Month: August 2019

There are more than a few of us, those who are fans of Harita that is, who spent some portion the past few days worrying about her.  The symptoms she had were the kind of spooky variety where you usually gently suggest that they should just go home and take the day off and get well.

The Self-transcendence race is however not the kind of place that the runners who come here ever simply meekly follow the breadcrumbs back home.  Harita is not that kind of runner or that kind of woman.

There is a resilient toughness built into her along with a keen intellect, and I guess you better at this point add a healthy dose of poise and patience.  Harita’s dad Phillip who just came today said that even as a little girl she was advanced beyond her years.   As of last night she prodded and pushed a queasy body to 59 miles and seems to have found herself back in that final charge to the finish line.

“You never really know probably until the last mile.  I am feeling much better for sure.  I am still on track to finish within the 52 days.  Which is great so I feel very blessed.  I am feeling a lot better.”

During the rough spell she says she wasn’t too worried.  “One part of me was.  A huge part of the experience of this race is to just keep going forward.  When challenges arise you face them and try to figure them out.  Do your best and have faith, that everything will work out.”

“I was a bit sick but it wasn’t different than other challenges at the race.”

“Every day is so big.  I really want to absorb everything at the end of the race.  Right now I am having the experience of today.  I definitely have had a lot of hard times, challenging times, and really beautiful times as well.”

Harita says that she is not one who has high revelatory experiences.  I just feel so grateful for the opportunity to be able to serve God in his own way and really be at the forefront of my own capacity.”

“I think so often in our lives, that we fashion ourselves to be well within our comfort zone.  It is only when you challenge those comfort zones that you find real fulfillment, but some times you can trick yourself into what a real challenge is.  This race is definitely a real challenge.  It brings out a lot of things in me that are challenging but also so extremely rewarding.”

“Some of the nicest moments are running at night, when it is really peaceful, and dark and quiet.  You feel like it is just you and your breath.  The sky and stars.  It is so unusual and yet so profoundly normal feeling at the same time.”

Continue reading “Day 49…Our Thoughts & Our Deeds (August 3)”

Sporting events have a unique way of capturing our imagination with defining moments of excellence if not transcendence.  Since I was quite small the image of Roger Bannister being the first to break the 4 minute barrier in the mile has always been a feat that continues to inspire me even though that mark has long been surpassed by so many others.

The reason I am impressed by that one in particular is that I have run many miles and though I am far from the caliber of Roger Bannister I can identify with 4 laps of the track at top speed.  But how many of us can even come close to fully grasping the magnificent accomplishment of Ashprihanal here today when he finished the race for the 15th time.

Once you take even a modest poke at all his statistics and records a veritable avalanche of data can inundate you.  I am not a very thorough journalist but I suspect there just may be no one else in the world who has come close to achieving what this 48 year old runner from Vihti Finland has accomplished here this morning on top of everything else he has done.

A letter from his counsel general in New York said, “our warmest congratulations.  You have shown us the Finnish strong will and determination, to make it to the finish line.  We are truly proud of you.”

Sahishnu said, “you are extraordinarily talented, kind, and considerate of your fellow runners and your fellow human beings.  He completed the race in 47 days, 1 hour, and 39 minutes.  An average of 65.864 miles a day.  That is the 36th best performance in the history of the race out of 156 performances.  You are still on top of the board of the 43 runners.”

“This is extraordinary.  You grace us with your presence at every race.  All these feats of incredible endurance, it is absolutely amazing.  I know Sri Chinmoy is beaming with joy, enthusiasm, and gratitude for you and for us being allowed to do this thing.  This 3100 is an amazing event.  As you well know and you grace it with your divine presence.  You are an amazing guy.”

Continue reading “Day 48…Our Aspiration-Heart (August 2)”

“I have to say I am so happy that my heart won over my mind.  To come here and run this year, my mind would never have made the choice.  My heart made the choice instead.”

In both 2016 and 2017 Smarana had very challenging experiences at the 3100.  Despite completing the distance 7 years in a row from 2002 to 2008 and taking a long break this great Austrian runner could not reach the finish line 2 years in a row.  It had to be disheartening because in so many ways he is so well equipped physically and had so much experience.  It just didn’t seem to make any sense that he didn’t do it, and also, what made even less sense was to come back to try it once again this year.

Yet as of this morning he is just 300 miles from the goal.  Smarana says, “it feels really good.  But there is still 300 miles to go.  I have a good cushion so it doesn’t pose any pressure on me.  Still, until you cross the finish line you have to be really focused.”

“You never know what comes.  Yesterday in the evening.  I pushed a little bit, and I fell.  All it takes is one bad one and your race is over.  So until the finish line you have to keep your focus, and keep it together.”

“So far it has been an amazing journey.  I have collected a bag full of experiences, that I will be happy to take out when I get home, and relive, and enjoy again.”

Smarana confesses that a lack of confidence was something that he has been working on since day one here.  “It has been working pretty good so far.  The race helped me tremendously to work on it.  You learn so much how to deal with it.  It is really amazing that I could be part of this journey here.”

Smarana looks back at the last 2 races as stepping stones.  In his earlier 7 races he was stronger and more confident.  He felt that there was a strong force from Sri Chinmoy that helped him to accomplish them.  But in the last of that series in 2008 he had some serious issues.  “I kind of burned out.”

Almost from the beginning of the race in 2016, he was thinking, “it is hot I want to go home.  My mind just wanted to escape.  It didn’t want anymore pressure.  I feel these 2 races were still stepping stones to get back into it.  To rid myself of the dramatic experience I had previously in 2008.”

“It looks like I have been through it and I now definitely have a lot of confidence.”

Continue reading “Day 47…Of Paramount Importance (August 1)”