Self-Transcendence 3100 mile race. – Page 60

I Am Happy I Did

This morning there was a celebration of sorts before the start of the race. It would never ever appear on the radar of typical big time New York parties but it still meant a lot to those who are part of the 3100 mile race family. Purna-Samarpan turned 33 today and all those who were there took a moment to wish him a happy birthday.

At the best of times, time itself is a precious commodity. Perhaps nobody is compelled to examine the passage of time quite like the 11 who run here. How, in an ironic fashion, you can be both a slave and a master of time simultaneously. The tiniest details gather such incomprehensible importance as the days and miles past. Simple things like rest breaks that slip on just a fraction too long. Taking extra steps to grab a hat or change a faulty shoe. The most insignificant elements that add up to a missing lap here and there over the months long journey.

This is Purna-Samarpan’s second time at the race and the experience and training he gained here last year he feels was an invaluable preparation in order to transcend his effort here this year.

Last year he was unable to complete the full distance but still had a powerful and transcendent experience.

Many would think in unimaginable to spend a birthday here doing such an impossible task. For the 11 however the ultimate goal they strive for is far beyond the realm of cakes and party hats. Though a birthday cake will show up at the race soon. The ultimate gift that he seeks he cannot get today. Where his dream takes him is to be able to simply go the distance this year. To challenge impossibility and then reach beyond.

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I Was Born Here

The parades, parties, and fanfare are now officially over. The joyous crowd that accumulated, just before the start on the first day, are nowhere to be found. On this overcast but pleasant Monday morning the cheering fans have evaporated away like a night’s mist. It has now come down to just the 11 runners, and the handful of crew that builds the site up each day. The crew’s faces will change like clockwork throughout the day. The running 11 will be the one and only singular constant of this place.

The sound of the start of the race

Their expressions of course changing like the sky. From overcast to bright and clear. Yet no matter the mood or the miles they will remain here. It is home.

In appearance it is a place that is so plain and simple it hardly rates the distinction to be even called a camp. Not without character, but certainly not a place one would seek out unless you truly felt the inner call to be there.

Yet beneath the meager blue plastic tarps there is a magnificence not easily perceived. The runners of course are oblivious to their humble shelters. They are so rarely stationary any way. They are a whirl of almost constant motion, today, tomorrow, and on and on throughout the long New York summer.

The results of their first day upon the course is now captured on the score boards left over from the night before. In a few minutes they will shift into gear and be transformed by every new lap and mile. For now though they reflect clearly the efforts of all full day of running by the 11. Ashprihanal, the veteran put in a typical stellar day. Surasa the new girl on the course demonstrated her talent and tenacity with 68 miles. The rest showed that they are all ready and willing to continue onto towards their goals, both outer and inner.

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The Hour Has Come

For a few visitors to New York City Saturday night most likely was a restless one. After months of anticipation and training, for the 11 runners in the world’s longest race, it was all now swiftly draining down until the scant few hours before they would actually start the Self Transcendence 3100 mile race. Even for the veterans, who have toed the line many times, the race marks a most significant and challenging undertaking. Each step forward in turn accumulates then into laps and then again into miles until somehow miraculously the journey has been completed.

Eventually the summer and the distance will seemingly have swept by in no time at all. In comparison to their entire life’s journeys but a heart beat in time. Paradoxically, at the end of the road, after running 3100 long hard miles, the runner physically finds themselves in precisely the same spot from which they began months earlier, and yet within they have traveled far far beyond their expectations.

As they move forward plastic numbers temporarily show the measure of their efforts. To the runners they are as ephemeral and illusive as fireflies dancing in the air. They go up and down with a tell tale rip of Velcro. The clipboards at the counting tables tell a more permanent measure of their journeys but in the end they are but mere pencil jottings on paper.

Something happens here that cannot be measured or marked or photographed or questioned or reasoned with in any way. There are days in which you could be standing right beside it and be blind to it. On other days you could be on the far side of the world and yet still feel the inner thrill of what is taking place here and be as much a part of it as if you were entered in the race as well.

The 3100 is not for the masses. It is just for those who believe that life is not just about muscle and mind. It speaks clearly to those who believe in the unlimited capacity of heart and spirit and who believe that Self-Transcendence is not just for 11 brave runners. Self-Transcendence is the inevitable destiny of us all.

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Now It Is Summer At Last

There are many things and events that clearly mark the change of seasons for us. Nobody has quite the same fervid appreciation of nature’s transformation as do school children and farmers. Kids see the great freedom of summer vacation inching enticingly closer as the days of June fall away. For Agriculturists their livelihoods depend on the arch of the sun climbing up higher and longer into the sky. Astronomers of course know precisely when the great solstice will take place as do school children who know so well the date when the last chains of the school year will at last slip away.

Queens NY, like all places north of the Equator, is as familiar with the tell tale signs of the advent of summer as any place. The whine of air conditioners in windows, fire flies dancing in the still night air, dreams of summer vacations at last morphing into tickets, reservations, and packed bags. But for one tiny area of Queens nothing spells summer quite like the beginning of the Self-Transcendence 3100 mile race. It is about to begin for the 14th summer on June 13 and will continue on breathlessly until all the runners have completed the race, or 52 days, which ever comes first.

Over the last week the 11 participants have been arriving from 8 different countries. For 9 of them it is like coming home. They are returning to an event that is for them not only the focus of their years but also very much the focus of their lives.

For a few hectic days they become almost full time shoppers. Collecting all the little things that will sustain them over the coming months. Generally this means buying shoes and still more shoes. It is but a brief period of chaotic freedom that they all gladly surrender in order to embark upon the great journey. At 6 am on June 13 everything changes. From then until midnight, each and every day it becomes all about completing the laps. Taking a brief rest and then coming back for more.

The Self-Transcendence 3100 race is gruelingly difficult. The reward at the end of which, is outwardly infinitesimal in comparison to the effort and sacrifice necessary in order to achieve it. People will walk and drive by the course each day most often oblivious to what is taking place on the block on which the race is being staged. For a few however, who slow or stop, it becomes the most wonderful secret hidden in plain sight. A miracle that clearly demonstrates the boundless capacity of what people can accomplish when they look for strength and courage within. Each day turning their backs on the imaginary constraints of impossibility and search within themselves instead for the limitless beyond.

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August 13 This Time is Special

“This time is special,” Suprabha says as she talks about her experience here this year in the 3100 mile race. For anyone who has had the opportunity to observe Suprabha running day in day out, they would have to profoundly agree with her direct and simple assessment of her race this year. Just 15 days ago it appeared that it would be impossible for her to continue. One of the doctors who examined her at that time, Dr. Mitch Proffman says, “she was in excruciating pain, she couldn’t even step down. She couldn’t even move her hip. It is truly a miraculous recovery. She is an inspiration to everybody.”

The mantle of heroine doesn’t fit too well upon Suprabha’s slight frame. In a supermarket line or even out here at the 3100, as the only woman running with much younger men, after a quick assessment of her, one would probably be hard pressed to easily identify her as an exceptional athlete. She certainly does not outwardly resemble someone who has the distinction of being, as Sahishnu called her, “the greatest super long distance runner in history.” What defines this petite champion is not her outer strength and speed but her absolute inner dedication to this race created by Sri Chinmoy 13 years ago. Yet even if the world does not celebrate her astounding list of achievements her incomparable distance records clearly demonstrate by themselves how incredible an athlete she really is.

The vocabulary of language is in so many ways inadequate to catalogue or even properly comprehend her accomplishments. After so many years and miles of constant running competition, descriptive adjectives have long since failed to keep pace with her as she just keeps going and going on. Suprabha tells me that once a friend came to her earlier in the summer and related to her that she had been listening to some old tapes in which her late spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy is speaking about her. He said several times how miraculous it was that Suprabha ran this race. Yet now she has done it again for a record setting 13th time.

If one has any belief, or just simply accepts, that heart power is far superior and more significant than the power of the mind or the body then what Suprabha has done, not just this year, but throughout her ultra-distance career becomes abundantly clear. It would seem that it is in her receptivity and her inner spiritual connection, that she finds her apparently limitless strength and enthusiasm. What would crumble most people to the ground, she simply accepts, not as adversity but as inspiration to reach higher and dig deeper. All of course part and parcel of her spiritual teacher’s philosophy on life. She says, “it has taken me until this year to really understand what Sri Chinmoy gave us in this race.”

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August 8 Never Too Much Inspiration

“It is always good when people try and inspire you.” Ananda-Lahari is evidence of one who seems to have inspiration as a constant companion in his life. He had walked a lap with another runner very early this morning who had been trying to encourage him on this his last day at the race. He continues, “there is no end to inspiration, you can have more and more inspiration. We think we have enough inspiration and 2 years later and we look back and think. O this inspiration now is so much more than then.”

“Now we think that we know but it is actually that we know nothing.” One thing that is crystal clear and has no philosophical overtones is that this afternoon, after Ananda-Lahari completes another 42 miles he will have finished his 5th 3100 mile Self-Transcendence race.

In the great scheme of things it will not be his fastest race but it will still nonetheless be 6 hours faster than his effort last year. Sahishnu will say at the award ceremony, “5 times is no joke. That is 15,500 miles. You have tremendous capacity. You can do 70 miles on any given day. If it is God’s grace you will come back and transcend yourself even more, not by hours but by days and days. We all see your capacity. We all know your smile and your heart, but now you have to show the world that you are great as well as good.”

Inspiration is the first step. The second and final step towards God-realisation is aspiration. He who has no inspiration is no better than a dead man. He who has inspiration, soulful inspiration, is constantly running towards and crying for the Beyond.

Excerpt from Rainbow-Flowers, Part 1 by Sri Chinmoy.

August 7 Like a Dream

It is a sweet still morning, odd perhaps for a friday, when the world around us usually gathers itself for the final noisy chaotic rush of the week. The sky is bright and glowing and the day will not get hot. It is a day that is swelling with beauty and promise. It is also the day that Pavol has dreamt about and struggled long and hard to achieve.

It is just a perfect morning to be wide awake. Yet the first words he speaks today are, “It is like a dream.” But this is a real and perfect dream for Pavol. Today he will at last reach his goal.

On day 56 of last years race Pavol found a generous portion of solace for his mind but in his heart he felt he had not achieved his true victory. He managed to complete 2700 miles on the penultimate day of the 3100 mile race. It was a terrific performance considering how hard he had to work to get it but he had come to complete the full distance, not 2700, so it was a bitter sweet victory after 56 days of struggle.

On this bright morning he steps forward from the line with just 49 miles ahead of him. There will still be a hint of brightness left in the sky when he crosses the finish line in the early evening. He is not dreaming or sleeping in any way today. As he run he looks as though he is savoring each step. He does not look like one that he has spent 111 days here over two years going around and around thousands of times.

He is all too awake and alive and grateful to be here. He is doing what his heart has asked of him. Tomorrow when he rises early and does not come back to the course, perhaps that will be a real dream.

This picture was taken by Alakananda at Asprihanal’s finish in 2007. Today is her birthday and she has offered this picture to all who have come to the race this morning. For both herself and her Dad this picture represents their spiritual teacher’s love and affection for this race. Sutisheel says, that you can see in this picture that he is asking her to take it. So today she is giving it away.

On May 4th, his birthday, Stutisheel also gave it away and included the following aphorism.

I love the Supreme because I came from Him. I devote myself to the Supreme because I wish to go back to Him. I surrender myself to the Supreme because He lives in me and I in Him.

Excerpt from Service-Boat And Love-Boatman, Part 2 by Sri Chinmoy.

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August 6 This is What I am Supposed to Do

Ananda-Lahari tells me this morning, his 54th day on the course, that he walked all day yesterday. I ask him if the reason he walked was due to lack of inspiration or due to lack of energy. He answers quickly. “Inspiration I have always.”

He is here at the race for the 5th straight year. Over the years he has been much much faster and slower than he will be this year. He has a personal best of 49 days and 14 hours. It is a time that is almost 7 days faster than his current pace. This year he is likely to finish on the 56th day, a slightly quicker time than he did here last year.

He is one of those very rare individuals in which the outer results seem to be secondary in importance to the inner achievement. It is something that most of us like to strive for but so often fall into the obvious trap of wanting to see the results of our efforts all line up in our favor. It is simple human nature to set goals and try to achieve them. Ananda-Lahari is someone who is not oblivious about wanting to surpass his previous achievements, but more significantly, he wants to be satisfied and content within himself all along the way. There is an outer goal he has worked hard to achieve here, but there is for him an inner goal that cannot be reached with footsteps alone. It is reached with joy, positiveness, and prayer. As he says, “I believe there is nobody here who is not trying to do their best.”

Keep trying!

It so often happens

That the last key opens the door.

Likewise, it is your last prayer

That may grant you salvation,

And your last meditation

That may grant you realisation.

Excerpt from Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, Part 17 by Sri Chinmoy.

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August 5 Go Forward

Today Pavol is wearing a T shirt that says, ‘Go Forward.’ It is written in the gently flowing handwriting of his late spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy. The letters are a bright bold red and around it are a collection of four of his bird drawings in soft blue.

On this, his 53rd day on the course, Pavol is just 161 miles from completing his journey. Just like Pushkar, his race in many ways began one year ago when he entered the 3100 for the first time in 2008.

His race last year was an epic struggle almost from the beginning. An injury prevented him from ever really being able to run. He courageously stayed on the course however for 56 days, at which time he reached 2700 miles and was obliged to stop, 400 miles short of his goal. On the following day Suprabha finished her 3100 miles and the race was officially over.

5 days ago Pavol crossed a self-transcendence threshold that has weighed upon him for the past year. Late friday afternoon he past the 2700 mile mark and then just kept going without a pause. Knowing full well that not only was each step, one step further than he had ever gone in a race before, but also that his goal was now most certainly and assuredly fast approaching. It now appears that on Friday, sometime in the evening of his 55th day on the course he will complete running the Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race.

From time to time Pavol has written some short poems about his experience here. Today his poem is:

No Mind

No Form

No Break

I am only running.

If your heart has climbing aspiration,

Then you cannot go backward.

You can only go forward.

Excerpt from Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, Part 84 by Sri Chinmoy.

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August 4 Proud of You

Diganta starts his final day at the 3100 with just 51 miles to go. For this young man from Austria, who is just 29, it will be his 4th finish of the worlds longest race.

When he arrived this morning he showed not a hint of excitement or anticipation, it appeared for all intents and purposes like just another day at the office. Not one he has been working so hard to reach for the past 51 plus days.

In his first few laps of the day he moves slowly and easily. He says it will not be until he has 10 miles to go that, “I will have the feeling that it is really going to end.” For now he says it is just like any other day. The major difference today being he says,”except that it is very quiet, because most of the people have finished,” and with this remark he laughs.

He has received lots of encouraging messages from friends and family back home in Austria and from Italy where he lived much of the past year. He tells me with real amusement about a fax he received from his two brothers. One wrote simply, ‘greetings,’ and the other wrote, ‘Who ever runs the fastest finishes first.” He finds this amusing and I ask him if he thinks people understand what he is really doing here and has done over 4 summers and he says, “I don’t think so.”

A few days ago, a story was printed in the New York Times, written by a journalist who was describing what it was like standing in one gallery of the Louvre for two hours. He just wanted to observe how the visitors reacted to the display of magnificent artworks that were notable, but were certainly not as prestigious as, lets say, the Mona Lisa.

He realized that most people moved quickly through the gallery rarely even pausing for even one minute in front of any of the priceless pieces of art. If they did even stop, a precious amount of time was spent just looking at the label and not on the art. Some just snapped photos and moved swiftly through. Perhaps trying to take in the whole museum in a single day.

Of course Diganta is not on display here at the race, nor are any of the runners who have finished their tasks or have yet to complete their journey. He moves slowly so he can be easily seen, but our minds eye will never really catch the transcendent beauty and magnificence of what he or any of others have done here.

Later in the early evening at his finish Sahishnu will say of Diganta, “You are soulful, you are thoughtful, you care for all the other runners, you have always been an asset to the race, and you still know how to run. People don’t realize that if you don’t run 41 or 42 days that you are not any good. You run with such grace and poise, that Sri Chinmoy would be proud of you, and we are all proud of you. Four times here, no joke.”

I tell you once and for all:

Simplify your life-pilgrimage.

God will be proud of you.

Intensify your heart-pilgrimage.

God will be proud of you.

Purify your mind-journey.

God will be proud of you.

Cancel your vital-journey.

God will be proud of you.

Expel your body-journey.

God will be proud of you.

Excerpt from The Wings Of Light, Part 18 by Sri Chinmoy.

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