There once was a time, not too long ago, when how fit and strong you were had a much deeper significance in our lives than it does today. It is a relatively short journey back along our evolutionary ladder when in fact if you were not fit or strong, or perhaps extremely cunning you simply wouldn’t survive.
It was back in the age, when if you wanted to eat dinner you either had to chase it down or till the earth and make it grow. Also in that time, when danger came along, you had better be able to out run it, or you would be diner for something much fiercer and stronger than you.
The 6 & 10 Day Self Transcendence race finally came to an end today. It was a breezy overcast day with alternating showers mixed with tantalizing glimpses of bright sun. By all accounts it was a wonderful event in which nearly every one declared that they had a wonderful time. One can hope that if there were a few abstainers from this view than we can predict that there perspective just might mellow a little with time. That maybe in a few weeks, when the aches and blisters are all gone they may reassess their opinions and declare it a great success. Everyone I spoke to at least said they had a great time here at the Self Transcendence race.
Most likely there were moments when it felt like it would simply never ever be over. That 10 days or 6 days is an eternity when you are trying to run as far as you possibly can. In the great scheme of things this amount of time is nothing. Perhaps though, what each of the runners achieved here may in fact be much more precious than they dare to even realize.
The race was not covered by any big news network and though 17 countries were represented here it was barely a blip on the global news radar. It was of course pretty important to me and also to many others who have tried to follow the events taking place here. As monotonous as it might seem there were ever evolving dramatic changes taking place here, on a moment to moment, mile to mile basis. For me it least it was a place of dreams and hopes. It is simply almost impossible for a non participant to adequately recognize all the toil and effort that goes into it, with a just an added dash of suffering thrown in for good measure. The reward for all who worked so hard here is negligible, that is when you consider just how much effort was sacrificed over this brief but intense period.
No one’s survival was ever at stake, no danger lurked behind any bushes, and food was always available, without the need for a spear or a plow. The real value of all this individual effort however is another matter. There were, from time to time, moments of ego and pride that surfaced and helped push a runner out of bed and back on the road. Perhaps chasing a glory that only they could see, and maybe they caught the golden ring and maybe it slipped away, but still something was gained in all this mysterious incomprehensible action that is masked by our human frailty.
For beneath our goretex running suits and anatomically correct shoes is the real us. Something that we all hope we can draw closer to, even though we may not understand nor clearly see exactly what it is. There is an inspiration that comes from our heart and continues to push us onward. It is not bad to believe that maybe, just maybe, we can make at least a little progress each new day and with each new mile. For in our present age running is no longer just about physical survival but can be about something deeper, soulfully illumining, and much more profoundly transcendent.
Multi day races have been with us a long time. There are some records that show it was a sport as early as the late 18th century and certainly it continued on, well into the 20th. There was a time when it was considered a popular spectator sport. It was something every body could identify with, because for just about everybody, walking was the only way you were going to get anywhere. You were probably very lucky to have a horse in the early days, and to have the capacity to cover great distances on foot was practical. It was also probably pretty entertaining for those who couldn’t make it so far.
but you would hardly say there were any spectators. It is a happy place but it is also a busy place. The runners are trying to do their best and the many helpers are trying their very best to make this experience as perfect as possible for them. I have heard stories of multi day races in which there are in fact very few helpers at all, particularly at night. Technology in these races is used as best it can to keep score and track all the data. There isn’t much high tech equipment at the Self Transcendence race. It is very much about people working and sometimes playing together. Achieving goals that aren’t virtual but are real. All happening both outwardly and inwardly, creating true experiences that just might change your life.
The Self Transcendence race is only a click away via the internet. All the results are available every day, hundreds of photographs, and yes blog posts. As I look at those dots, I sometimes like to imagine the faces of those who are staring into computer screens to watch. I have a hope that for all you who take the time to visit via the internet that you remember how wonderful it is to just to stand on a great green field of grass here, blazing with golden flowers and feel the runners pass by. See their brilliant smiles and sometimes, if only briefly, the other side. Expressions that come from a place that exists on the distant shore away from joy.
For much of humanity the only thing that really matters in their lives are the numbers. We can try sometimes and define who we are by what we have, what we know, and yes, by what we do. This simple math can reveal rudimentary aspects of our lives but certainly not the totality of who we really are. The 6 and 10 race is an extraordinary place to find and reveal aspects of your being that perhaps you didn’t even know existed. Peel back the exterior bits of how we generally see ourselves. Then you can confront the tigers lurking within. Maybe as well become better acquainted with the glowing core within each of us and ultimately allow transformation and self transcendence to become the real goal in our lives.
“The biggest challenge I thought, as I looked at the weather forecast is the weather.” We are running together in the pitch darkness of the night. The first tender hours of Sunday have barely begun and for the moment the conditions are still and almost perfect. At this point Dipali has been running for a little more than 36 hours. “It was freezing when we started, and when I came out at 3 am this morning it rained right up until about 2 in the afternoon, and I mean it rained. I think we are doing pretty well,” she says, and laughs lightly.
I actually prefer this time of night, after 9 o’clock, when most of the runners go to bed. And I actually indulge in the quietness. Everybody has kind of gone, and there is just a handful of people. I find it very peaceful and I stay out here to about 1am. I probably won’t be resting for very long. Maybe a couple of hours off the track and then I will be back out again. That is just years of practice.”
Dipali Cunningham now at age 52 is tremendously knowledgeable about distance running and has achieved numerous victories in her races and on occasion, has not only won the women’s division, but been the leader overall as well. With all her success she ultimately gives credit to her late teacher Sri Chinmoy, who she feels taught her the inner lessons that she could apply not just on the road but in her life as well. “The inner courage, the inner determination, and the wisdom.” The race is incredibly difficult and she tries to always focus on the positive. Use the opportunity of running to not only add up the miles but find the route that will as well lead to her own spiritual progress.
“These people inspire me. They are bringing me this newness freshness, that you don’t want to disappear in your own consciousness.” She has after all done 32 multi day events in 20 years. This year, in almost a complete change to her usual schedule, she ran a 24 hour race in Ottawa in the fall. “I was really inspired to try it, and I had a great time. I couldn’t believe how it was so different, and yet I feel that I can improve at it. That next time I can do more.”
It is simply my favorite time to be at the race. Right now, it is either very late at night, or early in the morning, take your pick. The air is absolutely still, and a soothing warmth has ebbed back into the camp. At 2 o’clock in the morning New York is still a very busy place. Cars continue to dash by on the freeway, but there are many fewer at this hour. Planes don’t scream in and out of La Guardia. The constant rumbling stress and urgency of the outer world has receded into the night’s gentle shadows. For now, the world in Flushing Meadow Park is just about the runners, making their methodical way around the course. Chasing after very real dreams that don’t come as easily to those who sleep.
Sometimes you hear their steps before you can actually see them emerging out of the darkness.
Nobody might really notice if you have let a mile slip away here and there from your daily total. But you will know. You will, as soon as the results are posted, recognize a nag and torment of the, ‘if I had not slept so long.’ Some of course at this Self Transcendence race move relentlessly and with a kind of precise efficiency. That is the veterans and the record holders of course. Experience has taught them clearly, when the mind and body simply no longer tell the truth. When aches and fatigue cry with such alarm that they can scarcely be denied. But these are voices that need to be reckoned with, just as you would answer a small tempestuous child. Somewhere within the heart of each runner, they know what they can and must do. Reach beyond the limitations that seem so real. Push further, add another step, and still another, until hopefully you push beyond all the things that hold you back. Emerge on the other side of dreams into the sun bright light of your heart’s reality.
This is my first time in New York, and I am next to a freeway with winds, and rain which made an interesting night, but it was all character building.” It is shortly after noon on Saturday and Martin Fryer has been running in the Self Transcendence race for a little more than 24 hours. Despite the horrendous conditions he is running with shocking ease and fluidity. At times the rain cascades down around us and creates a splashing mess on the road. Martin barely acknowledges the tumult and slaloms skillfully around the puddles. His only nod to the inclementness is to that he simply tugs the strings to his hood tighter and doesn’t miss a step.
He is very serious about how participating in long races has transformed him. “I think one of the big lessons I have learned over the past few years, I think early on I tried to control everything. I think the last few years I have tried to run more organically, and realize you have to let go and surrender. It makes it much more joyful, and I have had better results as well, so that was nice icing on the cake.”
I ask him what has drawn him to come so far from his home in Australia. “Just the name of this race, Self Transcendence, I mean, that is exactly why I am here. I know it is going to be ugly at times, but you need to expand your mind and uplift yourself, and to work through it. It is a great metaphor for your whole life. You are going to have tough times, but if you have the faith, you will come out through the other end of it.”
Despite an impressive resume of Australian and Commonwealth age group records in several distances Martin has never completed a 6 day race. He attempted only one before and had to pull out due to injuries. He has come here with a wide spectrum of goals he hopes he can accomplish. The top ones he describes simply as the, “big hairy audacious goals.” Which translated into real numbers is 900km (485miles). “The bottom goal is to finish, so I have been a lot more careful in day one here. Just sort of looking after myself. Trying to run a bit more easily. I think one of the things I have learned, from the first one I did as well was, I went in with the wrong attitude. I came in with just a purely competitive attitude.”
“I am probably still a rookie in this game.” Maybe it is the very nature of multi day running itself that allows very talented runners like Lars Christoffersen to be able to be so humble. Even the very best can achieve little if any fame in this most challenging of endurance sports, and, if you are looking for a fortune, you will never find it at the end of the long 6 day road.
Lars had done just 2 6 day races prior to coming here. His first was in Sweden just 3 years ago. He tells me, “it was a pretty good race but it was raining 5 out of the 6 days.” I remind him that those kind of conditions pretty much described the race here last year. Currently the forecast is predicting some wet conditions over the next couple of days.
He decided that he would just run, “because that was the easiest way to loose the weight.” With this new training regime he lost 15 kgs. in half a year. He was impressed with how quickly his weight dropped and at that time he ran his first marathon in 3:45. He tells me that his experience in the race was pretty hard, but just the same he thought, “if I can do this maybe I can do more. I heard about a 6 hour race and I think. Let me try that.” That race was in his home town in Denmark. Surprisingly, “I broke the course record the first time with 72km.” With this run, the door opened wide to the world of multi day running.
Most days when I visit the course I generally have no fixed plan of who I am going to speak with or what pictures I need to take. I try and be as spontaneous as possible, and if inspiration calls out, I just hope I can move fast enough to catch up with it. I am never going to have the constant intense experiences like the runners, but I know that even in a short visit something profound and meaningful can happen when you least expect it.
There is no retirement, in the classic sense for Nirbili. For retirees, who just enjoy sitting back in their rocking chairs, she says, “they are missing out on a awful lot. I couldn’t do that.”
In others as well, you sometimes find such incredible determination and energy that their bodies can barely contain it. Yet, despite this great capacity, the physical can only give so much. The body not really capable of harnessing this phenomenal life force.
I was able to run with him today accompanied by a translator. He tells me that he loves the race because it gives him a special experience that he can get in no other way. I wonder why he would pick such a difficult task like running 10 days to achieve this. He laughs and tells me that the goal may be hard to find, but when you at last reach it you see that it was worth all the effort.
Even though he is leading the race at this moment Vladamir is just a few miles behind. I ask him if he feels any pressure from those who are so close behind. He tells me that the God that lives in his heart inspires him to do this, and so presumably he does not listen to the footsteps following so closely behind. Instead he just listens to his own heart.