First Steps on a Long Road

At precisely noon today a little temporary Universe sprang joyously to life.  For all intent and purpose it appears pecariously perched on the edge of a damp park in New York city.  Its life span will last not much longer than a rose but in the brief time the Self-Transcendence race goes on in Flushing Meadow miracles will be taking place in every mile run and for some perhaps, in every moment.

The scoreboard begins to reveal the truths that cannot be kept secret.  To either frighten or inspire it speaks in the blunt language of math.  The heart’s stories are not writ upon it.

46 runners started today in the 10 day race and the number who have made it all possible is extremely difficult to count.  Even more will ensure that those will make their 10 day journey here are kept safe, well fed, and that they have no diversions in front of them along the long road in front of them.

Madhupran Schwerk wears number one and for good reason.  The afternoon is just beginning to slip away and already the margin between himself and the next runner is expanding rapidly.  He is running smooth and fast and he appears to be on a mission.  In his previous visits to this race he has told me that he was inspired to come because of a significant experience.  He says, “It is the first time I have come here without having a dream or vision.  I have come only for my own self.”

Last year his wife had told him not to run competitively and he was inspired nonetheless instead to run hard.  The weather turned hard, cold, and wet against him.  Yet ultimately he found a new purpose in his running in the later stages and ended with not a new record but instead a great transformative experience.  This year her message to Madhupran was quite different.  She asked him instead to please make it his last multi day race.

He tells me that in this race his goal is simple, he says “10 days 1,000 miles.  The only race I can do it is here.”  We are running together at a pace that seems almost effortless to him.  I find myself concentrating hard to keep up with him.  My questions sound labored while he moves as light as a breeze.  He says that at the start a few hours earlier he felt nothing but joy to be able to set off.  He hopes the weather will be his friend.

The running conditions are almost ideal.  The overcast skies will keep temperatures from getting cold over the long evening ahead.  There is no rain forecast and the equally nasty face of nature, the wind, appears not to be a factor.  Nearly all have run at least 20 miles since noon.  There are yet to be any aches or pains and the road now is realatively dry.

 

Of course the crew has worked long and hard to not only pump dry the course but also put the finishing touches to the village itself.  The crew chief Bipin takes a little break by demonstrating hammer spinning.

 

 

The helpers who work behind the scenes cannot ever get enough credit for their tireless efforts.  Their journeys are not as obvious as taking one mile laps on the course but still what they do helps so much and in so many ways the lives of the runners.

 

 

Yesterday Fred Davis was just setting up his tent.  He and his wife Flo had come to New York from Cleveland.  It is Fred’s 3rd time at this race but the 1st for Flo.  She tells me that he has brought her this time to keep him awake.  She says, “If he keeps running by the 24th hour he is in a groove.” She says that when he came back from the race last year he had been disappointed at the time he spent sleeping and that if he hadn’t slept so much he could have run more miles.

I ask her impression of the little community that has sprung up and she says, “Its an awesome city.”  Their collective goal over the next 10 days is 600 miles.

 

 

There are of course many familiar faces who have returned here.  Luis Rios has run many of the Sri Chinmoy events and completed 511 miles here last year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Radi Milev is here for the first time.

 

 

 

Ivana Nemcova from the Czech Republic came in second amongst the women with 634 miles.  A personal best.

 

 

 

Yesterday I noticed some new faces.  They belonged to Brian Marshall and his wife Brenda who had come all the way from South Africa.  He had heard about the event from some friends who had been here a few years ago and says, “I always wanted to do this event.  It was time to do a 10 day.”  He has never gone 10 days before in a multi day event.

He is walking very smooth and quickly as we move along the course.  He tells me that he cannot run anymore  but that he was always a good walker and is finding now that he can cover more distance in walking then he ever could as a runner.

I ask him if his wife has come as his helper and he says, “you don’t need help here, this event is so well organized. I ask him what it felt like to be at the starting line earlier in the day and he says, “I was all nerves.  My wife tells me that before the race I am all aches and pains but as soon as the gun goes off I am all fine.”

He also mentions that he has been noticing all the spring buds on the trees in the park.  When he and Brenda left South Africa it was fall and leaves were falling there.  He says, ” before I go home all these buds will be leaves.”  This makes him smile.

 

Klaus Schultz is 68 years old from Berlin Germany.