June 18: It Becomes More Than A Race

I was asked a very good question the other day and unfortunately it is one that I have no answer for.  Simply put, someone asked me, that if a person was not interested in running or sports very much, would they still be able to establish any real connection to the Self Transcendence 3100 mile race.

I am not a behavioral psychologist or have much interest in analyzing sports data so I have no practical way of answering this question.  Certainly all those who have posted comments here are all runners and some like Purna Samarpan and Smarana have run the race many times.  Laura of course, who lives and runs somewhere out in Kansas has been a keen fan for 6 years, though I suspect she is a little sad this year that Surasa could not return and run again.

On the surface the most dedicated followers of the race who cannot visit in person have several ways of making themselves known.  Quite a few emails come into the race site every day to be distributed to the runners, some runners even receive regular phone calls.

Pradeep just may have the most dedicated fan base back in Holland.   This morning I saw him eating a granola bar that he brought from home.  Very carefully wrapped around it and tapped to the package was a joke his friends had given him.  He has in fact one for every day of the race, a unique gift that provides something  delicious to nourish the body and also something cheerful to lighten the heart.  He loves the bar and insists that today’s  joke only makes sense if you understand Dutch.

I am in a unique position and thus am able to gain an almost exclusive entry into the inner workings of the race.  To see it as close perhaps as it is possible to experience the event without actually having to be there 18 hours a day.  Talk silly nonsense sometimes and at other moments have the most intimate spiritual conversations.  See all their faces up close as I run along and then afterwards look at the photos I took and marvel at the radiant beauty that emerges from the faces of those who are stepping almost free of the material world and going on a journey that I can only dream of.  So I cannot help but be enraptured by it all but also humbled at the same time to have the privilege of having this access.

Yes I run and have run for decades so it is nothing for me to easily and instantly feel the soulful inviting pull of the race and all it has to offer.  But if you did not run and if you did not like sport of any kind what would you see and feel here?

The ones who carom by in cars certainly cannot feel much at all.  But if you actually are able to even walk on the course I am positive you will most certainly experience something deep, heartfelt, and meaningful.

But even if great distance forces you to observe the 3100  from a vantage point on the far side of the world.  You are only able to envision the runners through your own imagination as they actually strive and struggle to reach for the highest, then definitely some receptive portion of your inner being will respond and be stirred.  If today you are not a runner than perhaps tomorrow you will become one, no matter which road your feet and heart take you ever closer to your goal.

The mileage board expresses the physical reality of the race like nothing else.  Vasu who demonstrated such amazing talent in the recent 10 race has brought his abundant first time capacity to the race with a first day total of 82 miles.  Pranjal  and Pushkar who all have tremendous experience here follows with 81.

Start Day 2

7 years ago in 2005 Sopan came to the 3100 mile race for the first time.  “It was way way beyond anything I expected.” He was just 24 and at that age is still the youngest person to ever attempt the race.  Asked what he expected would happen, “Actually I had no idea what would happen.  I just tried my best.  Somehow it worked out.”  He was able to just get in under the 52 day cut off.  Besides completing the miles he felt a real transformation take place.  “I think something changed after the race.  I was a completely different person.  It took me a while to get used to it.”  He describes how he reacted to the world around himself in different ways than he did before.  “I think in a better way.”

In 2006 he came back again.  “The second time was easier mentally, because I already knew what to expect.”  He adds that physically though for him it was a tougher experience.  Instead of coming back again in 2007 he describes simply that he needed a year off to take a break.

In 2008 though he made plans to return, “I trained really hard.  I gradually increased my training from 100 miles a week to 156 miles a week.  Which is like 5 hours a day.  I think I over trained at this time.  I think I came and was a little over confident.  When you are over confident then usually you get problems.”

“The first 10 days I pushed a little bit too hard.  I felt I could do that because I had already finished it 2 times.  I thought I could definitely finish it again.  But I got a muscle strain in my legs, and I had to fight it for 3 weeks after the 10 days and it just got worse and worse.  That is what happened.”

We talk about the short film I made at just about the time he was suffering the most and was eventually forced to retire from the race.  It was called Never Give Up. Clearly you can see his distress at that time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmylEg-5cUg

He says over the past 4 years he never stopped dreaming about returning and running again.  It took time however to heal from injuries and also be fully ready to commit himself to undertaking such a monumental task as running the 3100.  When he did the 6 day race in 2011 he began to really feel that he was ready.  “This race is so much harder.  You have to be really strong in every way.”

“Because it is so long you get to face a lot of challenges.  It becomes more than a race because it is so long.  All sorts of imperfections they come forward.  Then you have to deal with them.  If it is a short race like 6 days there is not so much time for these things to come up.  This race goes really deep within.  I feel that it does a lot of transformation of these imperfections so actually you become a better person.  That is how I feel.”

When asked how he felt about starting the race again after 4 years he laughs and describes an equal mixture of joy and trepidation.  As for once again finding the flow of the race he says it took him 10 hours.  Eventually he made 75 miles for his first day.  “That is actually my best first day ever at the 3100.  Usually I do 71 or 73.  Somehow I feel really comfortable.  I am not even stiff.  Which is a good thing.  It is a good sign I think.”

He describes that he has no goals for the race.  “There are so many things that can go wrong.  So many things can go unexpected.  You can never tell.  Just do your best day by day.”

Click to play interview

sopan

The flower garden gnomes got busy yesterday.

This particular project was created by Parvati and Joey.  It has included just about everything somebody could want including a complete meal of rocks, or rather, food painted on rocks.  Joey says, “When we were painting the rocks I was on a diet.  I ended up with a cupcake, a hamburger, and french fries.”

Parvati adds that there is even a statue of liberty in the installation.  “There is a peace dove.  There is a gnome house with a welcome mat and a little gnome standing outside it, and a taxi cab in case the runners get a little tired.”

There is also a very important sign at the site which politely suggests people not steal the flowers.  The runners Parvati says, “Watched us put the flowers out yesterday and it gave them a lot of joy.  They really appreciate having beauty around the course.  We are encouraging everybody to come out and take a plot and help combat ugliness.”

She encourages others to help decorate and not be discouraged if their contributions mysteriously disappear.  She adds, “it was started by one of the runners several years ago, who went out and planted his own flowers.  It inspired us to take this up and make the course as nice as possible for the runners.”

Click to play interview

Parvati and Joey

 

 

Enthusiasm Awakeners

Click to play

parvati

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each day
I become more and more conscious
Of who I am.
Each day
I grow more and more determined
To become a perfect instrument
Of God.

 

Sri Chinmoy, Twenty-Seven Thousand Aspiration-Plants, Part 95, Agni Press, 1984.