June 20 Best Place to Be

His arrival this morning is both equal parts, a surprise and to be expected.  Pranab has not recorded any miles or covered any laps for 2 days prior to yesterday.  One cannot say that, either he is cured of his rash or, that it is getting any worse.

Yesterday he ran a very respectable 57 miles.  As the day begins he is 200 miles behind Ashprihanal and more than 70 behind the next to last runner.

Rupantar inspects his condition and gives him the go ahead to go on for another day.  Many might not understand why he perseveres, when clearly no one would blame him for just giving up.  He has, in every respect, just begun his journey, and has 2860 miles to go.  Yet to surrender to defeat is not in the heart of these champions.  Their journey here is so much more than the sum of the miles run.  The intensity of the experience here is like no other just as there is no other race even remotely like it.  To be on the course with them is to feel just a fragment of the powerful, and the divine forces, which push and call them onward.  What will happen to Pranab in the next few days and miles is anyone’s guess.  Just as it is impossible to ponder the experiences that will arrive, and both bless and challenge all the others.  For all of them there is no surrender to failure.  Only surrender to the light that burns most powerfully within them all.

This morning I come upon Grahak and Petr, as they have spontaneously found themselves running together.  It is an occurrence that can last for both a few strides or sometime even for miles.  Typically when this happens they will have a chat, which can often be about the most profound and the most mundane of things.  Grahak says, “the main thing is to be happy.”  Most frequently these little conversations are about inspiring one another, but also, since some runners grow particularly close, it can be a way to cut through the periods of boredom.  In this way time and miles both just seem to pass more effortlessly.

The rain this year is a topic that never grows dull.  Grahak says, “If it is raining you can’t do anywhere near the same miles.  It can affect your mood and your feet.  When it rained for 8 hours the other day, I said, God, what are you doing?  Then in the evening it got quite nice.”

Petr describes that he is approached by many people during the rest of the year who ask questions and this gives his experience here fresh.  He talks about Jesper Olsen the runner who is going around the world  via a north and south route.  They discussed the race and Jesper marveled at how anyone could do this race.  He himself feels he needs to  be around nature more and not the concrete of Queens.  What has brightened the course just a little is some flowers planted around the course.  Petr says, “Diganta planted them and even such a small change to the course helps.”

Grahak, “did you see that lady steal one yesterday?” Apparently a mother pushing her infant in a baby stroller just pulled one up and walked away.  Petr,”we really like them.  It would be nice if someone can plant some more flowers.”

Petr starts to talk about Pranab and what a difference it has meant to himself and the others to have him back.  He says, “It is amazing because he was thinking of quiting on the second day.”  His presence has lifted the spirits of all the members of this elite little family.  “It was wonderful to see him running again.  Pranab is a real fighter.  Inwardly he is really strong.  He is really determined to start running again.  At the same time it elevates the others.”

He talks about how much he enjoys the sharing of experiences with the other runners.  He feels that the rest of the year is mundane at the best of times compared to the experience he receives here.  For him every day here is both different and intense, in a way that lifts and inspires him like no other experience.

Purabi, Pranab’s Mom, has had to look upon the experience her son is having with both her mind and her heart.  She knows all to well how tough it has been for him and what led up to him being  this way in the first place.  She says, ‘I think he was going through a tough period since the beginning of the year and it is just a result of what was happening.  Last year he was concentrating on many other things and so he couldn’t concentrate on himself.  This is just the outcome.”  I ask her what she thinks will happen now to Pranab, her answer without hesitation, “I don’t have any doubts.  He will definitely finish the race.”

Parvat’s group sings a song that she says was composed by Sri Chinmoy, on this spot, on this day 2 years ago.