Perfection Journey

As a little boy Ananda-Lahari says, “I always used to like to run and jump around.” He adds that the first time he heard about orienteering in school he wanted to do it.  “I started orienteering when I was six years old. I can say that it was almost my religion.”

He says that for the many years he enjoyed and competing in orienteering he had no interest at all in running road races.”I thought it was just boring.  You will hurt yourself when you run on the road.”

“Then when I was 19 I was getting more and more lazy.  I had lost my inspiration for running.  I was still playing sports but it was just a joke.”

Ananda-Lahari says that by the time he was in his early 20’s everything changed.  “Somehow I enjoyed running again.  But it was real suffering.  It was so difficult for me to run.”

He started at this point to practice meditating while living in Slovakia.  He then spent a year in Scotland in order to learn English.  “I was so impressed.  This was my first touch with long distance running.” It was while crewing for Tarit at the Westhighland way race that the magnitude and significance of distance running hit home.

He had to run the final 10 km with Tarit. “It was getting dark so the runner had to be accompanied.  I had to run with him but I couldn’t keep up. He was so fast.  I was amazed.  WOW.  What is going on here?”

The next day they hiked a bit and Annanda-Lahari was shocked that he was able to go back to work the next day.  “You have just run this 100 km and you are going to work ! This was my first touch with ultra distance running.”

 

“This is the place where I want to be.  To do the whole thing.  I have never felt like quitting.   There are moments when you are tired. You feel that you have had enough.  But this is part of the game.

Continue reading “Day 18: This Is Where I Want To Be”

“Actually there are ups and downs.  There are times when I feel more elated and also times when I feel more down.  On the outside I try my best to smile and be calm as much as possible.”  I had asked Takasumi if he was as peaceful on the inside as he appears to be so often on his outer appearance.

“I am making the effort to achieve that.”

Today Takasumi looks and feels tired. “It is getting difficult.”   Earlier in the race he had a number of physical issues that now seem to be resolved.  “Now I feel exhaustion and tiredness have been accumulating.  In that way the race is getting more challenging.”

Yesterday Takasumi had a good day with 61 miles.  He starts day 17 with 957 miles and will by this evening pass 1000 miles.

“I don’t think about the next day I just go home with a feeling of accomplishment.  Because no matter how tired I am at the end of the day You never know what the next day brings.  The next day I may wake up refreshed and without tiredness.  So I just try and stay with feeling of what I have accomplished each day.”

Continue reading “Day 17: A Feeling Of Accomplishment”

“I feel very good to be part of it.”  For the past 15 days 58 year old Wei Ming has been putting on an amazing running performance.  Both for its consistency and more importantly for the passion that he puts into his time out on the course.

“My goal is to run 114 laps every day because I feel that a race like this it is important to be consistent and to save my energy. ”

There are times when his grueling schedule may be more than he can endure and yet he goes on.  A soulful face sometimes projecting the image of a fierce warrior and in an instant that of a mischievous little boy filled with delight at discovering some new game.

“Because of the cultural differences and the language barrier I have so much emotion that I can’t always share.  Sometimes I want to express more.  I want to use love to share with everyone.  I want to show my passion through running to show just how meaningful this is to me.”

“Usually people get afraid when they face the unknown.  This is my first time running this race but I feel so much love being given to me by others during the race.  I am so glad to be here and part of this.”

Wei Ming broke his own 1000 mile Taiwanese record by nearly 15 hours.

Continue reading “Day 16: Feel So Much Love”

“I have always felt that oneness is the most powerful aspect in God’s creation, and it comes in three parts.  Oneness with the creator.  Oneness with one’s soul.  And oneness with each other.”

“We are living in a time in which we have to see each other in all of us as members of one family.  One world family.  And this applies not only on earth but across the universe.”

Vajra bicycles over to the race every morning at a shockingly early time of the morning or very late at night, take your pick.  He then spends several hours collecting all the trash that has accumulated over the late hours.  He is meticulous and will not even leave a bottle cap as long as his headlamp can spot it.

It is not an obsessive thing in any way but because of his deep love of the race and the 7 runners who work so hard he feels a deep responsibility to keep the course they run upon as sacred as possible.  So he does his job with dignity, with mindfulness, and more importantly with heart.  For Vajra, once you have met him will surprise you with just how truly wide open heart is really is.  One that generously seems to have room for anyone who crosses his path.

Vajra feels very much a part of not just the physical challenges of the race but also to keep bright and alive the very spirit of transcendence which is at the very core of what happens here.

” I feel my oneness with them.  I can never stress just how important that one factor is.  You grow with each runner as they go through their problems.  And it makes you a far better person, as well as that individual.”

Continue reading “Day 15: A Oneness World Family”

For all the runners at the race, time is a precious commodity.  From the other side of the sidewalk it is easy to not be disciplined about what we do and just how long we spend performing the essential tasks of our day.  Not to mention the gluttonous distractions that are nearly unavoidable.

Harita has 18 hours in which to cover as many laps of the school as she possibly can.  Yesterday she ran 63 miles and has a 13 day total of 815 miles.

“One thing that’s funny about this race is that every day is so long.  Every day is a big day and yet all the days kind of roll by.  It is hard to believe that it is already day 14.”

“I think doing this race you get a sense that time is actually so fluid.  It helps you get not too worried about the time in each day.”

“I have breaks at set times.  I kind of have an idea how many laps I should do by certain times. But I try not to get too in the mind about it.  Because otherwise it becomes so mechanical, and that’s not the point of the race.  The point of the race is to go far beyond that mechanical state and have faith that time is able to be stretched and shrunk as needed in a spiritual sense.”

“I think it is important to bring everything from the race into your ordinary life.  It is such a big part of the race.  Progress and illumination and to become more divine.  All of those things are so important.  So I think it is very important to bring these experiences we have of going beyond time of really feeling a deeper sense of everything into our ordinary life.”

Continue reading “Day 14: A Deeper Sense Of Everything”

In the past few days Stutisheel is looking and running like the Stutisheel of past years.  And that means many many past years as this is the 13th time he has entered the race.  He is stronger and his face is bright and smiling and most importantly he is able to run for most of the day.

When asked how he was able to so dramatically change he says, “I still stick to being happy.  I believe happiness transforms everything.”  Stutisheel believes that in a small way he also needed some time to adapt to the pressures of the race but more importantly it was his ability to remain positive that was the deciding factor he believes.

“A few days ago confidence came to me.  I am confidant that I will continue……and most probably finish.”

“Of course we have tough days, look at Vasu.  But still he is trying to smile, through tears and through all his pain. What we call pain on the physical level is probably not suffering at all.  It is just some experience that we need to make.  What I must say through all my 13 years participating in the race, that Sri Chinmoy is managing this race directly.  Without any doubt so that whatever is coming, you just need to accept happily.”

Yesterday he ran 63 miles and now has 727 miles.

Continue reading “Day 13: Happiness Transforms Everything”

“I try and stay in tune with the spiritual forces of the course.  I realize that during the last hour there is a very special force.  There is more energy somehow.   Everybody is trying to push more.  In the morning it is also good to put on as many miles as possible.  Early morning and late evening are the best times to push.”

“I like the course very much.  It is not flat its a little bit hilly.  It is quite interesting.”

“I am very happy if I can go through pain.  Sometimes you suffer a lot.” Now Andrea is not certain just why or how he sometimes able to push past his pain but already he has experienced it. “It is amazing somehow.  I cannot master this.  It is not under my command. It just happens.”

Yesterday Andrea ran 66 miles and after 11 days he leads the race with 776 miles.  With his helper Arpan

Flower

Continue reading “Day 12: Sometimes There Is A Breakthrough”

“Every day opens something new.  It’s a new experience and you can’t prepare for that.  Every day you get something new that you never expected.  Some kind of experience.”

For this 8 time finisher of the race the past week has been a new experience in the worst possible way.  The last few days he has been mostly walking and it doesn’t take much to notice, that despite his smiles, he is in pain, and frustrated that he cannot be the hard charging relentless runner that he is more familiar with.

Mario explains in some detail with me what happens when ligaments get over stressed and the result is sometimes debilitating sciatic pain.  It should be noted that while Vasu was in medical getting his sore hip worked on he was also treated for some really bad blisters.

I ask Vasu straight forward what is his answer for when times are difficult here at the race. “I think we should work inwardly and outwardly, and invoke peace and light.”

Despite all this, Vasu managed to complete 52 miles yesterday and now has 626 miles.

It is a telling thing, and very much Vasu that a friend came by yesterday and taught Vasu one of Sri Chinmoy’s songs to inspire him.  Vasu sang that song most of day, hoping and praying for any opening from the long dark shadows of darkness that are spilling across his path.

Continue reading “Day 11: Every Day Opens A New Experience”

“In general I think people like to smile.  It is a gift that we can smile.   Especially when things are going wrong.  Then it is the best that we can smile.”

Yesterday Ananda-Lahari ran 113 laps around the school.  His day started well before dawn and I suspect that his hours of sleep were minimal.  He got up showered and got on a bicycle and rode up a dark road and when he got to the race he parked that bike against a fence.

He then walked over to his chair and readied himself for a very long day ahead.  At 6 am he started running along with 6 others whose trajectory of their days is not that much different than his.  And yes he ran around the block accumulating a precious quota of 62 miles that when combined with what he has already run over the past 9 days adds up to 538 miles.

Hit the reset button of his life every day and he will continue this routine for another 42 days and yes he will be smiling just about every moment he runs.   His smile has the added bonus of quietly lifting the spirits up of those who he passes by. Who may have not even be aware of the slender man who always seems to be running and smiling.

Ananda-Lahari will work hard for each of those laps but he will never forget to smile or forget the precious gift he has been given and which he so generously offers to the world around him.

Continue reading “Day 10: You Just Smile”

Wei Ming tells me that he did not realize just how much the race would affect him.  He says this after running another 100km day giving him an 8 day total of 524 miles.  A very long distance for any runner.  But when you do the quick arithmetic in your head, there is still a shocking distance left ahead, for not just him but also the other 6.

As vulnerable as  he sometimes looks Wei Ming has more stamina and energy for a 58 year old man than I have ever seen.  He admits that the first 3 days were difficult. This adjustment he says is typical for most multi day runners.

He sometimes wears a hat with some of Sri Chinmoy’s Jharna Kala birds printed on it.  There is something swift and bird like in his running style.  From time to time his arms stretch out from his shoulders almost as if he himself would take flight.

“It has been my lifetime dream to come here and run and achieve my goal.  I feel honored and also humbled by all the people who come by. I am really surprised that so many people have come by.  I really appreciate it.”

“I feel so inspired by this race I just hope I can inspire and motivate others.  Not just from Taiwan, but China, and all of Asia.”

Wei Ming at the conclusion of our interview stops and tells me how much he appreciates how Sri Chinmoy used running to inspire peace within.  “I really admire Sri Chinmoy, and I also hope to keep running and inspire others.”

Continue reading “Day 9: My Lifetime Dream”