“This 3100 mile race is an inner thing. There are small and bigger inner things that happen here that you can compare to a meditation experience. The deeper experiences, this I will of course take with me. The outer thing I don’t know.”…..Pushkar
As each runner approaches the finish line of the 3100 their faces radiate an almost transcendent glow of satisfaction and happiness. They shine with a pure beauty that comes 
not from their physical but from the divine qualities that they have drawn closer to each day and with each step that they have taken. With each new mile they moved further and further away from the predictable clutch and grasp of our material world.
It may not be heaven, this place to which they have arrived, but from my perspective, as I am now so clearly caught up in the world. They, at least for a moment, have slipped beyond its reach to a realm that appears divine. The price of this kind of sacrifice is not to be measured by mortal hands but only to be praised purely by heaven’s heart. There is a prize as well, but it can only partly be seen by us. We may perceive the glimmer of their transcendent victory while they themselves bask in its full radiant glow.
Of course Pushkar struggled mightily for the last few days with a catalog of injury and pain. The heat and humidity today, will torment and mock him and all the others in its own perverse way. The daily cat and mouse game with obstacles big and small never disappears. For once you have climbed a mountain here it will simply be replace by another and then still another. The race offers it own unique inner joy but this is combined with an extensive legacy of suffering that can never be really avoided.
There is no road map and no manual to figure out and plan routes that will safetly evade all the pitfalls of extreme weather and of course extreme life. The only coach and guide is the little voice within. That one that always speaks and offers guidance. It is with our own indifference that we do not take sufficient time and listen well.
Some days ago Pushkar jettisoned the burden of expectation, and so he is unhindered by so much of what captures us and makes it difficult for most of us to even move from beyond our chairs. Today his journey will be complete in so many ways. What we see, and what all can congratulate him for, is that he has transcended himself by almost 14 hours setting a new Swiss record as well.
When we walk along the road of name and fame, there comes a time when frustration makes friends with us.
This frustration-friend takes us to destruction and there our journey ends.
When we walk along the road of Truth and Light, perfection becomes our friend and perfection leads us to satisfaction.
But there our journey does not end; on the contrary, there a new and unprecedented journey starts.
For this satisfaction is nothing but the ever-transcending Reality.
Each time we are satisfied, a new reality inspires us to transcend ourselves.
Sri Chinmoy, My Rose Petals, Part 6, Agni Press, 1976.
Start Day 49
The familiar red shirt moves quickly today.
In the morning a finish time is predicted but he is moving at a faster more efficient Swiss time
“I am going further and further.”
“I am limping, I have for a couple of days. I think about a week ago my hip went out of place. The last few days I have been limping because the opposite muscle started to take over. Yesterday (Dr. Mitch Proffman) the chiropractor came and he put the bones back in the right place. But the muscle which had to work so hard to keep it kind of running, it is really worn out. It is really like dead.” (laughs)
“The feeling is now different. The feeling before was that the muscle has to somehow hold the whole structure. This is now not any more it has somehow overstretched the whole thing. I have never experienced something like that before.”
“When I came out after the treatment and my last short break yesterday, I wanted to start running. I just had to start laughing. This muscle was so worn out. I have never experienced that before.”
(He is weighed for the last time at 66kg. He started the race at 70 or 71Kg)
Of the last few hundred miles. “They were really good. I enjoyed them a lot. A little bit deeper experiences. (laughs)
“You know it is all connected with our faith. And I try to strengthen my faith. You know, I can say, let thy will be done without any sincerity, like it is empty. I can say it like a parrot….blah, blah, blah. Of course I am a long way away from being perfect. So if I say this prayer I try and be sincere as possible. And whatever is the result I try, as I mentioned in my prayer (Published earlier) to take happily and cheerfully. So I am going that way and this looks as though it is a manifestation of that. I don’t know. (Pause)………Yeah. I think it is like that.”
“The beginning of the shirt is that year the Swiss National team they had a really unbelievable team spirit. I got so inspired so I bought one and you could print something on it. So after a long search, for the words I would place there. I chose ‘Jai Guru.’ And 27 because it is a very nice number. Jai is Bengali and it means victory. For me this race is absolutely a team, a oneness project.”
“Without the race directors, without the kitchen, without the helpers, without the runners of course, it would not be possible. For me it is a victory for him. He managed that I was able to finish. This multi day race, this 3100 mile race, is an inner thing. It is inner progress and outer success. So I try ans surrender the outer success. Of course it is very nice if you can transcend yourself.”
“It was nice. I enjoyed it. I felt good, I felt strong. I felt most of the time happy being here. I feel like a fully blossomed blue lotus.” (laughs)
Click to Play Interview
Never far from friends and country.
The Enthusiasm Awakeners greet him for the last time.
A greeting from all angles
A greeting you cannot forget.
One that will last longer than the pain. Mitch is there again today to pull the outer bits back together.
To help the heroes all heal a little more. To find a few more steps that were not there before.
A place where encouragement comes in all directions.
“Watching from this perspective, it has the same amount of awe as when this thing first started. We were just finishing the 2mile and it felt like we were running a marathon. And they have been out here for the last how many days? It is just mind blowing. It is inspiring. It is amazing and we will miss them. When we come back here next week it will be…..where did everybody go? We will miss them and miss the energy and the positive vibe.”
“The conditions are unbelievable. It is like running in soup. It is disgusting.”
“The thing with my cheering is that it is almost frightening. I get very excited. I may scare them a little but when they walk away they are all smiling.”
Click to Play interview
A little Palash goes a long way.
The 2 mile race brings its own light and energy.
So many get inspired by the course.
For some it is really home.
To find things inside.
To bring joy outside.
Atmavir arrives tomorrow
Time continues to pass. The Swiss know time so well.
Nature will not be contained.
Friendship found with others who share the way.
The way never easy.
The moment draws near.
The Goal is Won
Click to Play Pushkar’s finish
“Ladies and Gentlemen Pushkar C Mullauer, in a brilliant attempt this year finished in 48 days, 8 hours, 22 minutes, and 16 seconds. Which is now the 17th rank all time. A personal best by 14 hours. The new Swiss record holder. He was the old one and now he is the new one. Pushkar averaged 64.121 miles per day and 103.192 km. Finishing in 4th place, Pushkar the great.”….Sahishnu
“Thank you for everything. For me it is really a oneness project. The runners alone cannot achieve it. For me it is a oneness victory.”…Pushkar.
Medur and his niece Shannon recite the Poem of the Day
Click to Play
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 Enthusiasm Awakeners….Click to Play….parvati2 |
How do we transform life? We transform life with our inner cry. There is an outer cry and also there is an inner cry. When we cry outwardly, we cry for name and fame and material prosperity. When we cry inwardly, we cry for divine Love, divine Peace and divine Light. When we get Peace, Love and Light from above, we start transforming the world around us.
Sri Chinmoy, My Rose Petals, Part 7, Agni Press, 1976.
Pushkar one day during the race had a powerful experience in which he no longer saw himself running around and around a block but instead on a sacred pilgrimage in with he was always moving forward. “Something entered into me. It was much easier to accept. Every step I do brings me closer. On that day I did my best. I could not do more.” Today that journey will come to a close, at least for this year.
“I am able to complete this unimaginable distance only because of God’s boundless compassion, affection, and concern.” He is wearing a special shirt that he has only worn once before. The only other time he wore it was when he finished the race last year. The previous year when he did not complete the race he did not wear it. On the back it says, “Joy Guru…27)
He will be slower by more than a day from last year but he is not disappointed by this at all. He does not believe that the heat bothered him as much as some of the others but suspects that it may have indirectly affected his digestive problems. As a whole he has learned a lot from being here the 2 previous summers and feels more disciplined and independent.
He spoke recently about how happy he was to be able to continue to run after Asprihanal finished 2 days ago. He felt that his own finish would likely be a mixture of sadness and joy. “A smiling eye will definitely come forward.” He confesses that already this morning the crying eye was present when he was filled with overwhelming gratitude that he was able to be here and complete the journey.
“I would love to go for ever and ever but this is just a part of it. Another part says, “let us reach the finish line and take a little rest,” and he laughs. I suggest that if he wants to run for ever and ever he just needs to come back every year and run. “If the outer circumstances allow it, I will definitely be here. It is the most beautiful thing I can do on earth. What ever you do is the right thing here. If you come you move, move, move. Everything you do is in God’s own way done.” from Every Step Brings Me Closer 2 Aug 2010
Congratulation Pushkar for you Finish on this year
o love God Unconditionally
is to be
on the right track.
composed by Sri Chinmoy August 2,2006