arrives this morning no earlier and certainly no later than he has ever done over almost the past 2 months.  He usually does little preparation when he arrives and this, which is his last morning, is no exception.  At one point Suprabha turns to ask him when he will finish.  He tells her around 8 in the evening.  Her own finish is still 431 miles away which is in about 10 days at her current pace.

And so his final day begins.  There are few voices left now to cheer and whistle but the small group does its best.  Diganta will be missed by the other runners even more than when the others finished.  For each fresh departure means you are less and less likely to see another runner on the path in front of you.  It is just one half mile long but when you are traveling slowly many minutes can pass before you see someone.  Also it becomes less likely to find someone traveling at your own speed so that you can exchange a few words or jokes.

After just one lap Diganta pulls off the course momentarily to change his shoes.  He is wearing the same ones he wore yesterday and the heels are worn from making left hand turns.  Today he will be just be making right hand turns.

I ask Diganta what he can tell his Mother and brothers about his time here in New York he simply jokes at the absurdity of my question.  “I will tell them it was long, very long.”  He says he will be able to show his friends and family pictures, but he tells me that he learned from last year that it is just too difficult for most people to understand.  He says when he tries to tell them about his 51 days here, “they get bored after 2 minutes.”

We pass Suprabha at one point who because of her injury is still waking.  He is all admiration for her being here for 13 straight years and continuing with her present problem.  He says, “I think it is a big achievement to be able to do what she does and still be happy.”  He has had remarkably good luck when it comes to not getting injuries.  He has never had any blisters but has had a rash on his feet which seems to return with each race.  This was the first year he describes it as going out of control.  He says, “it was extremely itchy, and stinging, and burning.  It was driving me crazy. If you have a blister or something there is some pain.  It is not so uncomfortable as this.”  This condition went on for 3 weeks.  It had gotten gradually worse and then when he took some antibiotics the condition improved.   “Now it is fine actually.”

He describes how empty the course now feels.  He says, “on one hand it is more peaceful.  Somehow you are even focused more on yourself.  But I think it is quite a big difference if you have 4 runners at the end of the race, or if you would be 4 runners the whole race.”  Here he is referring to the early days when often just a handful would run the race.  For him at the beginning it is helpful to have as many as possible, so that each can inspire and be inspired by the others.

He tells me how much help and inspiration he has received from Smarana, a fellow Austrian who ran the race 7 times but did not return this year.  He says, “I think he would be very proud of me.  He did the race for the 4th time when I did it for the 1st time.  He did a lot of coaching and advising me.  So far he has done it 3 times more than me.”

He has joked a lot over the weeks about the talking books that he has listened to.  He may easily have set a record for the number of times he has listened to the books.  He tells me however, “I am not here because of Harry Potter.  I can listen to him at home.  He says that most of the time the conversation between runners is anything but serious.  It is a spontaneous way apparently of really just trying to stay in the heart.  He says, ‘in this race you don’t have to think of making progress, or thinking of spirituality.  It just happens.”

He also says that there is one certain reality that many might not understand but for all the runners here is very real to them.  He tells me that none here may be thinking of their late teacher all the time but each knows and feels that he is inspiring and caring for them at all times.  He says, “we know this and we feel this.” For himself at this moment he admits that he has only the energy and strength to just focus on completing his final few miles.  “I know that after the race it will be a different story.”

He says that at the beginning of last years race, which was the first one that Sri Chinmoy was no longer present, there was some anxiety amongst the runners.  Most wondered how the race could still go on without him.  He says this quickly settled down for everybody.  He says, “People could see that it was just going on as it was.”  He says that last year was significant in that the runners felt they had to show a real commitment to this race which was created and inspired by Sri Chinmoy.  He says that they felt like their presence here then was like holding up a banner for him. He says this year, “the banner is flying in the wind.”

He says that Sri Chinmoy cared so much and came so often to the race that if the race can still continue without his outer presence than as far as he is concerned almost anything is still possible. “If we can do this race only with his inner support and without the outer support than we can do anything.”

Diganta completes the race for the 4th time in 51 days, 13 hours, 26 minutes, and 22 seconds.

Diganta finish

Excerpt from Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, Part 89 by Sri Chinmoy.

She describes her original hip pain as one that slowly became more and more intolerable.  She says, “it was going on for a week before it got to the worst point. It was very hard for me to walk around the course.  To me that is pretty bad.  If you are in a race you just assume you can get around the course.”

Mitch the chiropractor, who came to see her at that time said that when he saw her at the course she could not even stand on one foot.  The pain was just too excruciating.  The next day x rays were taken and the evaluation given quickly.  There was no damage to the bones and what was impressively clear, there was also no evidence of arthritis.  Which was a surprise to the radiologist when told that the patient had been running for many years over thousands of miles.  The exact cause of her pain was only guessed to be a soft tissue problem.  One that could not be irrefutably seen without an MRI.  In the meantime another Doctor suggested specific stretching, and more rest.  She speculated that most likely Suprabha had some cartilage loss or damage.  Suprabha says, “we are really happy that nothing was cracked or broken.”

When asked if she had ever given up hope she looks puzzled at that question.  It is almost as though doubt or failure do not exist in her vocabulary or in her make up.  Her answer, “I was just trying to figure out the best way to proceed.”  She turns to her friend Savita and asks her the same question, “Did I loose hope?”  Savita responds with something unexpected.  She says, “I think it added spice to the race.”  They both laugh and Suprabha answers, “this is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me.”

Suprabha continues, “Over the years other people have gotten to go off to Doctors.  They took time off because they were sick.”  They are both laughing at this odd circumstance of having Suprabha for the first time ever leave a race due to injury.  Suprabha is content because the worst is clearly over and the goal is now less than 500 miles away. As for sorting out the most challenging experience of her running career and now seeing herself on track to make it to the goal, she says humbly, “It is very nice.”

He is also wearing a red shirt today that is a replica of those of worn by the Swiss National soccer team who played so well in the World Cup in 2006.  He has never put this shirt on before and today he is wearing it in honour of his beloved country.  He says, “I am actually not a fan who buys a shirt of a football team, but that year was kind of special.  It was unbelievable oneness.  Everyone fought for the others.  No ego thing.  At that time I was living with a friend and he inspired me to print something on the back.  For me it was sure that I don’t write my name.  Then somehow I got the inspiration for Joy Guru and 27.”  It was in this way Pushkar felt that one day he would be able to honour both his late spiritual teacher and Switzerland at the same time.

picture courtesy of mahoney22

So he placed it in a special place waiting patiently for the exact right appropriate moment in which to wear it.  He says of last year, “unfortunately it stood untouched.  It also gave me encouragement just to see it.  Today it is not my victory.  For me it symbolizes oneness and victory.  The divine victory.”

On the list of great Swiss sports stars Pushkar probably does not even rank.  The whole world knows of the victories of Roger Federer who is said to be the greatest tennis player of all time.  Today Pushkar will set a mark for the 3100 mile race that none from his country has ever done before. The Swiss media will probably never even hear what he has done here in New York, but his friends back home in Zurich will surely celebrate his achievement.  And even though he is no longer physically present, the one whose name is upon the shirt, would surely be divinely proud of Pushkar as well.

The scoreboard tells the story today.  There are a few celebratory balloons still left over from yesterday when there was nearly a traffic jam of 3 finishers in close succession.  There is a bit of crowding in the runners’ area but this will last just a few hours more until Pushkar finishes.  At that time the course will feel very open to the 4 runners who are still left.

Pushkar moves swiftly from the very moment the start is called.  It is a pace he will maintain in the less than 3 hours he has left to run.  It will be something like 9 laps an hour and he will surprise even the race directors with how fast he covers the distance.

His first words are, “I am full of gratitude tears.”  His heart felt emotions clearly evident in both his face and in his words.

For most of the race he tried not to concentrate on his laps or mileage.  Trying instead just to focus on the moment.  In practical terms he envisioned for himself each day as three individual segments.  When he did that he says, “then everything was fine.  Sahishnu told me the night before yesterday, wow 147 laps to go.  Then somehow I realized, it is not so far, somehow any more.  Now I am here.”

He did not like to do a continuous inventory of his progress.  It was only when Sahishnu told him that it became at last more manageable for him mentally.  For him it was just too difficult to think of 4 days to go, or even 300 miles.  He says when people think of the runners here they do not consider often how difficult it is to run 300 miles.  By itself alone he says, “If I tell anyone 300 miles they will say O God, 300 is so much.  This is the reason I had to throw out this thought.  About thinking, 4 days to go.”  When he removed that mental distraction he said, “everything was fine.  I was happy.”

His real strategy was just simply to run all day long, from morning until the evening.  “You give your best.  Here and there is pain.  You just try and meditate and be in your heart.  Run with joy.”  He feels that most of the time he was successfully able to do this and was grateful for this experience.

“On the one hand last year I was here and I started the journey.  I was convinced I could reach the goal.  On the other hand the race this year is really almost 180 degrees opposite.”  He felt much more intensity right from the very start.  He says it was obvious, “it was like no joke.  I felt it.  I knew I could reach it, I knew it.”  He mentions a time where at one point he feels he was no longer even in his body consciousness.  “It was just so intense.”  He describe that at that moment he felt he had become his soul, with all its determination and willpower operating in and through him.

He also feels that he was unrealistic in his expectations last year.  He had started out very strong at the beginning but gradually fell further and further behind.   He says that this year, “I live almost all the time in this…humility.  I like really staying on the ground.”  He also echoes the sentiments of many runners who describe the experience of running the race as, “This is somehow the real life.  Afterwards I don’t know.  Right now I know what I have to do.”

He also received lots of support and messages from back home.  “One brother friend of mine, I got two pages every second day.  One page was poems and the other was jokes and stories.  So nice, it helped me tremendously.  You feel you are not alone.  For me I am not running for myself.  I feel like it is a oneness project.  Okay I am the guy who does it physically but I get support from Zurich.  For me it is very nice actually.  It is expanding the whole thing.”  He feels that any time anyone thinks about the race or one of the runners they become part of it.

He feels that the race has changed him but that it is in inner ways that are difficult to describe.  He feels that his experience here helps him sort out priorities in his life. “You see more of what is important and what is not important.”  He says the main thing he learned from last year was the importance of simplicity.  Both in his life and his dealings with the world.  He hopes for this experience only expand in his life.

Right now he is not certain if he will return next year.  He says, “on one hand I hope it is not the last race.  I feel like it is the greatest blessing in one lifetime that I could come to the starting line here and reach the goal.”  Before he runs off he repeats this phrase, “My Lord my heart is all gratitude to you.”

Photo by Jowan

Pushkar finishes the race for the first time.  His time is 49 days, 2 hours, 57 minutes, and 3 seconds.  His pace is 63.11 miles a day.  He has come in 7th this year and he is in 16th place in the history of the race.  And yes, he is the Swiss Champion.

Human victory

Is always precarious.

Divine victory

Is always prosperous.

God’s Victory

Is always

Precious,

Gracious

And

Advantageous.

Excerpt from The Golden Boat, Part 19 by Sri Chinmoy.

Yet if you have run a long race even once in your life something about this event will echo with familiarity.  You will have some innate understanding of what it is like to ask your physical to give more than it appears to have.  To view your fellow competitors as inspiration, so that you might draw upon the fragments of unwillingness and strength dormant within you that you might otherwise be reluctant to draw forth.

Also, you will identify with what it is like in those final fleeting moments, as you surge toward the finish line with every ounce of effort in your being.  That sweet feeling of release as you take one last final stride.  When you just let go of all the strain and all the pushing, and surrender to the certain realization that you have surmounted an inner and outer challenge.  You might even offer some gratitude that you have actually, for a time conquered the lethargy of the body and shown that it can be instead a dynamic and integral vehicle for your life energy.  Then you just might have a secret wish to do it again and try even harder.

3 runners today will finish their long journeys here.  It is astonishing that just a few hours separates each of them after 48 long days.  The distance that separates them is just a grain of dust floating in a breeze compared to the gargantuan distance they have covered here, 3100 miles.  What is notable about them today is also how close they all are to each other.  The word, competitors, sounds so foreign to three comrades who have shared intimately a monumental undertaking that no one can really comprehend but they themselves, and the tiny fraternity of runners who have also done this.

What is clear is that there is a certain joy in crossing the finish line to applause and cheers and being able to say it is over at last.  Yet most of the 3100 mile runners would say that is not the sweetest part at all for them.  That more precious are those moments when they are alone on the course, with maybe weeks sill to go.  It is then that they experience the grateful realization that they are living their lives to the fullest.

Vlady is running this race for the first time.  For a first timer he has done exceptionally well.  When it was announced that he would be on the starting line this year many nodded with approval, agreeing that he was perfect for the race.  The race it seems is also perfect for him, and by all stretches of the imagination, he has far surpassed anyone’s expectations of what he could do here.

Early in the morning with less than 10 miles to go he said, “I am happy and a little sad that this is all over.” When he left the course last night he felt the pangs of knowing that he would only come back to the starting line one more time.  “I didn’t think about this race last year, but this year I told Sahishnu I had the feeling I wanted to run.  I had the feeling inside me that I was at last ready to do it.”

He says he has learned so much from the other runners during the past 48 days but in his humble way says he does not feel special, just grateful to be part of it all.  “Everybody has special qualities.  I think I take something from everybody here during the race.” He describes that during the 3100 he became more aware of all parts of his being.  He also notices how much more he is in tune with nature.  To be one with the weather no matter if it is hot or cool and raining.  “For the last two days I got the idea that rain is not bad.  That I like rain.  For me this was interesting.  It was really a nice feeling.”

He tells me how much Pranjal inspired him.  How he took only one break and would keep running until the last possible moment every night.  Last night, as an example, he sprinted across the line with less than a minute to go before the midnight cut off. Then when he got home he would work on his blog.  I tell him that Pranjal was also the first runner to arrive in the morning, jokingly, something he might not know since he was usually the last to arrive.  He confesses that he has had difficulty in getting up.  “I have 3 clocks.”  After the morning he had come quite late he tells me that Tirtha bought him an additional clock out of concern for him.  He also has noticed that no matter if he leaves at 11 pm or closer to midnight that he always goes to sleep at the same time.  This has shown him he said the importance of staying as late as possible.  “Next year I will be better organized.”  He hopes to take less and shorter breaks through the day.

He has received many encouraging messages over the weeks and they have inspired him a lot.  “I am not alone, with me, so many people are running.”

He describes how for 10 days around his birthday he was very sick with a fever.  He says that people may not have noticed that he was sick because his mileage stayed high the whole time.  He says he felt that an inner force was working in and through him.  “This was not Vladimir who runs so long.”  He says he feels that it was his late spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy, who was running in and through him at that time.  He feels that certain experiences he has had during the race are like seeds within him, that in time they will germinate and bear beautiful blossoms.  He says without question he will return next year.  “For me this is an opportunity to make progress.  I love this race.”

Both Vlady and Stutisheel come from the Ukraine.  They are but a year apart in age but Vlady is in awe of Stutisheel who is running this race for the 6th time.  Stutisheel says of Vlady, ” He is just amazing.  I have no thoughts only pride, only admiration.  He is a great hero.  How he went through all those difficulties, especially on his birthday.  It was absolutely the worst day in his running the 3100 mile, but he was so stable.  I remember on that day, it was like an option, to go to the Doctor, another runner and him.  To try and figure out what was happening.  He had no power, no energy.  Finally Vladimir refused.  He said, well, everybody has difficulties.  Why should I go?  Otherwise every day every runner should go to the Doctor.  I will stay here and run and fight. Whatever will come I will just continue moving.  I really really admire his steadiness, willpower, and devotion, and he is actually a nice guy. “

Vlady says of Stutisheel, “he is like my brother.  I feel like I am part of his family.  He helped me.  For many years he inspired, not only me but many people. “

He completes the race in 48 days, 2 hours, 25 minutes, and 50 seconds.  He averaged 64.45 miles a day.  Today he is the 4th finisher and the 10th fastest man in the history of the race.

Vlady finish

He completes the race in 48 days, 6 hours, 7 minutes, and 50 seconds.  He averaged 64.42 miles a day.  Today in his 5th time here he is the 5th finisher and set a personal best by more than 28 hours.

Pranjal finish

He completes the race in 48 days, 12 hours, 42 minutes, and 44 seconds.  Today marks his 6th time here and he is the 6th finisher.  He averaged 63.88 miles a day.  He has bettered his previous best by 47 hours.

Stutisheel finish

If you had the luxury of just sitting and watching it might be amusing to see swirling rivers flowing past your feet and little Niagras tumbling off of van roofs. But not if you are trying to cobble together 60 soaking miles of puddles, with shoes and socks flooded nearly every step of the way.

It is the year in which at the start of the day one never had enough dry shirts,  dry socks and dry shorts.  When shoes became damp so often they never really dried.  Causing then, on dry days, a stew of musty odors to rise up and out of sport bags.  When one umbrella was not enough.   When if you were foolish and ever tempted the weather gods they would eventually find an opportunity to strike you with a merciless downpour on the far side of course leaving you many minutes away from the timid shelter of an awning covering your folding chair.

Yet they will also be able to say that it was the cool one.  The one in which there were no 90 degree days in July which has not happened in more than 100 years.  The average temperature for the month just a little over 71.  Maybe there was some meteorological bargain that was enacted on some distant plane that said simply, “We will keep it cool but your are going to have the wet instead.”

Saturday will be something of historical note.  Sahishnu believes that never have 3 runners finished on the same day ever before.  Tomorrow which is day 49 will see Vlady, Pranjal, and Stutisheel finish their long journeys.

by Shraddha April 81

My mind