As Takasumi describes the many years he dreamed, planned, and prepared himself to come to Sri Chinmoy 3100 mile Self-Transcendence race his clear bright face reveals the tremendous awe and respect he has to be one of the precious few to set off this year in this the longest race in the world.
Every runner who makes their way to the starting line from scattered places from around the world knows it will be the most difficult thing they have ever attempted. That they will be challenged in many ways they never thought it was even possible to endure.
Photo by Sri Chinmoy Ultra photos
But in Takasumi’s wide gentle eyes I see a humility and wonder that both he and his wife Nina, who is his helper, have embarked on the ultimate journey of transformation and transcendence. One that will reveal itself in moments of ache and pain but also in joy and satisfaction. There is a road in front of us all. One which we must all take steps upon to reach a destination that calls out to encourage us, even though we sometimes listen through deaf ears.
Takasumi’s ears and his heart have clearly heard its call and he has resolutely accepted the challenge of the long road ahead.
Takasumi has had a slow start so far. Yesterday he did 2 miles and has a 6 day total of 294 miles
Last year when the 3100 mile race was held in Salzburg, Andrea Marcato entered the longest distance race in the world for the first time. At age 38 the trajectory of his athletic career was in a clear path to collide with this event sooner rather than latter. He had for some time accumulating impressive numbers not only in his previous multi days but also his achievements as a swimmer and triathlete.
The meeting of runner and Sri Chinmoy 31000 mile Self-Transcendence race was historic, as Andrea won the race with a time of 43 days and 12 hours. A performance that lifts him up into the lofty heights of one of the best achievements in the long 25 year history of the race.
As he enters day 5 there is still a very long way to go. But from the start on Sunday he has been delivering an effort so far that is not far off from being spectacular.
There are many many things which I will never understand. Explore even a fraction of Science’s ever expanding dimensions, grasp a dangling thread from the coat tails of sophisticated creativity and art, and then there is the very exclusive world of ultra athletics. One in which unique individuals explore the outer limitations of physical capacity and with tremendous effort and courage keep changing the definition of what is possible, for all of us.
Vasu is running this Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 mile race for the 9th time. His 8 previous efforts means that he has run 24,800 around this one Queens NYC block. Without much fuss over the last 3 days he has added an additional couple of hundred miles. This means that sometime yesterday he completed a total distance that would comfortably enable him to completely circle this little planet we are all trying to live upon together.
Despite coming to the race a little late Vasu completed 68 miles yesterday. He is 16 miles behind Andrea
I was wondering this morning just what kind of person and with what kind of determination they would need have to be able to reveal just how man times Ananda-Lahari has circled around Thomas Edison High school. In this his 17th attempt he has put in an almost incalculable amount of effort and determination to make it around the course 5649 times each time he has completed the 3100 mile distance. But to look at him now with his unclouded look of effervescent delight and an incandescent smile that brightens the mood of just about everyone he meets as his light footfalls tip tap their way round and round, the numbers are practically meaningless.
When you listen to him you can feel that somehow his heart is always here and though the physical finish line he has not always reached, the more important inner goal is transcended each and every time he comes to run. Though I confess I am certainly not capable of adding up the brute logistical details I am more than happy to bask in the radiance of his inner accomplishments and wish sometimes that more of the world had the same lightness, dedication, and joy.
When Wei Ming first came to the multi day races held in Flushing Meadow in 2014 he made clear just what his goal was, to run the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile race. He has continued his training and competing for many years and now at age 58 is the first Asian to enter the race, and if he is able to maintain his pace from the first day it will be likely he will succeed at completing the distance as well.
Seemingly always upbeat and positive he had an impressive first day with 80 miles which puts him in 3rd place
It seems such a familiar thing now this race that first started 25 years ago. And yet of course it is not. It can never be a stationary thing because it is after all about movement and about becoming. We are all very grateful to all those in Salzburg who managed to keep the flame burning bright last year. So today it begins once again were it all started and were it finds new life and hope and purpose. Not just each year but each and every moment.
Susan had a terrific performance in this years 47 mile race. Her time of 6:54:06 placed her first in the girls category and was fast enough for 2nd overall. She won the race as well last year with a time 7:09:45 which means she transcended herself by almost 15 minutes.
I spoke with her moments after she had finished the race and she expressed how she was looking forward to being receptive for the rest of Sri Chinmoy’s birthday celebration. “What I love about Sri Chinmoy’s birthday is that I feel that I have done something to honor him. Now I can really enjoy the day without my mind getting in the way.”
Looking back over the previous hours she says her experience was a bit of a blur. “I try as much as possible not to have any mind. I had hard laps and I had good laps. I try not to have any mind and that for me is the best way to do these races. So that I can be most receptive to our inner capacity, and most importantly why we are doing this. Which is to offer something to God. Our mind is not our friend here.”
Susan has done a personal best and so has transcended herself at this years 47 mile race. She feels it will take a day or so for it all to become clearer to her. “I know things happen on the spiritual level so I am happy with that.”
“I have lost count.” You can’t really blame Dipali for not remembering just how many times she has run the 47 miles race. Scanning back over the records one thing is clear and that is she has won the race 26 times since 1986 and her time this year of 7:44 (3rd place )is only 34 minutes slower than her winning time that year which was 7:09.
Dipali Interview:
“I came out here with no training. I just wanted to finish.”
Dipali as fate would have it shares the same birthday, August 27th as Sri Chinmoy. So the 47 mile race has always played a unique role in her running calendar and more importantly in her spiritual life. Turning 61 it can be expected that she might run slower but she has a tremendous running base and her motivation to do her best is unparalleled.
“I have had some health issues. I wanted to come back and run it just for the fun. But during the night I felt so strong. At the halfway point there was so much power. I wasn’t training for it but it was just there.”
“From 20 to 30 laps I had a nice experience. I got really tired and my stomach was bothering me.” Dipali says that in order to conquer the fatigue she imagined herself instead in a multi day race. One in which she was on the verge of completing. “With that little bit to go. Like I had already done hundreds of miles. With that in my mind and in my heart. It made it so much easier.”
“It was a beautiful night. It was so cool, and I reminisced about multi day running, because I had been taken away from it for a while. I had tears near the end because I felt like I had done it.”
“I didn’t care about the place on the board. It just came. I just wanted to finish. I have missed running for the past 4 years. I get emotional because I haven’t been able to run the way I once did.”
“Just sharing the same birthday with Sri Chinmoy…..what a blessing. I feel so honored that this race exists. It is such a beautiful atmosphere. No matter what the board says we are all family. We encourage each other and we support each other.”
“If I don’t run this race on my birthday then it just doesn’t set the day right for me. I am going to be wobbling and sore all day but it makes me feel good. I know I gave my all on my birthday. Sri Chinmoy once told me that I don’t run with my feet, that I run with my soul.”
“So I feel that my soul is to the fore on this day. I feel that I am running with my soul all night and that is what I experienced last night.”
When my body runs,
My soul jumps,
And my Lord Supreme sings and dances
With enormous Delight.
Even before completing the first loop of the track Abhinabha had taken a commanding lead in this years 47 mile race.
Interview:
Susan who was in 2nd place overall would eventually finish more than an hour behind his time of 5:35:49
“This is the 3rd time I have run the 47 mile race, and it is a race unlike any other. It celebrates Sri Chinmoy’s birthday, and it is on a night which is a very special for us.”
“There is something in the air the moment you take off. There is a consciousness, a peacefulness, a joyfulness, that I do not find in any other race. That accompanies you the whole way. At first I approached this as a race. I didn’t have any expectations. I didn’t know if my form was good. I did train for it. So I didn’t have any expectations but I did want to do my best, and do a good time.”
“But when I reached the marathon distance, I saw the banner and it said 47 mile run and it didn’t say 47 mile race. I thought that is the way to approach it. This is a run. It is not a race. I have to enjoy myself and just run, and be happy, and not push myself.”
“I know that if I had pushed myself I wouldn’t have gone any faster and I probably would have burned out. Maybe I would have been frustrated by the time. So I totally took that all out of the window. I didn’t care for time. I didn’t care for anything else. I was just trying to be in a really happy consciousness, while I was running.”
“My first time running this race was my fastest. (5:19) The second time I did it was 2 years ago and I had done the marathon 2 days earlier so that was 5:55 and this one is in the middle.”
Abhinabha of course inspired everyone who was part of the race this year with his powerful performance. “That is always great. I am really grateful that I can play that part, and inspire people.”
“I get tremendous inspiration from all the people cheering me. Every time you come through the finishing shoot there are so many people cheering, and it just lifts you up. And if I can inspire other people with my running then I am just so grateful for that.”
“I had a mantra. We saw a video a couple of nights ago where Sri Chinmoy said, you need to know only one thing. I love my Guru and my Guru loves me. I was chanting that almost the whole way. That was my mantra, my meditation. I felt Sri Chinmoy very strongly.”
“It is great if you can do your very best. I do believe that is also nice. But what it really comes down to is that it is a run. It is not about your time. It is not about being the fastest. There is something higher than that in this race.”
“It is about being in the right consciousness and doing it as a tribute to our Guru.”
Sri Chinmoy Day in New York City
On the morning of 27 August 1978, Sri Chinmoy’s 47th birthday, Queens Councilman Morton Povman came to the track at Jamaica High School to read the proclamation of Sri Chinmoy Day in Queens. Several of the 58 runners who were running 47 miles in honour of Guru’s birthday were still circling the 1 1/4 mile loop as the ceremony took place.
Proclamations were made in all 5 boroughs of New York City this year, making Sri Chinmoy’s 47th birthday the first city-wide Sri Chinmoy Day.
