Author: utpal

In their first 14 days here each of the top 3 runners had, what you could easily call, good starts.  On day 15 each of them would pass beyond the 1,000 mile mark and then from this moment on something inexplicably changed for all of them.  Since then the level of effort and overall intensity has risen to an astonishing new height.  Igor is the man currently holding down the 3rd position but really barely a slight breeze separates one from the other.

On day 15 Igor entered the rarefied atmosphere of the 130 lap per day club and since then has shown no interest in easing back on what appears to be a full throttle drive to the finish line.  Which, at the start of day 31 is still 1000 miles away.  This means that each day he has been consistently running at least 70 miles a day.  It was hot yesterday and the humidity has crept over everyone with its relentless stifling weight.  In the mornings Igor most often arrives looking tired and drained.  Once the day starts however he just seems able to go and go.  He tells me that it is in the night time that he feels most awake and alive.

He is not comfortable with his English and this just adds to the quietness and stillness that seems to constantly envelop him.  With some translation help from Stutisheel he explains, “there are times when I feel very good inside and I don’t want to speak to anybody.  Just be in myself.”  I ask him if this is one of those occasions, and he tells me that he is still waking up.  This appears to be a time when a little joking makes him feel more alert.

Continue reading “July 12: Just Love It”

It is a place where anything can happen.  The moment you get even the tiniest bit complacent than of course that is precisely the moment you will find yourself being suprised.  Taking any aspect of the race for granted is never recommended at any time, not even up until the very last lap on the last day.  There are never certainties,  not for the runners nor as well for those of us keen observers of all its ebbs and flows.  I like to think that a miracle can happen here in a heartbeat, that in an instant the sleeping giant will awake or the champion can potentially tumble off his peak.

Today however I saw something when I picked up the morning lap sheet that was almost incomprehensible.  I discovered that Sarvagata had run 147 laps yesterday which is the most anyone has done in a day, not only for the race this year, but perhaps even going back a few years.  In human speak he ran 80.63 miles which is 17 more than he had done the day before and 3 laps more than he had done on his previous best day.

It is always troublesome to try and examine the experiences that happen here by attempting to analyze the numbers.  But put into a broader perspective the kind of mileage he covered after being here steadily running already for 29 days is astounding.  I had spent quite a bit of time with him yesterday and not for a moment did he indicate he was about to blow the doors of the barn.  It was only after I stopped running with him and started puffing on the sidelines that I realized that he was running really fast for a multi day runner.  He is a quiet and serious guy at the best of times.  He feels a deep spiritual, if not mystical connection to the 3100 that defies any typical sport page breakdown.

This morning he tells me that yesterday he woke up in a very good mood and had a number in his mind.  He felt that he could accomplish 150 laps by the end of the day.  He seems more than a little disappointed now as he discuses the previous days events.  “I was very close actually.”  He then describes how he believes the reason that he was unable to accomplish this tremendous goal was simply because at some point during the day he got into a bad mood.  Sunday of course there are many pedestrians moving here and there along the course and at some point he got frustrated by traffic of human bodies.  “This blocked everything.”

“It usually happens if you are in a wrong consciousness.  Then the right consciousness can’t come through.”  This is a place where every feeling, either good or bad can be amplified out of their usual proportions, by all the stress and intensity of the race.  Unless you happen to be a saint than it is difficult to stay in good mood even for an entire day little alone accomplish this thing without interruption for 2 months.  When asked if he will try again today, he answers, “I don’t know.”

A moment later I ask Stutisheel what running 147 laps actually means.  “Well frankly speaking, it is hard as well for me to understand what that number means.  Because it is just beyond.”  He tells me that this kind of level of running the race hadn’t seen since Madhupran set the course record here in 2005.  “It is extra, extra, extra, extraordinary.  Although Sarvagata is quite a silent runner.  I do admire his style, his everything.  He is doing a great thing. These things are possible only from extra blessings from above, and of course receptivity of some runners.”

click to play interview

[audio:http://perfectionjourney.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/sarvagata1.mp3|titles=sarvagata]

Continue reading “July 11: Just Beyond”

This morning after I left the race I went for a run nearby in a local park.  Quite by accident I happened to pick up a fragment of conversation that 2 runners were having as they passed by me going in the opposite direction.  What I heard one of them say was, “If I could kill my enemies, the whole world would have more peace.” For some reason those few words crept into a little corner of my mind and just refused to vacate the premises.

The first reasonable thought that occurred to me was that the man was probably joking, and by some grand stretch of the imagination, and put into some more benign context, might actually have been just a small part of a grander and funnier narrative.  In isolation of course it wasn’t, it was just spooky.   It would be hard to imagine, no matter the scenario, that the man if he were to carry this out have any satisfaction whatsoever let alone there being more tranquility on a global level.

What occurred to me after digesting these observations was that for most of us, it is the tiny things that cause us and others to suffer the most frequent pain.  An unkind word aimlessly launched and yet it still finds its trajectory inevitably striking anothers heart.  A careless act that tumbles domino like into a series of cascading calamities.  Or even one of our own negative thoughts that somehow gets imbedded into the fabric of our own fertile imaginations and simply festers and stealth-fully expands.

For Stutisheel however yesterday the tiniest thing that was causing him to suffer unimaginably, was a speck of grit that most of us could probably not see even if you put it right in front of you.  Once it was removed from his eye however, he suddenly felt as though the weight of the world had been taken off his shoulders.   He says, “that for 3 days I was crying and crying.”  When I ask if this was figuratively or literally.  “By the 3rd day it was both.”

Continue reading “July 10: This Is How Grace Works”

Every time I try and write a little story about the 3100 mile race I hope to open up the door to some new aspect of the event.  On one level it can be seen as being monotonously repetitive and that nothing new rarely happens.  Fortunately I have observed that it is in the runners themselves that new lights are constantly being switched on and illuminations are being revealed all the time here.  Something which is incredibly significant and personal to each one individually but also something that can move and inspire me as well.

On Friday a local news channel was here and one of the runners told me some of the questions they asked.  Frankly they are probably exactly the same ones that I would use if I only came here only once.  “Why do you do it?  How many pairs of shoes do you wear?  Do you get bored?”  If you are just looking at the Self Transcendence race for just a few minutes as part of endless news cycle there is probably very little else that you can possibly absorb before the conveyor belt shifts your attention to the next new fragment of  fact.

Fortunately the more time you can spend here the more you can begin to see how the runners are being transformed and how they are literally blossoming under the relentless pressure of the event.  In order to even just take part they are each inevitably forced to go within to find the strength and resolve to go forever onwards.  They have no choice.  For us sideline cheerleaders it is always easier to relate to the happy successful moments.  The ones in which it is clear that somebody is doing well and has passed beyond some barrier.

This morning it was clear that Purna Samarpan had clearly had pushed into a new realm in which the actual goal of reaching 3100 miles, after 2 unsuccessful attempts, was for the first time looking attainable.  Yesterday, with just 7 minutes left on the clock before midnight a time in which the course would be closed down for the day he made it to 1500 miles.  He says that in the morning he had talked to Pradeep and told him that he was going to reach 1500 miles.  Pradeep than suggested, “you also might reach it.”  At that moment he would have to run 65 miles or 118 laps in order to do so.  Something he had not been able to do since his very first day at the race, 27 days ago.

Continue reading “July 9: It Should Be Possible”

Things have been getting hotter here for the past few days and it is not the weather.  There is a new and exciting level of intensity that has been slowly building amongst the top 3 runners.  You can clearly see it on their lap sheets, with each day bearing a staggering new total.  It is also something expressed in just the raw speed of which some are running, and never seeming to stop for barely a breath.  In each a fire has been lit.  Whether it pushes them to a tremendous new standard of performance or simply causes them to implode like the side of a tired volcano, the next few days will surely tell the tale.

Now to be clear, this does not include Pranjal the unofficial flag bearer for consistency.  As of last night he was pushed out of second place and is now currently in 3rd.  He lives and thrives in his own unique world.  Consistent, and superbly disciplined.  He is almost unaffected by all the to and fro that happens around and about him.  He remains poised and content and listens to a tempo all his own.  One that is unflinching in its absolute commitment to offer up all that he has each and ever day.

It is with Ashprihanal, Igor, and Sarvagata that the winds now suddenly blow hot and strong.  It is really a bit of a mystery that just suddenly appeared, spinning around and around in plain sight.  It is not obvious what it really is or how it started just that it exists for now like a galloping firestorm and 3 runners have sparks flying off their heels.

To illustrate visually how this is playing out you only have to look at each of their laps over the past few days.  Ashprihanal has increased every day for the past 3 days.  His numbers went from 132, to 136, and then to 137.  This means that yesterday Ashprinal ran a phenomenal 75 miles.  Igor also increased from 125, to 127, to 133.  Yesterday he ran almost 73 miles and moved decisively into the second spot by running 11 laps more than Pranjal.

Sarvagata, the man currently in 4th also increased from 128, to 134, to 136 laps.  This means that he ran just one lap less than Ashprihanal yesterday and if he somehow keeps it up, he will most likely pass Pranjal and take 3rd in 2 days time.

It is a race of such incredible length that anything can happen.  Perhaps by now everyone has simply kicked off the last of winter’s dust.  Their muscles are warmed up and particularly the 2 new runners, Igor and Sarvagata, simply want to push the envelop, see what their engines can really handle.  What ever it is that is actually going on it certainly appears as though somehow all of them have found themselves caught in the swirling mix of self fulfilling excellence that hasn’t  been seen here on this scale for some time.

To be frank this is purely a hypothesis from a side line observer.  But it would appear that the pot is being stirred, and each of the 3 has plunged their spoons into the mix all the way.  For Ashprihanal, he knows that at least for now he has a cushion of 41 miles.  Not one that can provide comfort for long, and definitely not if he has any kind of a bad spell or slips out of top gear in any way.  He is after all the wile veteran who stayed just ahead of another Ukrainian champion Galya last year by just 30 miles at the finish. For him this kind of thing is a motivation to really open up and fly.

For the Igor and Sarvagata, this is why they came.  To run a race and leave nothing behind.  They both have hungered a long time to be a part of this total commitment to the experience of Self Transcendence, and they are now showing that they have taken off the training wheels and have become what they have sought.

Apologies, please note that there will be no new reports for the next 7 Days

Continue reading “June 30: Do All That I Can”

Quite often great moments in sports are captured by film crews and news reporters and are then shown on evening news programs or are splashed across sports sections of local news papers.  If you score a goal, win a match, or set a record at something there is a pretty good chance somebody will be there to capture it for posterity.  It will then fly out into the endless  electronic void.  Where countless eyes will be peering as it whizzes by into the great information wasteland.

The big noticeable news at the 3100 is of course when you at last cross the finish line, when the ultimate goal has been reached.  There are a few particularly talented runners here who have accomplished it many times before, and with luck and fortitude they will set new personal bests for themselves this time as well.  For the 3 new runners though records are being smashed almost constantly.  They are all soaring into brand new ethereal realms that up until now they have only been able to dream about.

Pradeep,  I knew this morning was going accomplish something really wonderful.  Just by running 11 more laps he would complete 1000 miles.  A number by itself of such shocking magnitude that it just might knock you out of your shoes at the thought of running that far.  Might, but you can’t let it do that because you have to leave room for 2100 miles more.

For me Pradeep is a runner of remarkable contradictions.  He doesn’t look tough, he doesn’t look strong, he never looks as though he is doing anything more difficult than taking a casual jog around the block.  All of those things that it appears not to be he is.  He never would have lasted a week here if he weren’t incredibly strong and resilient and prepared to take on the toughest battle of his life.  What obscures this strength is the fact that he is also sweet, kind, and humble.

Continue reading “June 29: A Dream of the Supreme for Humanity”

I hoped to continue my detective work at the race this morning.  The burning question that continued to vex me, was how all the runners could somehow improve from Day 14  to Day 15 Sunday.  I had no plan on using any third degree questioning in my sleuthing, because after all something quite remarkable had taken place.  Still I found it puzzling that everybody’s laps had increased by a phenomenal average of 7 in just one day.

There first thing that surprised me when I asked about it this morning was that really none of the runners had even noticed.  For them it simply wasn’t very important and, also it was a long time ago, a little more than 24 hours.  Their collective responses seemed to be reduced to the patently obvious, we simply had a good day.  Which is the ultimate blessing in and of itself.

The runners never have much time or interest to digest indescribable statistical anomalies.  For even the best number crunchers this event will be soon quickly be buried under the constant deluge of data that pours into the record keeping books every day.  Sahishnu is as good as anyone at recalling noteworthy numbers and events but I suspect that for most people it will fade quickly into beautiful glowing obscurity.

I recorded my conversation with Pranjal this morning and as I listen to it again now, I notice how I take my time in explaining to him all the surprising data and how it all added up.  I thought maybe he might know how he was able to do 5 more laps.  He said, “I don’t know.  Perhaps it was a coincidence that so many people felt so good that day.” He adds, “my legs were lighter, I don’t know why.”

Then I laid out my theory about how the 4 runners who were going to make a thousand miles that day probably inspired everyone else.  “4 numbers is really something.  It is 1/3 of the race.”

Compared to most things in our current society the 3100 moves with a kind of snail like speed.  When you look even just a little bit closer though you can be surprised at how beautiful it all is and how moving and inspiring it is on many different levels.

Continue reading “June 28: Every Day I Will Give Everything”

Something happened yesterday that cannot be explained.  On Sunday, 9 out of the 10 runners ran more laps than they had the day before.  The only one who didn’t run more laps on Sunday was Surasa ,who ran exactly 110 laps the same as she has run every day for the past week.  What make this peculiar event noteworthy is that the average lap numbers didn’t just go up a little, they went up a lot.  Averaged out over the 9 runners it works out to be 7 more laps per person than the previous day.

Now if that seems like a lot you are right.  In some cases there were big jumps that helped bump up the average.  Purna Samarpan, now recovering from a cold went from 85 laps to 110, adding a whopping 25 to the count.  Pradeep who had an off day on Saturday went from 92 to 111.  I am not a statistician but I am sure the odds of such an event happening are off the charts, particularly when you consider that everyone has been out here for 15 days now.

If the weather had somehow improved in any way from the day before than the source of renewed vigor in the runners legs could be identified, but it didn’t.  Essentially the weather conditions on Sunday were identical to Saturday.  Same temperature, humidity, wind and all the usual weather data.That on Sunday there was less distractions from traffic and people possibly, but certainly it couldn’t have accounted for that much of an improvement.

My own theory, at least the one that seems to make any kind of sense at all is that you had 4 runners yesterday who were the first to push through the 1000 mile mark.  Now there will be 4 digits beside each of their names instead of 3.  There is still more than 2000 miles and 2/3rds of the race to go but it is still something satisfyingly symbolic  It in some way demystifies the distance and perhaps you can really feel that from now on the impossible goal in front of you is from now on just a little less impossible.  Mentally at least the numbers crunch just that more easily.

The other important thing to understand is that everyone who runs is acutely tuned to everyone else.  They are a family and a team climbing up into stratospheric levels that few can even possibly imagine.  When energy and motivation are high everyone feels it.   Just as when someone is suffering than they all collectively feel and identify with the suffering and pain as well.  What happens here is not one person surpassing someone else but rather how they all collectively share each others victory.  For perhaps nestled in the heart of self transcendence itself is something really special.  Something, that once you have stepped past all the mundane numbers and all the facts, is what we all are striving for,  oneness with the universal goal.

Continue reading “June 27: To Be More Happy”

I try my best most days to get it right.  To somehow with my reporting to capture the distinct mood and perhaps, dare I say it, consciousness of each day.  Things can, and often do, change rapidly.  As an early morning person as well I generally only get to observe a very unique and tiny portion of a much much longer day.

The threads of these 10 lives will spin countless stories and experiences, right up until midnight, and really until they all can drift off into a brief slumber.

I also attempt to tell all of their stories as best I can.  It isn’t easy but when compared to what they are doing I really haven’t much to complain about.  It is easy to tell most mornings who just really wants to talk, and who hasn’t woken up yet, or maybe simply just wants to be left in their own private world.  This isn’t reality tv, exploitation of their lives is not the story I am interested in.  What they are accomplishing as seeker athletes however is.  There are many shades and textures to each of their experiences here in this very visible bubble.  My job is to locate the glowing available fragments that are inspiring to all who identify with what is happening here and are profoundly moved by it.

Occasionally I just get it wrong.  Perhaps intrude on a divine moment, that prior to my question, was blissfully silent.  Also simply start to bump into the runner’s experiences when they simply want to hold on to them in their own hearts and not necessarily share it with the world.  There are also simply moments when a runner is enjoying the moment and not really thinking at all about what is happening in and around them.  They may have done so out of pure bliss or as a survival mechanism to shut down all unnecessary mental chatter and simply make it around the course.

This morning Surasa was my well intentioned subject.  I have a deep respect for how well she is doing and in fact her long and distinguished career as a multi day athlete.  We talked at length but clearly she might have preferred the tranquility of a rare quiet Sunday morning in Queens alone.  I asked her a difficult question, and could clearly see she that she was struggling with giving me back an answer.  I asked her what she felt her strongest qualities were, that helped her run here.   “Not to think too much.  I am just running running,” was her reply.  “You are living from one break to the other.  If you can do it, I think it is the best way.  Not to think how many days more.”  For her at that moment, the next break was almost 4 hours away.

Fortunately I came back several hours later.  When I returned she was just coming through the camp with one of her helpers, Vasavi.  She became very excited when she saw that I had come back, and with real joy and intensity she told me that she now had the real answer to my question.  Clearly she had been pondering it for a while and in the process her deep and heartfelt love of the race was stirred up to the fore.  Her answer, “it is all grace.” As concise and as all embracing an answer as anyone could reveal who is trying to conquer the impossible.  Using only the strength and vision of the one who set the goal for them in the first place.

Continue reading “June 26: Wisdom Comes With Years”

“I had a really good experience of flowing.”  It has been pretty obvious for the past few days that Sarvagata is having an extraordinarily good start to his 3100 mile adventure.  Yesterday he ran 130 laps which was the most of any of the other runners.  But it is not just the numbers that tell the story, it is also his very presence.  He seems to exude a deep sense of calmness and tranquility.

It is not without effort of course but it is almost as though the big numbers are not accumulating with struggle but with surrender.  That something else is pushing him along and he is just a passenger.

It was on Wednesday that his running, he says, became almost effortless.  For a time all parts of his being seemed to exist in complete harmony.  He felt quite clearly that this experience had come directly from Sri Chinmoy.  “You could call it cosmic consciousness, or whatever.   I had that experience and nearly burst into tears.  It was hard to breathe because it was so delightful.”

The power of that most significant inspiration he continues to try and maintain, though the exact experience has not repeated itself.  He describes how much he yearned for it to return.  “I am waiting and waiting, and running and running.” (Laughter)

“I don’t feel like I am running faster, but somehow it happens that it is a little bit faster than usual.  So I think in this case expectation adds up the miles.”  Yesterday he says, when he ran 71 miles, “I had an experience not so bright, but still really outstanding, for me. I was really happy yesterday, and the day before yesterday, and the day before yesterday.”

When I suggest that today seems to be going pretty smoothly, he says, “yeah, I am a little ahead of my morning schedule.  Usually I am waking up the first 10 laps.”

One can always hope that bliss and joy be part of every moment here.  The life of a 3100 mile runner though is filled however with many rich experiences.  Learning and becoming are established only by conquering challenge and adversity.  Without obstacles, without the goal of perfection enticing us to go on, than self transcendence itself could not even exist.

Perhaps the script has already been written for each who runs here.  The outcome known but certainly yet to be revealed.  Two days ago Sarvagata was granted a most significant and rewarding stroll through the garden of his own inner beauty.  Tomorrow, it may not be so easy, but at least he can always remember the sweet fragrance he felt there for a time.  Tomorrow, or on other countless tomorrows to come, at least maintain a prayerful hope, to find his way once again back along that same sun-bright path of his heart’s eternal journey.

Continue reading “June 25: Keep Trying”