“I have never run the 3100 mile race but I have always participated from its very inception as a volunteer.” This morning Vajra handed me a short commentary that reflects both his feelings and his long long history with the race.
He didn’t write a lot and his words fit into 3 compact paragraphs. They are a collection of humble words coming from a man who has spent his summers for the past 23 years living and breathing the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 mile race.
“So many of the runners now have reached a point where their bodies have reached an equilibrium. Their bodies have gotten used to all the difficulties and they are now pacing themselves till they reach the end.”
“The human spirit as we know it is infinite, limitless, and boundless. There are many words you can use to express something that is ever transcending. This race represents exactly that.”
“As long as you have the opportunity to present to people something that will entice them to endure more of what they can unlimitlessly achieve. This race will always be here to attract those people to run it.”
Vajra believes that Sri Chinmoy created the race, “to get people to believe and understand that there is something within them that is way beyond their own minds capacity to understand, that they are limitless, in every way.”
Asked why he has taken on the most thankless jobs over the years he says, “while I am doing all that, I am actually living through the runners. I am seeing and feeling what they are seeing and feeling. I am also, in a way, running in and through them. This is based just upon my heart’s loving oneness with them.”
“Consequently what they feel I feel. So this keeps me going. As long as I have this oneness with them I will be able to continue to run this race and do whatever activities I am called upon to do, as long as the race exists.”
The Board at the Start of Day 38…* Note totals may not be accurate… Magic number is 2,205 miles *
Camp early
Paramartha setting up counting tables
William arrives
Surasa arrives
William
Kaneenika and Leelavatee
Ushika
Ananda-Lahari
Kaneenika
Start Day 38
It will be a good but humid day
Vasu ran 68 miles
He now has 2555 miles
On day 38 he leads Kobi by 67 miles and is predicted to finish on Tuesday next week
Flower
Just a little break
Kobi ran 63 miles
He starts the day with 2488 miles
Mid morning he makes another milestone and national record at 2500 miles
With his helper
Flower
Good times
Ushika once again had another big day with 65 miles
The Tuesday morning
view
He now has 2268 miles
With Oscar
A special drink to help blisters
Flower
Kodanda playing
Sopan did 58 miles
He now has 2237 miles
From a distance
He leads Surasa by 12 miles
Flower
Konstantin making ice packs
Surasa did 60 miles
She now has 2225 miles
Morning mail has arrived
She asks for a picture with Vasuprada
Working on shoes
Flower
Larisa and Laila
Kaneenika did 61 miles
She now has 2191 miles. 14 miles under the magic number
With Leelavatee
Preparing snacks
Just needs to maintain this pace
Green
William did 57 miles
He now has 2105 miles
With Alan
Flower
Alan getting ice
Smarana did 52 miles
He now has 2100 miles
Getting the bell from Aharan
15 more days of running
Green
Ananda-Lahari did 48 miles
He now has 2026 miles
Larisa counting
Flower
Reflections
Swamiji
Sahishnu delivering the mail
“Good Grief, I did it again. I missed the start of the race for the 38th day in a row.”
Poem Laila
Click to Play:
By Parvati’s exhausting efforts this poster is no longer applicable. Doggy is now at his home and happy.
Enthusiasm Awakeners
Click to Play:
Immediately
Start again.
Be sleeplessly self-giving.
Then God Himself will sign
Your heart’s love-oneness-perfection-letter
To the world.
Sri Chinmoy, Immediately start again!, Agni Press, 1993
whatching every day (looking 8)). I am the fan of 3100. Need a t-short. How much does it cost?
Amazing Grace… Vajra’s interview theme song 🙂
Vajra! He is truly a jewel in the Supreme’s Crown. We are so fortunate to have him in our lives.
So that you don’t underestimate what Vajra does every single morning of the race, do this: go out and walk 0.6 miles (nearly 1km) picking up garbage around a public school and park. It is super hard work! And that is only a small part of his service to the runners, the race and the Supreme. I bet people 40 years younger than him couldn’t (and/or wouldn’t) do what he is doing.
I believe he once told me he collects more than 20 large, heavy garbage bags like the ones he was tossing into the dumpster in the video (hey, New Yorkers are great, but they are litterbugs!).
God Bless and thank God for each and every precious helper in this race — their self-transcendence may not be recorded in the ultrarunning record books but I am sure it is recorded in the Akashic Records!
PS: I am not the only one who worked VERY hard to find the dog’s owner. It was a team effort. If you have a pet, PLEASE get them micro-chipped. It would have saved us 30-hours of stressful searching (though we loved the dog; what a sweatheart!).
Thank you so much for bringing Vajra’s words and deeds to us. He is a lighthouse to us, and a hero in the self-transcendence world. Victory to Vajra!