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This is my first time in New York, and I am next to a freeway with winds, and rain which made an interesting night, but it was all character building.” It is shortly after noon on Saturday and Martin Fryer has been running in the Self Transcendence race for a little more than 24 hours. Despite the horrendous conditions he is running with shocking ease and fluidity. At times the rain cascades down around us and creates a splashing mess on the road. Martin barely acknowledges the tumult and slaloms skillfully around the puddles. His only nod to the inclementness is to that he simply tugs the strings to his hood tighter and doesn’t miss a step.
Of all the runners here Martin Fryer is clearly the one everyone would like to keep their eye on. It is not just his speed, and the lightness of his steps, it is also apparent that he just might keep up this fabulous flow and momentum, all the way to the end of day 6. It is unfair to heap this kind of pressure upon anyone in an event that is just starting. Yet Martin’s demeanor is also as light and hopeful as his footfalls.
The story of Martin’s entrance into the ultra world began with a move to Sydney where the club he joined there, the Sydney Striders had several ultra members. “Someone took me under their wing, a mentor, that was in 1997. By 2004 I tried my first 24 hour race which I won and did well in and I thought I had obviously found a niche. And a terrible niche as it is,” and he offers a light self mocking laugh. “There is something very pure about these events. What I have learned has made me a better person and a better runner.”
He is very serious about how participating in long races has transformed him. “I think one of the big lessons I have learned over the past few years, I think early on I tried to control everything. I think the last few years I have tried to run more organically, and realize you have to let go and surrender. It makes it much more joyful, and I have had better results as well, so that was nice icing on the cake.”
“I think you have the potential to try and control it, but I have found you reach a point, what I call analytical thinking. But after several days in these races the parameters all go out the door. That is when faith and intuitive thinking become so much more important, and you realize that you are released from that, and all the analytical loops that you been caught up into, when you can’t control the parameters. It has made a great lesson for me and the rest of my life too.”
I ask him what has drawn him to come so far from his home in Australia. “Just the name of this race, Self Transcendence, I mean, that is exactly why I am here. I know it is going to be ugly at times, but you need to expand your mind and uplift yourself, and to work through it. It is a great metaphor for your whole life. You are going to have tough times, but if you have the faith, you will come out through the other end of it.”
“I know outsiders find it all very strange and quirky. They often see us all as a bunch of eccentrics. But I think outwardly they see changes in you, and they go ‘gee, maybe they might be on to something.’ I guess it is all the ultimate karma yoga. Just working every day, going around and around.”
Despite an impressive resume of Australian and Commonwealth age group records in several distances Martin has never completed a 6 day race. He attempted only one before and had to pull out due to injuries. He has come here with a wide spectrum of goals he hopes he can accomplish. The top ones he describes simply as the, “big hairy audacious goals.” Which translated into real numbers is 900km (485miles). “The bottom goal is to finish, so I have been a lot more careful in day one here. Just sort of looking after myself. Trying to run a bit more easily. I think one of the things I have learned, from the first one I did as well was, I went in with the wrong attitude. I came in with just a purely competitive attitude.”
He describes that for him how a light bulb came on, after being in his previous attempt and making it to day 3, and being stung by injury. “O now I get it, so that talking to people and sharing the experience. So this time I feel much happier about it.”
He tells me as well that he is not focusing on his competition what so ever. He has made a decision not to look at the board. “You need to run your own race.”
Click to play interview
[audio:http://perfectionjourney.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Martin.mp3|titles=Martin]
In others as well, you sometimes find such incredible determination and energy that their bodies can barely contain it. Yet, despite this great capacity, the physical can only give so much. The body not really capable of harnessing this phenomenal life force.
I was able to run with him today accompanied by a translator. He tells me that he loves the race because it gives him a special experience that he can get in no other way. I wonder why he would pick such a difficult task like running 10 days to achieve this. He laughs and tells me that the goal may be hard to find, but when you at last reach it you see that it was worth all the effort.
Even though he is leading the race at this moment Vladamir is just a few miles behind. I ask him if he feels any pressure from those who are so close behind. He tells me that the God that lives in his heart inspires him to do this, and so presumably he does not listen to the footsteps following so closely behind. Instead he just listens to his own heart.
“I think it really helps running with people when you are in a low spot. I just did a long race 5 days ago and I am really struggling.” It may seem a little peculiar for an experienced multi day runner to be having a tough time just a few hours into a 10 race. There is after all still a lot of real estate between her and the finish line.
When I meet her on the first day it is early afternoon and she has so far completed about 25 miles. At that time she is running with Dasha Yashina a first time runner from Russia. They are moving comfortably and their conversation seems like they have been friends for years and not just a few hours. Sarah says, “people are being really kind.” She was unable to attend last years race due to some complications involving a passport gone astray. She has regularly attended the race over the last few years. Now she says, “I want to see if it is possible to put 2 races together. Now I am wondering if it is such a good idea, and laughs.” In the 2009 race she ran 684 miles.
One can of course hope to come away from races, both big and small, with world records and great achievements. This is after all the day it was announced that the record in the marathon was broken. Self Transcendence however is something deep and it is something intensely personal. The counters cannot mark it down nor can reporters with microphones record it. We bystanders may be fortunate once in a while to see a certain smile and a glow about those who have stepped into a new realm. We might, but most likely we cannot see beyond the boundaries of our own world and limitations.
He is someone who not only has a keen understanding of the significance of the 3100 mile race but has also performed a very practical and vital role there as well for many years. Pradhan is someone keenly suited to finding solutions to the obstacles confronting the runners on many levels, not just the physical. In simple and practical ways his chiropractic treatments helps enable many of the athletes running there to perform at their maximum capacity, day in and day out. He is a chiropractor of extraordinary talent and though he no longer maintains a professional practice he still has been able to serve at nearly all of the multi day races that Sri Chinmoy Marathon team has organized in New York. This is no small feat as he is a resident of Chicago and yet has found time during his busy schedule to visit New York and willingly serve those who are trying to test the very limits of their physical capacity and endurance.
Pradhan: I think it was an actual extension of – you know –of his spiritual philosophy. It was something that evolved. He used it as a metaphor for what we’re trying to do inwardly. On our path, there are people who run regularly all the time. And it is understood that the runner accomplishes his goal by placing one foot in front of the other.
