Day 32… Best You Can (July 18)

It is easy to be impressed when someone accomplishes a great achievement. But it is even more inspiring when you can also become aware of the inner strength of that same person. The true and most significant qualities that are immeasurable and yet are the most important part of any act of self transcendence.

4 years ago William was miles behind in his quest to complete his first 3100 mile race. Yet somehow he came back with surprising determination and focus in order to succeed. To understand even a little of how he found the capacity to do such a thing is to become aware of what a remarkable figure William Sichel really is.

This year his situation is even more dire. This morning he is 72 miles back and has now just 20 days left in order to make it up. What is admirable in William is of course that there is no surrender, there is n0 giving up. He and his team are committed to being here and doing their absolute best until there is no time left to do even one more lap.

When we talk this morning I joke with him whether he ever wished he had stuck with Ping Pong a sport he was once very talented in. “The honest answer is yes.” (Laughs)

“This is not the sort of race you enjoy all the time. You are not having fun all the time. You have all the emotions probably every day. Certainly when you get to the end the overriding feeling and emotion is that you are glad that you did it. The experience can only be gained by being here the compete 52 days.”

“There are moments in my day when I feel that this is the best thing that I could possibly be doing. But you have to be here for the duration in order to get those experiences. You can’t come for a couple of days and get them. You need to be here day in and day out to get into the state. As someone said to me the clue of the race is all about is in its name, Self-Transcendence. It is not the 3100 mile race it is the self-transcendence 3100 mile race.”

“To get into that state you just have to grind it out. Day after day, week after week, whatever the weather. That is the nature of the beast.”

William feels that for him self transcendence means reaching a higher mental state. That can only be achieved by doing something unusual. You can’t just wake up in the morning and go for a walk and say …..I am self transcending. It is a higher state of mind that can only be achieved by attempting extraordinary feats.”

William says that because of the length of the 3100 mile race no other event compares. “It takes you to a state that you can’t achieve in shorter events. You have to be doing the best you can every day. It has all to do with the effort, and the commitment to the event. My aim is to cover the greatest possible distance every day.”

“I am here to the stroke of midnight every night. I am not cutting for home. That is the way I do it and that is the way I want to do it. By doing that I am doing myself justice.”