“I don’t want to think of the days to come or the days that have passed.” This morning as I am running with Sopan he is literally living almost entirely in the moment. A state that most of us aspire for at least at some point in our days but one that rarely happens to most of us and in particular to inquisitive journalists.
“The way it works here is that you need to focus on every day. You cannot think about yesterday or the day before. It is not good to use the mind too much.” (laughs)
Sopan proceeds to describe the incredibly difficult conditions that the runners have all had to endure over much of the past week. “Four days of back to back heat wave. It was pretty intense. You can only focus on the moment of being here.”
“Every day becomes grace. You have no idea what will happen tomorrow.”
The board at the start of Day 17 (Please note it was not updated)
Paramartha readying the scoring tables
Yolanda’s table
Yolanda arrives
Still quiet
William arrives
Vajra works on Kobi
Rupantar checks the daily results
Staying hydrated
Relaxing
Ushika and Smarana
Vajra leaves for the day
Surasa
Kaneenika
Lailai is helping Yolanda
Start Day 17
It is a very humid morning
Vasu ran 66 miles. There is a real competition between him and Kobi
Vasu leads the race with 1135 miles
Alexei his helper
Vasu gets inspiring emails from friends every day
Flower
Kobi did 62 miles
He starts the day with 1129 miles, just 6 miles back
This morning he received 10 emails
Flower
Smarana did 64 miles
Smarana has 1003 miles
He is doing very well
Flower
Surasa did 56 miles
She has 977 miles
Feet
Receiving emails
Flower
Sopan did 61 miles
He now has 962 miles
Flower
Ushika had 60 miles
He has 958 miles which is right on pace to complete the race
With Max
Telling a joke
Flower
Max checking on the poem for the day
Ananda-Lahari ran a phenomenal 80 miles. He says he was inspired the night before to try it.
He has 947 miles
Flower
Aharan showing how to break the ice
Yolanda did 54 miles
She has 946 miles
The Quijada family en route to Europe from Southern California dropped by to support Yolanda. They had a few hours at Kennedy airport and though they have never met before they have been following Yolanda’s efforts here at the race.
Flower
Kaneenika did 54 miles
Getting some foot work done by Bahula the great
Kaneenika has 941 miles
Flower
William did 54 miles.
Ironically William ended Day 16 with precisely the same mileage he had 4 years ago. He has 923 miles
Alan tells me of this strange coincidence but also is confident that with the weather gradually cooling William will be able to get the miles back
Flower
One of a helper’s many jobs
“Wake me when dinner comes
Rupantar greeting Dustin Martin a Navajo runner from New Mexico featured in Sanjay’s upcoming documentary
Swamiji
Flower
“I keep telling you. It is easier when you use 4 feet to run instead of 2”
Poem of the day read by Anjali
Click to Play:
Enthusiasm Awakeners
Click to Play:
At every moment
Grace is descending from Above.
Those who are aware of it
Make unimaginable progress
In the spiritual life.
Sri Chinmoy, Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees, part 35, Agni Press, 2004
I hope so much that William will get the miles back.
thank you Utpal for all the marvellous work and and all your efforts you put into this project. and thank you for poems – they always fit so well!