After Yuri finished the 3100 mile race for the first time in 2013 he said, “During the race I discovered something new in this world. The course of the 3100 mile race is the temple. Energy circulates in it.”
“This force then penetrates the entire universe. It purifies, it transforms, and improves it. In a word this is progress.”
*Translation of interview by Lyalya*
He is now running for the 4th time and as he keeps improving his times he appears to be also gaining even more insight into the inner workings of something that is so vast and thorny that it can almost be incomprehensible to the regular athlete.
If Yuri is that unique blend of mystic and runner he is also fun, bright, and shockingly clear about what he perceives that is happening at this race which is in its 20th year. He is adamant in his belief that something divine from here is also spilling out into the world as well.
“A special grace comes down from God, ” Yuri says to me this morning before we had run a block. He says all the runners experience this who are doing the race.
When I ask him if he does not experience this grace at other times throughout the year.
“This is a special grace. Just as there are candies that are good and then there are candies that are amazing. Whenever the Supreme gives this grace it is always very very amazing.”
When the race is over he says for the first half year he takes his time to examine and think about what has taken place. “For the other half of the year I am preparing myself for the next race.”
“This race becomes a life for a runner. You cannot separate your life from the race. It all becomes one”
“I also had a life before I started running this race but I feel that for my whole life I have been preparing for this race. Not just one life but for many lifetimes.”
“I am now a very different person. If you look very closely at the runners before the race and then after the race you will see that they are all totally different people. You become more pure, more receptive, more subtle.”
“Guru is everything. This race is part of Guru. This is a dream of Guru. Because of this I have many special experiences.”
The deeper we dive,
The stronger becomes
Our oneness with God
And with all humankind.