Some arrive so naturally gifted that when they run you might think you are seeing some ephemeral mirage.  Yet within the super talented, if their heart and will is not strong,  you will sense pretty quickly, as you watch them run that something is missing.  It is perhaps what we all seek as well, that spark of indomitable life force.  When we see it in others it can ignite our imagination and inspire us, as we see it burning within them.

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.

When you watch Yuri Trostenyuk, 47, Vinnitsa, Ukraine, you cannot help but notice that rare combination, of both a strong body and a superbly strong will.  A fellow Ukrainian admiringly describes him as the epitome of the Ukrainian spirit.  For him this is a resilient toughness, that simply never ever gives up.

There is nothing pretty about his running style, but it doesn’t take to long to appreciate that he has an efficient and economical stride, as much as anyone on the course.  He simply looks as though he is built to run, not at high speed, but simply to keep going and going forever.  This is the 5th time he has come, last year he won the race and set a personal best of 693 miles.  Currently, after 48 hours on the course he is leading with 189 miles.

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.

He tells me that his first race here was very difficult for him.  Yet despite this it was so fulfilling that he wanted to come back as often as he could, and do it again and again.  He compares each new race here as if they were individual lifetimes.  Each one evolving in its own way and hopefully reaching new heights with each attempt.

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.

There is one, not so secret inspiration he has that he hopes one day to fulfill, and that is participate in the longest race in the world, the Self Transcendence 3100 mile race.  His message to all runners is simply to never stop.  Never be discouraged by problems, or when things get difficult, there is a sun in front of them.

click to play interview (English/Russian)

The specter of bad weather seems to have vanished from all the weather forecasts.  At present no serious rain is lurking on the horizon until the distance regions of Sunday show up.

If the conditions can be objectively judged to be tight in the men’s race than the condition of the women’s race could be considered a genuine logjam with 3 ladies battling so closely they could be taking in the same breath of Flushing Meadow oxygen.

Kaneenika Janakova, 41, from Bratisalava Slovakia has won the race for the past 3 years.  The other girls, Jayasalini, and Sarah are currently so close behind that barely a blink separates them.  I am not sure how Las Vegas betters would predict the outcome, but somehow it all reminds me of one of those nights of a close election when the announcer says, “it is too close to call.”

All the girls seem happy and content after 2 full days on the road.  Kaneenika is buoyant with spirit and joy today as I tag along with her, joined by her Slovakian friend Kanala.  She tells me that as good as today appears to be yesterday was another matter.  “It was a hard day.  I didn’t sleep at all the night before nor during the day.  So last night I was hardly moving.  So I went to bed for 3 hours and slept and when I got up I started having a good time.”

She has no particular goal she says for this race other than to do her best.  She tells me that she is not bothered at all by the girls who are so close behind.  Instead she simply concentrates on her schedule.  “And I do My race.  When I am tired I rest.  When I feel like running I run.  I try to do certain miles every day, of course.  But if I don’t, I just let it go, because there is nothing else to do.”

Despite competing here so many times she says every race is different and continues to provide new and challenging experiences.  “Every time there is something new.”  She tells me that the new thing for her in this race is that she is running with a hand injury.  5 weeks before the race she fractured 2 fingers in her left hand.    “I wasn’t sure until 3 days before the race if I would do it or not.  Of course I really wanted to do the race and I was really strong inwardly, trying to be calm, and feeling everything will be fine.”

She was given an okay by a Doctor on Friday but knows that the healing process is still going on.  Early on the first day it caused some real discomfort, and then as quickly as it came it disappeared.

She has 2 helpers and confesses that they make it easier for her to compete here in every possible way.  “If I need something they bring it.”  She confesses, “I think I am a pretty hard one to please.”

I ask her if her friend Kanala, who is running along with us is of any help to her.  She proceeds to describe in a much broader way the significance of all those who come and help and inspire the runners.  “Anyone who comes to the race, you cannot imagine what it means to us.  It is really a big inspiration, and we are really grateful for anybody who comes.”

I then ask Kanala to describe for me the qualities that make Kaneenika a great runner.  “She is just so tough and disciplined, not just during the race but also during training.  The whole preparation that includes yoga and stretching, and the dedication to this one 10 day time, and that is very inspiring.  You know it is the inner strength.”

Click to play interview

You can see just a little bit of the nerves on Arpan’s face.  He has just brought out some supplies for the start of his 6 day race on Friday.  And yes it is often just about the feet.

It was just 2 years ago that 44 year old Austrian runner, Usika Muckenhumer last ran the race but somehow it feels like it was a lifetime.  He has competed in 10 multi days in New York over the years.  It was just 2003 that he won the race with 631 miles.  Currently he has 140 miles after a little more than 2 days and is running comfortably.  The demands of his job have kept him from coming but he says a year ago he worked it out with his boss that he would be able to find the time to come back and run.

He is very excited to not only be back but also he is able to run with 2 other of his Austrian friends.  When pressed as to how much he has trained for it he laughs and holds his hands out in front of him very close together.  “The preparation is minor.”  He looks comfortable and is moving smoothly and confesses that it is all due to grace.  Though I have this lack of preparation I am having the best race in 4 or 5 years.  Inner and outer.  He is really happy and I suggest, that if he is happy inwardly than the body will most likely try to co operate as well.  “I fully agree.”  He laughs and suggests that at least it seems to working that way at this moment at least.

I ask him what makes him keep coming back.  “Here is the real life.  The day to day life you normally go through, it is like a show, but here it is real.  In such a short time you learn so much about yourself, with this intensity, that you cannot learn somewhere else.  I didn’t find any other place, in all my years, where I would go, for better transformation, more joy, more blessings.”

As we finish our run together we go by the scoring hut and we hear 138 miles being called out.  I ask him if means anything to him.  “At the moment I don’t go for numbers.”

Click to play interview

Harita barefoot at the board.

Jayasalini has her mom as her helper but today she has found a new friend and admirer.

Oleksander Kharko, 47, from Kiev Ukraine.

Sarah Barnett continues to put on a remarkable and memorable performance int the women’s race.

Gudrun Freier performed the remarkable achievement of moving directly from the 24 hour race to the 10 day, when she came here last year.  She tells me that when she came then, the only real surprise was that she got sick a few days before the race and this had never happened to her before.  She could not remember being sick in years and so it was something quite unexpected.  She admits that after being at the race for 3 days her condition quickly improved.

She tells me that the best moments for her were in the early morning just after getting up to run.  Not the first lap when you are just warming up but when you are able to get into your rhythm.  “After some laps it is really great.”  She also says that the wide selection and availability of so many great foods makes the distance running here much more enjoyable.  It removes a real concern of how to keep up your strength, over the long race.  “For me it is very important.  It helps me a lot there is such a nice selection.  It really gives me a lot of joy and I think it helps me to run.”

The conditions at the race last year were probably the worst ever and she tells me how inspired she was by how the runners seem to be not really bothered by how incredibly wet and flooded the course was.  “I had a feeling that they did not even notice the rain.”  She says she learned a lot about dealing with the weather after that.

Her goal in this race is to simply run 100 miles more that she did last year.  At that time she ran 390 and so is targeting achieving 490.  As of this afternoon she is a little over 120 miles.

As to why she comes, “I think the most important thing for me is that I have the feeling that in my day to day life I use this experience.”  She feels that she develops a real determination and will by competing here.

Click to play interview

This afternoon Sarvagata Ukrainskyi is running in a tight pack of those who have 160 miles.  His wife back in the Ukraine will be glad to know he is doing well.

Arpan still is in the midst of his race preparation but he has 2 more days to get everything ready.  For now he is going to have a bed specially constructed by himself.

The dandelions are in bloom everywhere around Flushing Meadow right now.  For those who have a little time it might just be fun to pick a few.

Then of course when you have gathered a nice bouquet you just might like to give them to your mom who is working hard in the kitchen near by.

God is listening;
Just speak quietly.
God is listening;
Just speak devotedly.
Believe me,
God is not and cannot be deaf
To your heart-longing.
His Compassion-perfection
Has caught the very first faint cry
From your oneness-heart.
God is listening;
Just speak quietly and devotedly.

Sri Chinmoy, Europe-Blossoms, Agni Press, 1974.

Car drivers zipping past are probably unaware of what takes place just yards from the street.  The gaze of pedestrians making their meandering way up the sidewalk however must certainly be drawn in befuddlement at the unique creations that begin to appear there just over the fence during the steamy heart of every late summer.

It all seems to all happen in a brief yet explosive burst of activity.  One moment there will be piles of lumber, great mounds of bagged sugar, or enough popcorn to feed several circus crowds many times over.  The whys and wherefores of this puzzle are easily understood when you learn that the man behind the unusual goings on is Ashrita Furman.  He is a human tsunami wave of energy and enthusiasm.   It is he who is the creator and breaker of the most Guinness book records ever and is the instigator of the unusual constructions that appear across the wide expanse of rugged green lawn.

It has happened for many years now that Ashrita and a crew of fellow disciples have engineered and manufactured world record marvels in order to honor their spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy.  Since his passing in 2007 the tradition has continued.  Last year a giant edible  lollipop was constructed.  This year Ashrita decided upon building the worlds largest see saw.  Don’t ask me why, and came up with the dimensions of 79 feet long to match what would have been Sri Chinmoy’s age on his birthday August 27th.

Yuyudhan is this years job foreman and when I come upon him first he was in the early stages of trying to put together this typical playground apparatus, but of the almost impossible dimensions.  His good humored reply as to how he got involved, “trickery.  We have got 2/3rds of a teeter totter going here, or what some in England would call a see saw.”

It is still fairly early in the building stage and it appears that there are few, if any glitches that are likely to slow the inevitable progress of its construction in time for its final installation on the 27th.  For now Yuyudhan and his crew are trying to just get the object assembled and see if it is going to work.

At this point in its construction he says, “we are just trying to get things going.  We are now assembling 2 of the 3 main pieces of the see saw.” He then admits that some wrong bolts where purchased which will have to be replaced.  Only a small inconvenience.

He has been working for almost a week at this point and it becomes clear that there has been a real collaboration on its design.  In some mysterious way, a crew seems to come together almost spontaneously, of the right capacity and number, at just the right time each year as well.  He says that Bishwas was principally responsible for designing the stand and that he did much of the structural fine tuning of the see saw portion.

When asked  where the ‘trickery’ came in with his involvement he says, “I was supposed to build it, and not get into the design and all that.”  Clearly though he is relishing his involvement in constructing the world’s biggest see saw.  As simple as it appears it takes real skill to super size such a simple device.  He came up with some important ideas that would allow the see saw to achieve its great length with a minimal amount of weight.

He goes into some technical discussion on how and why he chose certain materials.  At this point it looks close to being operational but he says that is still a day away.  It will take at least 12 guys to pick up the see saw and put it in place on the stand.  This will happen in the next 24 hours he says.

The almost constant rain has been a major factor in slowing down the early production.  At this point he has August from Iceland and Keith from New Zealand as his crew.  He says, “It is not that hard for one or two people to put most of it together.  The problem is that once you get the sections together one or two people cannot lift this thing.”

He describes how the pivot in the middle will be 10 feet high and that the rider on the end of it will rise up 20 feet.  With all the trees in the yard I wonder how it is even possible to adequately test the see saw.  “It will fit,” he states categorically.  He also has been designated as one who will have the dubious distinction of being the first test pilot, I mean rider. He is convinced all will go well.  “It is going to be a great teeter totter and a record breaker.”

Yuyudhan interview

On the next day, which was the 26th, I come back again and speak with August and Keith, who are busy working with a nail gun as we talk.  The pop of the fired nails punctuates our conversation.  “We are putting a skin on it right now,” says August.  “A piece of plywood to make it look nice.”  The compressor goes on as we talk and adds to the incredible cacophony of sound.  Keith jokes, “I am a noisy worker.  We are not running out of time but we are just pushing on with the job.  We have got to get it done.”    At this point it is starting to look like a real see saw.  “We are almost there.”

Earlier in the day they had actually tried the whole thing out.  Everything has gone extremely well.  “When we lifted it up it was perfectly balanced.  Just like a see saw should be.”  All reports point out as well that the first riders enjoyed the ride as well.  August tells me that on the 27th they are going to need 30 boys in order to transport the see saw down to its final destination where it will officially be measured and tested.  At the moment the see saw is resting on the 6 foot level.  It can and might be raised much higher.  Keith says, “it works, it is a great construction.  It is really well balanced, gives it a lovely ride.”

August and Keith Interview

Arpan is also one who has helped since the early stages.  It is now operational and he describes it, “It looks awesome.  It is Yuyudhan’s creative genius, absolutely.  That it works.  That it works well.  And that it is so big.  It is unbelievable.”  At this point he is eager to take a test drive.  He knows a lot of work went into the project and describes the rain as being one of the obstacles that made going much tougher.  Of Yuyudhan he says, “he took a good attitude and was calm about the whole thing.”

Arpan interview

On the final morning of the 27th the site is busy with final touches.  Papaha tells me proudly, “I am the art director for the world’s largest teeter totter.  We were thinking of some pretty elaborate designs.”  He says that in the end they decided to create something that would look as though it would fit into a typical playground.  “That made my job a lot easier.”

He describes that he chose primary colors.  In selecting them he checked out what was the norm in see saws around the world.  “We wanted the bright happiness affect.  You don’t want to take away from the simple joy of what you have created.”  He has described his own ride on the see saw as, “all smiles.”

“In the beginning you are starring at someone 79 feet away from you.  And both of you have this unbelievable smile on your face.  Then you look down when you get up and it is, holy smokes we are really going up in the air.”  In this mode the rider goes up 12 feet, when it is placed in its maximum setting the rider can go up 21 feet.

Papaha Interview

Transporting the pieces from the yard to the driveway is a big job.  At this time of year there is no lack of volunteers and everyone enjoys being part of something as much fun and as historic as this project is.

Once all the pieces are in the driveway there is still lots of work left to do.

Bishwas directs much of the final bits of the assembly.  Many people like Daulot have played their part as well.

Once the stand is safely assembled than a large group of boys has to lift the heavy see saw up and onto it.

Ashrita has been overseeing the operation from the beginning.  Now he has the all important task of taking the final measurements to ensure the see saw will be recognized by the Guinness book of records.  And yes folks get to actually ride the see saw.  First up is the man who responsible for putting it all together.

To all those who have helped and to all those who simply want to enjoy the joyous spectacle of the world’s biggest see saw, on what would have been Sri Chinmoy’s 79th birthday, Ashrita made this announcement.

“For the purposes of the record, a see saw is defined as a long narrow board or beam that is suspended in the middle, so that as one end goes up the other end goes down.  The see saw must be fully functional, and people must be able to use the item normally.  The components of the see saw must be properly fixed together.  It is not enough to lay a beam across an edge and lay a beam across it.  So this, conforms to all those rules, and is made of all the components of a regular see saw.  It is made out of wood and has some steel components.”

“It measures 79 feet long, because it is Sri Chinmoy’s 79th birthday.  Sri Chinmoy gives us joy throughout the year so we chose something that would give him the most joy.”  At this point he offers rides to the assembled crowd, but says that the first up should be Yuyudhan, as he had contributed the most in making this world record see saw.

Hundreds who will ride it over the next 24 hours will get to enjoy this, instantaneous joy, and certain to give you a smile, gigantic toy.  For both young and old, big and small, it will spontaneously rekindle the sweet simple happiness of being a child. It magically happens the moment you climb on board and start to rise effortlessly up high into the air.  Or in the case of a little girl like Shakti, who gets to ride with her mom, create an unforgettable sweet memory.  One that will give her pause to smile for the rest of her life.  One in which she was part of a world record and also just had fun.

Ashrita speech

For Guinness champion Ashrita Furman, who has often taken on simple child like pleasures and escalated them into herculean accomplishments the task of constructing the world’s biggest lollipop seemed like a worthy challenge.

On the anniversary of his spiritual teacher’s birthday he has often turned to creating extraordinary sweet treats to honor him.  In what would have been  Sri Chinmoy’s 77th birthday last August 27th he and a large group of students created a birthday cake with 47,000 lighted candles.

http://heartlotus.blogspot.com/2008/10/lighting-up-world.html

This year he says he wanted to honor Sri Chinmoy’s birthday, “with the sweetest item we could think of.”  This was a gigantic task of course because the previous record was an incredible 4,759 pounds.  Two weeks earlier the process of making a bigger one started in earnest.  Ultimately Ashrita believes that something like 50 people volunteered to make this sweet dream a tasty reality.

Steve Guy from Cambridge England worked just about non stop for 10 days on the lollipop.  He found himself working on sugar preparation almost from the moment he arrived in New York.  But like most who look forward to participating in one of Ashrita’s great adventures each August, working on a lollipop came as no surprise.   Two years ago he worked with a team that created the worlds largest popcorn cake.  He says of this project, “We knew the proportions for the sugar, we knew the temperature, we know how to rotate the cooking of the pots.”  All this experience was crucial, in that the sugar, which was also mixed with corn syrup, color, and flavoring needed to be cooked to the correct temperature.  To add to this, the pots of syrup needed to be created in a steady stream, and then transported down the street to a wooden mold on top of a flat bed truck.  The most important ingredient in this recipe  according to Steve is, “we knew how to work together, and be cheerful, all night long.”

Steve believes that over his week plus of  volunteering he put in 10 – 14 hours a day on the project.  He knows that as strong as the hardened sugar may appear to the naked eye it is also very temperamental, “it can be very strong but at the same time it can just shatter.”

He says for him the best part of the whole project is, “how it unfolded.  There was a certain idea of how it would start, a vision.  That was changing daily, sometimes hourly.  You were only taking a step forward and the path would then appear in front of that step.  That is an amazing experience.  You have to surrender to the moment.  You have to put all your energy and cheerfulness into that moment, and it all just unfolds.”

Click to play Steve interview

There were times in the boiling process when the batch, for no apparent reason went bad.  The tell tale sign was a poor pale color of the mix.  Most often of course when the correct temperature was reached, in a reasonable interval, the mix would be a bright red.

Mark Royden an aeronautical engineer from New Zealand has also used his talents on several of Ashrita’s large projects.  He had literally just gotten off the plane, and was looking for accommodation, when he had a chance encounter with Homagni Baptista while coming out of the local health food store.  He recalls that he mischievously smiled at him and inquired, “are you busy?”  What he was not anticipating was finding himself involved non stop for the next 2 weeks in helping out with the project.

He says that in no time he was, “head to foot in candy.”  He says in the early stages it was all about design and logistics.  A small core group had to sort out how it would work, what was the easiest way to do it, and what would be the right amount of steel to include so that it wouldn’t collapse.”    The destructive power of sugar is well known to dentists but is not so formally understood by engineers.  The group simply knew that when building a giant lollipop, “It needed something.  It has a similar behavior to glass,” said Mark.

He said that creating a horizontal lollipop would have been infinitely easier.  But none of the group wanted to create a reclining candy that simply lay flat.  It must be strong enough to be raised aloft just as though it was to be enjoyed by a very large, and hard to determine the size, gigantic individual.

He says he knows from first hand experience that the candy can easily shatter.  He said he did the test personally by hitting a large block of candy with a hammer.  He had also worked, like Steve, on the largest popcorn cake.  An experience he calls, “an adventure.”

He worked on various parts of the project.  He says that Bishwas and himself designed the steel frame and though an outside firm bent the steel.  It was himself and Unmilan that did all the welding.  It must be noted of course that the final weight of the lollipop will not include the steel.  This weight will be deducted from the overall total in order to achieve the final finish weight.  He tells me that the sugar alone used in the project weighs 4500 pounds.  In addition there is another 2 and half thousand pounds of corn syrup.  In the early stages a goal of 6,000 pound seems within reason.  He adds as well, “it also has to look like a lollipop.”

Homagni has been working on trying to make sure that the syrup will not stick to the mold.  It is a part of the project that no one knows for sure what will happen.  It is extremely hot in the tent that he works within.  There is also little ventilation and he is working with various sprays that make the conditions there, to be kind, challenging.

Homagni started working on the project very early on by doing test syrup boils in his kitchen.  “I started with smaller mixtures and then got to larger batches.  Ashrita and I then got started with larger pots in his back yard.  The main problem in this process he says is cooking the mixture too much thus causing it to caramelize.  “You end up with a gooey mess.”

He said that there comes a point in the planning when time runs out, “and there is no more time for experimenting.”  The ultimate ingredient of the mixture of course is a lot of hard work by a large group of willing people.  “We had a whole team of guys from all over the world.”

Once the mold is leveled than the constant parade of hot syrup begins its journey.  It will take several days to finish filling the mold up to the top.  A lot of good science has gone into the calculations but the final weight is far from certain.

Click to play Homagni interview

There is lots of excitement as the first bucket of syrup is brought up the ramp on the back of the truck in order to be poured into the mold.

	It is a scene that is repeated hour after hour for several days.
	All day and late into the night teams cook up the syrup and deliver it to the slowly filling mold.

The plan for having a two colored lollipop falls by the wayside as the internal barrier fails to hold back the red syrup.  With little other options the lollipop becomes a single color.  The surface decoration however will add lots of color.  Fully candied letters are added to the surface. They are attached by melting them by heating them with a torch.

Now that syrup production has finished Steve joins Asidhari and Anurakta who are decorating the surface.

Everything is edible.  The paint used on the Jharna Kala bird in the middle as well as the colorful topping applied to the 3d letters.

Once the mold has been removed the project is almost complete.  It has yet to be officially weighed however, and more importantly it has not been lifted into the air.  There is however, the not so small matter, of backing the truck out onto the street.  One that was much narrower than when it first arrived.

“He asked if I could pick up a lollipop for him.”  Russel Leach manages United Crane and rigging and he bemusedly recalls a phone call he received from Ashrita 5 days earlier.  “It was a 7,000 pound lollipop, and I said no problem.”  He has asked every conceivable question pertaining to the lollipop.  He is concerned about how fragile the lollipop is but predicts that there is a great chance that it can be lifted and weighed.  He particularly appreciates the internal steel frame adding strength to the candy.

He jokes that he had told his kids the night before what he was going to lift the following day.  He says, “they wanted to come and eat it.”Click to play Russel Leach interview

Nick is the master rigger on the job and he has spent a lifetime lifting heavy difficult objects but had never before lifting a lollipop.  He says that finding the center of the lollipop for him was a problem and also that because of the heat the candy began to change shape.  He says, “It is hard work but its a lot of fun.”Click to play master rigger interview

Mike Nova is the operator of the crane on the job.  He says, “I was really hoping it would work, I didn’t want to see it fall apart.” Click to play Mike Nova interview

There are lots of nerve wracking moments in trying to get the lollipop airborne.  Not only is the lollipop unwieldy the mold proves to be stubborn to remove.

The candy also appears to be melting in the hot August sun.

Click to play Mark interview

A decision is made to get the lollipop off the truck and remove the mold stuck to its back surface.  The crew who made it now help lever the lollipop into the correct position.

Russel Leach watches his crew closely.  Each step brings the lollipop closer to being weighed.  It is also clear that it is very soft in the middle and once the mold is removed it dramatically begins to change shape.

For Ashrita it is all great fun.

A little lopsided the lollipop is eventually hoisted into the skies.  The initial weight by using the crane scale is estimated to be 6706 pounds.  Later when weighed more accurately it turns out to be 6514.  A weight which is 1755 pounds greater than the old record.

Mark speaks for everyone when he says of Ashrita’s Guinness projects, “I look forward to this.  To me it is one great adventure.  We do this a lot to inspire others.  It pushes people beyond what they thought was possible.  It is innocent good fun, and in the end this is what the world needs is this innocence and fun, and this, look what we can do if we work together.  We can accomplish things that people think are impossible.”

Click to play Ashrita Interview