When compared to all of the great and all of the terrible events happening in the world right now clamoring for our attention. One man in New York having a problem with a blister would not seem to worthy of any notice what so ever.
But to all those who follow and identify with this little community perched temporarily on a little rectangle in Queens, Vasu’s problem is a big deal. You may have never met him in person, or even listened to the sound of his voice.
But if you have been following the race over the past few years you have seen in his face and in his eyes all the sincerity and devotion to conquering the impossible that you may ever need to see expressed in a lifetime.
For the better part of week he has been trying to get a large blister on the bottom of his foot healed just enough so that he can run again. For 2 days straight he managed to walk only 37 miles.
When you consider as of this morning he has completed 1676 miles, a blister and a bad one at that is not surprising. But then again this is the 5th time that he has run the race, so you might ask how could it happen like this.
Life can suddenly get a little complicated when you are running the equivalent of nearly 3 marathons a day.
There are no easy answers either to the why or, how to fix it quickly. You just might be surprised though at just how calmly he is taking this predicament when you consider there are still 1424 miles yet to go (see map).
When asked the obvious question if he is discouraged. “No. It will get better with the grace of Guru.”
“This is just an experience.”
When asked if it makes him stronger? “I hope.”
“Early in the morning I could hardly move. Now it is much much better.”
“The first lap took me a half hour or more. When I walked by the Enthusiasm Awakeners singers. Something inspired me. I felt as though I now had the power to run. The next lap was better. Then I could run again.”
“I don’t know how long it will last but I will just keep going.” Vasu also humbly wanted to thank everyone. “Everybody inspires me. Guru is working through his children to help me finish this race.”
3 hours later I run with Vasu again who has not stopped since early this morning.
“I think this is a miracle that Guru did for me. I don’t know for how long but now it works.”
My Supreme, my Supreme, my Supreme!
May my soul, my heart, my mind,
My vital and my body
Always remain
In Your Protection-Cradle.
My Supreme, my Supreme, my Supreme!
3 April 2000, 9:39 a.m. Before doing fifty-two one-arm pushes with 700 lbs. (33 right, 19 left)
The Board
Kaneenika arrives
Yuri
Coming out of the van
Ashprihanal stretches on the curb
Vasu arrives
Janos receiving laundry
The big picture
The girls
Checking the miles
The boys
Start Day 26
The morning is mostly grey and humid
A little blue
Atmavir had another good day with 68 miles
He has 1728 miles. He is 115 miles in front of last year
Augusta telling Atmavir about her surgery
Lines
Yuri ran 65 miles
He has 1682 miles
He is 46 miles behind Atmavir
A little green
Vasu once again was only able to walk 37 miles
He is 20 miles ahead of Ashprihanal
Japanese maple that Sri Chinmoy planted
Ashprihanal ran 70 miles.
He has 1656 miles
A little blue
“Listen up everybody. Your bag breakfast is ready.”
A little clover
Surasa did 60 miles
She has 1605 miles
Just there
Kaneenika did 64 miles
She started the day with 1595 miles
She started the day 10 miles behind Surasa
She is doing very well
With Irina
“Until I went on the Atkins diet I would have had to go around to the other side and use the gate.”
A little blue
Sopan did 62 miles
He has 1459 miles. Sahishnu says that although he will not make the half way total by the end of day 26 he just needs to continue to run 109 laps every day until the end in order to make it.
Across the street
Kodanda playing
Stutisheel approaching
Stutisheel did 63 miles yesterday
He has 1431 miles
Day lilly
“I can have breakfast later. For now I want to check out the runners.
Baladev did 60 miles
He has 1427 miles
Cat angel?
Ananda-Lahari did 44 miles. He now has 1365 miles
Cosmos
Cooks coming at 10
Nirjharini checking out a book that helps you make physical adjustments
I asked Adhiratha if there was any way of comparing being half way across the English Channel to being half way through the 3100 mile race.
“I remember the first time I got to 6 hours, and they told me I was half way. My mind went….half way? The rest of the swim is going to be twice as bad as this. There is no way I am going to make it.”
“But the pilot of the boat was really good. He said….look how far you have come. So it changed my mind. It was like a blessing. All of a sudden it was get back to it and don’t think about. Just do it.”
Adhiratha says that in particular he identifies with the early stages of the 3100. “To watch the pain. To see the feeling of self transcendence in the physical. After a while I get into it. I see they have reached a certain pattern.”
“I see, compared to the earlier years of the race, that the runners are better able to adjust. They know what they are getting into. From watching others or doing it themselves. But still, my mind can’t grasp it really.”
“The runners keep doing it day after day. They are doing 2 plus marathons a day. It is mind boggling.”
“They are testing their limits. You don’t know what your limits are sometimes until you go over it. Then they recover and go over it again.”
“People want to do this every year. They want to transcend themselves.”
We talk about the comparison of the race to a pilgrimage. The distance the runners keep repeating is less than a mile when compared to the great pilgrimages. “They are not going a great distance from the starting point except that they are.”
“It is obvious that they are going through a lot of things. to see the self transcendence as Sri Chinmoy called it in action. The inner journey is the most important thing that goes on here.”
“The purpose of the pilgrimage was to see within the outer journey, how they grew inwardly. So here it is here in a modern time.”
Click to Play:
Uddipan updating the totals
Pranika reads the Daily Poem
Click to Play:
Enthusiasm Awakeners
Click to Play:
The outer run inspires me
To go and see God.
The inner run inspires me
To come and sit at God’s Feet.
17 February 2001
New York
Sri Chinmoy, My Race-Prayers, part 1, Agni Press, 2004
