Tag: 6 & 10 Day Race

It may be just a coincidence or it may be part of a great plan.  But whatever it is that brings Luis to the Self Transcendence race each spring, it means as well that he is always here on April 25th, which just happens to be his birthday.

Luis had one of those milestone birthdays last year, he turned 65.  Friends came around and wished him well and the camp gave him a cake and sang Happy Birthday.  After all the fuss he just slipped quietly back out onto the track and continued to do what he loves most of all, and that is run.

There is a part deep within us all that enjoys simplicity.  To have a life uncluttered with stuff, endless distractions, and hopeless desires.  Luis’s life is far from perfect, and he will tell you so, but there aren’t very many people whose world has been distilled down to such a clear and uncomplicated agenda.  Go out and run every day, and come every year to the Self Transcendence races and do your best.

He is running the 6 day this year, which is a rather recent compromise.   It is a decision….let’s best be polite…. brought on by his maturing physical situation.  He would much rather do the 10 day but a few years ago it just got to be too much.  So switching gears he now runs the 6. As of noon today he has 113 miles for 48 hours, which puts him just about in the middle of the pack.

There are times in all our athletic careers when we are at our best.  Of course some runners out here are really in their primes as distance runners right now.  There are though still a few who remember an earlier version of Luis.  When he was a lot more than just a good runner, but a great one.

This picture taken 30 years in ago in 1985 shows a Luis, that a generation of runners here now never knew.  Also they just may not believe that this man who now shuffles endlessly around the course in a grey sweat shirt once used to fly along the track. His personal best is 138 miles in 24 hours.

The man handing him his birthday cake in 1985 was also making some adjustments to his running goals at this time.  Ted Corbitt, who many consider the father of distance running in America even ran this race himself, when he was 80 years old.

All the runners in both of the races here have gone through a lot since they started.  There are no doubt a few who are really suffering but no matter how bad it gets they just won’t give up.  They see a finish line that for all of them is now getting closer all the time.

But let us not kid ourselves, there are still 4 days more of running.  And if you are Luis Rios, once he crosses the finish line he will pack up and go home to Brooklyn.  The next day he will head out the door and just keep going.

Continue reading “6 & 10 Day Race… Day 7”

Hello everyone, my name is Lo, Wei Ming. It is my pleasure to come to New York to participate in this race. I’ve heard that there is no other runner from Asia except me. I hope my participation will bring more Asian runners in the future. I also hope to get inspiration for my life through the race.

Although it’s only been 4 days, I feel that this experience is very worthwhile and I expect to enjoy the race more over the next few days. During the running, I have seen runners from all over the world showing their persistence, and perseverance. A lot of runners have set examples for us to follow.

During the event, I always experience moving feelings which are hard to describe. I am sorry my English is not good.  Although a race is a race, it’s not just about “competing” or the pursuit of “perfection”. You have to be there to discover it yourself. Being a runner, I feel proud to participate in a race, achieve my own goals, and feel life’s inspiration.

I’ve participated in marathons in Greece, Hungry, and other places. This is my fourth time competing internationally and it is my first time running in the United States. This park was built in 1964, the same year I was born.

I feel it’s my destiny and I am going to make this another starting point in my life. I am thankful for the organization’s invitation, in addition to the assistance and support I have received from many of my friends. I could not have made it without all your help. Thank you for interviewing me.

Yesterday I spoke for a little more than 5 minutes with Lo Wei Ming, a terrific 50 year old runner from Taiwan.  He speaks no English and yet it was clear he had something important to say.  At one point there were tears in his eyes. Today that conversation was translated for me by a team from the Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York.

As of noon today he has completed 5 days of running and has 310 miles.

Continue reading “6 & 10 Day Race… Day 6”

At noon time, on this cool blustery day in Flushing Meadow the runners of the 6 day race, joined those already on the course for the Self Transcendence 10 day race.  Sifting through the bios it should be noted that the 80 runners out here, even for the geographically challenged, represent more than 20 countries.

No matter who you are at some point your language skills will definitely be tested.  Yet if there one thing here that is also unequivocally accepted is that there is only one universal language of any true importance.  It is how each runner communicates with their feet.  Just how far you go is all that anyone really cares about here.  That you attempt to give your very best everyone understands.  It is so achingly simply to recognize and yet so incredibly difficult to achieve.

 

We all are capable of flashes of perfection.  Those precious moments when the connection between what we are capable of and what we actually accomplish are in perfect sync.

But for the past 4 days runners have attempted to eek out every available step and mile within their capacity.  Push themselves in ways that they have most definitely prepared the best they could for,  but often there is a shocking disconnect between the practice world and reality.  That only in competition do you become aware of the wide chasm that separates them both.

If there is a consolation in this experience is that for many here the mileage and the outer performance are secondary to a more subtle goal.  One not measured or calibrated to any universal standards of perfection.

It is simply one’s own personal self transcendence.  A journey that stretches out in front of us all.  A race that we started long ago and one who’s finish line never ceases to call out to us all, and asks us always to go beyond the place that holds us now.

Continue reading “6 & 10 Day Race… Day 5”

This Self Transcendence race provides a lot of experiences to lots of people.  To the runners first and foremost it offers a one of a kind opportunity to really test and expand upon who and what they are.  When an athlete comes to this race it is impossible not to be challenged in every part of your being. It is simply too long and too hard not to feel its effects.

It may be possible in the early stages to offer up some resistance to its transformative nature but ultimately after a couple of days or a couple of hundred miles you cannot help but become part of a world that has been uniquely created only to make your view and experience of the world transformed.

Most of the time we can so easily observe our lives as static and attached to thoughts, notions, and situations that are comfortable to us.  But even to non spiritual individuals this concept can be at the best of times boring and at other times simply not right.  We cannot help but realize that  life has to expand and grow by its very nature.

As you watch the faces of the runners now and compare them to even a few days ago you can notice changes.  Yes there is tiredness and ripples of pain, but beneath the dull sheen of their exteriors a positive brightness is building within each and every one.

Almost 30 years ago now the Sri Chinmoy marathon team helped count laps for a 6 day race sponsored by the New York Road Runners club.  It was the first steps into the multi day world that the team took and from then on never looked back upon. Creating more and more challenging events not just in New York but also around the world.

Sri Chinmoy with Nathan Whiting

But many others who are drawn to this race also are positively affected as well.  You don’t just have to be a helper who comes every day, you can also be a supporter from far far away.

I have already heard from many who are great fans of all the races the Sri Chinmoy marathon team sponsors.  Their identification with what is happening here is always moving and profound.  The support you offer the runners is always a wealth of inspiration that will come back and touch your own life as well.

Earlier today a young girl walking in the park with her Mom came by and was enthused by what she saw.

Continue reading “6 & 10 Day Race… Day 4”

No one would ever say that watching a multi day race is the most exciting thing to do, particularly on a bright Spring day in New York city.  The one mile loop of the Self Transcendence race meanders around an odd corner of Flushing Meadow park.

With just 53 runners stretched out along the course, the action at times for spectators could generously be described as ……slow.  For most park goers on such days they might not even notice that a race is going on.  Preferring instead to catch up on their reading.

The most important spectators are of course the runners themselves.  As the days pass they become increasingly more aware of just how each one of this small group is doing.  Taking inspiration when someone is running strong and alternately, feel the harsh reflection of the pain that others are at times also enduring.

Early this afternoon I just happened to watch as Ashprihanal Aalto crossed the finish line.  What caught my eye as he passed was a particular glint of satisfaction as he looked towards the board.  For those who know anything at all about this gifted world class athlete they might have wondered why he even looked at all.  After all he still has 8 more days to run.

For a man who has run the Self Transcendence 3100 mile race 12 times, how could anything go up on the board that he has not seen countless times before?

What mesmerized Ashprihanal was the number 200 beside his name.  A quantity of miles he was able to achieve in just a little more than 48 hours.  Something this 43 year old Finnish distance runner has never achieved before in all his years of competition.

So if he looks over to the board and grins just a little.  We shouldn’t be surprised, for this is his expression of absolute satisfaction and transcendence .  No doubt, for a while at least, when each of the other runners pass they will also enjoy seeing that great round number hanging beside the name of the man in first place.

But then their eyes will no doubt shift to their own names.  Gather some inspiration from what they too also have achieved over 2 long days.  Enjoy the briefest of pauses before stepping off into the seemingly eternal, another 8 days more.  Ultimately each runner here is their own competition and the their own spectator for the race of their lives.

Continue reading “6 & 10 Day Race… Day 3”

Anyone who has ever run a marathon has probably experienced those nagging moments when your mind is bombarded by countless pointless thoughts.  Culminating in one of the most foolish, ‘Will I make it to the finish line?’

Scanning mileage markers, checking on your impatient time piece, and seriously questioning your own ability to push through the nattering fatigue and ponderous doubts.  That experience, in one variation or another, most runners have endured.

Then, not much later, when the race is done, they question themselves.  Did they really need to go through that at all.  Then, wonder of wonders, did they not have more to give.

The simple logic of a 10 day race should dictate that there is never any real demand or pressure to go on, because the real goal is to simply endure 10 days on the track.  The total mileage gained is up to each runner.  Yet we mortals are designed to push and test our boundaries always.  Aware often of what strength we think we have and then surprised when really challenged that there is so much more to us then tired legs and doubting minds.

That transcendence is an indisputable and irresistible part of who we really are.  Our true happiness is only gained when we reach and strive for what we cannot see within us.   Which is ultimately and inevitably what we also must become.

Ashprihanal Aalto ran 110 miles in the first 24 hours

Continue reading “6 & 10 Day Race …Day 2”

10 days from now these 53 people will have accomplished something momentous and truly great.  For now the space besides their names remains blank, for they have yet to set out upon their way, to take their first eager steps, to begin a journey that so few have taken and yet now lies unavoidably before each one of these courageous runners.

We all who support, encourage, and in any small way aid them hope that their journeys be fine, bright, and fulfilling.  But a 10 day race is not a sporting event that does not allow a runner not to be shaken, molded, or left untouched in ways both simple and profound.  Even if you are torn down while doing the task, be assured, that once again you will arise up anew.  To be rebuilt and transformed in some way that is all simply an unavoidable part of our personal growth and self transcendence.

Not all will look upon the 10 days yet to come as a spiritual journey.  Nor each will feel that each step and mile is a test or battle.  Numbers will accumulate beside each name.  Some in abundant and glorious fashion and others struggled for each one.

No matter your training, no matter your fitness, and no matter the buoyant brightness of your dreams that compelled them all to come here.  Whatever the outcome,  it will all be worth it in the end.

Pain, fatigue, and suffering with different faces will come calling and be dismissed, fought, and every once in a while surrendered to.

But there is already victory here.  Just to stand up and step forward even one step from the line is its own great achievement and reward.  The numbers by each name will come gradually and accumulate each and every day.  By this time, 10 days from now, they will be put aside though.  The great green board, the village, and all the trappings of this 10 day race will vanish.

What will remain in the hearts and minds, and within the very fiber of each and every runner, is something that is not so easily lost or found.  It will be the inner experience, the change, and transformation that will push and guide each one to the next great challenge in their lives beyond.

Continue reading “6 & 10 Day Race….First Day”

For 355 days a year this little piece of Flushing Meadow Park doesn’t look like very much.  But for 10 days, and perhaps just a little more, each April it becomes something quite wonderful.  All that planes that soar in and out of LaGuardia airport close by, just might see out of the ordinary, is a momentary puzzling flash of blue and white plastic tarpaulin as they cross over this fragment of a New York City park.

Depending on how kindly you look down upon it, there is a wide assortment of landscaping here even at the best of times.  Some tired patches of dirt, crumpled roadway, great swaths of lawn, and trees spreading their towering canopies across the pathways.   Depending upon where you sit in a plane that crosses over, you just might catch a brief glimpse of it all.

But how is it possible, when you are soaring past, can you really tell at all what it is that you are seeing just beneath your window, and more importantly, know at all about the marvelous things that happen here over those 10 sweet hard days each Spring.

A few days ago the construction of the 6 and 10 day village began in earnest

To see how it all comes together is a miracle in and of itself… Bipin is the main manager of the building and Rupantar the Captain of the Sri Chinmoy marathon team.

Continue reading “6 & 10 Day Race…..Setting Up”