Whenever we attempt to fully describe others we quickly begin to realize that each and every person is multifaceted. That no one label can ever begin to adequately describe someone. We are all composed of so many different qualities and capacities. Most of us perhaps would like to picture ourselves in the, ‘jack of all trades, master of none category.’
Perhaps as time goes on we develop new skills and expand our horizons in many different realms such as sport, creativity, and other practical endeavors. Rarely, very rarely do people come along with whom you cannot help but describe them as being a master of something.
There is at least one runner here whose capacity and talent, combined with their perseverance means that they really and truly are a RUNNER. Surasa Mairer, a 52 year old athlete from Vienna is without question one of the world’s greatest woman ultra distance runners.
Last year at age 51 she attempted the Self Transcendence 3100 mile race for the first time and was only able to complete 2760 miles of it. Very early in the race nagging injuries held her back and yet she continued to run on cheerfully and devotedly until the very last minute that it was possible for her still to run. She told me then that she was happy with her effort and glad that she could fulfill a long held goal to run here in this the longest race in the world. Her resume as ultra distance runner is astonishing, and with all her previous achievements in ultra races no one would have been at all surprised if she had simply decided not to come back and tackle her Everest once again. Yet she did.
So much about the Self Transcendence race is undefinable and this applies particularly to the runners themselves. How can we begin to grasp why and how they do this thing and even more, come back and do it again and again.
Vishvarutpani is one of those helping Surasa and when she begins to describe her friend she simply glows with appreciation and respect. Of her friend she says, “she is very amazing. So cheerful and very in the moment.” Then she added the word, “surrendered.” It is a perfect description.
When you see her arrive here each and every morning, looking so bright and full of energy and promise you just know that this is her world. To be someone who simply has the unique capacity to run all day long. And all the time propelled by such a positive attitude that any negativity simply does not touch her world. To the point, she is simply an amazing woman athlete who is defying age with every step.
She has incredible strength and endurance and when this is combined with such a determined and positive attitude she is nearly unstoppable, and yet there is more. It is in her running that she becomes aware of her spiritual potential. It is on this course in a race created by her late spiritual master, Sri Chinmoy, that her inner and outer world draw so perfectly together. For her to run here is to go beyond, to self transcend, and find herself drawing ever closer to her own perfect perfection.
Multi day races have been with us a long time. There are some records that show it was a sport as early as the late 18th century and certainly it continued on, well into the 20th. There was a time when it was considered a popular spectator sport. It was something every body could identify with, because for just about everybody, walking was the only way you were going to get anywhere. You were probably very lucky to have a horse in the early days, and to have the capacity to cover great distances on foot was practical. It was also probably pretty entertaining for those who couldn’t make it so far.
but you would hardly say there were any spectators. It is a happy place but it is also a busy place. The runners are trying to do their best and the many helpers are trying their very best to make this experience as perfect as possible for them. I have heard stories of multi day races in which there are in fact very few helpers at all, particularly at night. Technology in these races is used as best it can to keep score and track all the data. There isn’t much high tech equipment at the Self Transcendence race. It is very much about people working and sometimes playing together. Achieving goals that aren’t virtual but are real. All happening both outwardly and inwardly, creating true experiences that just might change your life.
The Self Transcendence race is only a click away via the internet. All the results are available every day, hundreds of photographs, and yes blog posts. As I look at those dots, I sometimes like to imagine the faces of those who are staring into computer screens to watch. I have a hope that for all you who take the time to visit via the internet that you remember how wonderful it is to just to stand on a great green field of grass here, blazing with golden flowers and feel the runners pass by. See their brilliant smiles and sometimes, if only briefly, the other side. Expressions that come from a place that exists on the distant shore away from joy.
For much of humanity the only thing that really matters in their lives are the numbers. We can try sometimes and define who we are by what we have, what we know, and yes, by what we do. This simple math can reveal rudimentary aspects of our lives but certainly not the totality of who we really are. The 6 and 10 race is an extraordinary place to find and reveal aspects of your being that perhaps you didn’t even know existed. Peel back the exterior bits of how we generally see ourselves. Then you can confront the tigers lurking within. Maybe as well become better acquainted with the glowing core within each of us and ultimately allow transformation and self transcendence to become the real goal in our lives.
“The biggest challenge I thought, as I looked at the weather forecast is the weather.” We are running together in the pitch darkness of the night. The first tender hours of Sunday have barely begun and for the moment the conditions are still and almost perfect. At this point Dipali has been running for a little more than 36 hours. “It was freezing when we started, and when I came out at 3 am this morning it rained right up until about 2 in the afternoon, and I mean it rained. I think we are doing pretty well,” she says, and laughs lightly.
I actually prefer this time of night, after 9 o’clock, when most of the runners go to bed. And I actually indulge in the quietness. Everybody has kind of gone, and there is just a handful of people. I find it very peaceful and I stay out here to about 1am. I probably won’t be resting for very long. Maybe a couple of hours off the track and then I will be back out again. That is just years of practice.”
Dipali Cunningham now at age 52 is tremendously knowledgeable about distance running and has achieved numerous victories in her races and on occasion, has not only won the women’s division, but been the leader overall as well. With all her success she ultimately gives credit to her late teacher Sri Chinmoy, who she feels taught her the inner lessons that she could apply not just on the road but in her life as well. “The inner courage, the inner determination, and the wisdom.” The race is incredibly difficult and she tries to always focus on the positive. Use the opportunity of running to not only add up the miles but find the route that will as well lead to her own spiritual progress.
“These people inspire me. They are bringing me this newness freshness, that you don’t want to disappear in your own consciousness.” She has after all done 32 multi day events in 20 years. This year, in almost a complete change to her usual schedule, she ran a 24 hour race in Ottawa in the fall. “I was really inspired to try it, and I had a great time. I couldn’t believe how it was so different, and yet I feel that I can improve at it. That next time I can do more.”
It is simply my favorite time to be at the race. Right now, it is either very late at night, or early in the morning, take your pick. The air is absolutely still, and a soothing warmth has ebbed back into the camp. At 2 o’clock in the morning New York is still a very busy place. Cars continue to dash by on the freeway, but there are many fewer at this hour. Planes don’t scream in and out of La Guardia. The constant rumbling stress and urgency of the outer world has receded into the night’s gentle shadows. For now, the world in Flushing Meadow Park is just about the runners, making their methodical way around the course. Chasing after very real dreams that don’t come as easily to those who sleep.
Sometimes you hear their steps before you can actually see them emerging out of the darkness.
Nobody might really notice if you have let a mile slip away here and there from your daily total. But you will know. You will, as soon as the results are posted, recognize a nag and torment of the, ‘if I had not slept so long.’ Some of course at this Self Transcendence race move relentlessly and with a kind of precise efficiency. That is the veterans and the record holders of course. Experience has taught them clearly, when the mind and body simply no longer tell the truth. When aches and fatigue cry with such alarm that they can scarcely be denied. But these are voices that need to be reckoned with, just as you would answer a small tempestuous child. Somewhere within the heart of each runner, they know what they can and must do. Reach beyond the limitations that seem so real. Push further, add another step, and still another, until hopefully you push beyond all the things that hold you back. Emerge on the other side of dreams into the sun bright light of your heart’s reality.