Nirbhasa is originally from Ireland but currently lives in Reykjavik, Iceland. He is an enthusiastic multi-day runner, having completed four times the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race - the longest race in the world.
Sandhani Fitch has been marking and certifying courses for Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team races ever since the very first race in 1977; here he shares a few interesting details about how the now-famous course for the 3100 Mile Race - a half-mile loop around a high school, sports field and playground - came to be chosen.
I have worked on Sri Chinmoy’s running races since the very first Sri Chinmoy 10.6 mile race in Greenwich, Connecticut. Sahishnu (Sczeziul, associate race director) and I plotted a scenic course in northern Greenwich that was a hilly single loop. Sri Chinmoy had just begun his own personal distance running career and by the following year, with one more similar Sri Chinmoy race in New Canaan, Connecticut, we got some feedback from him. The first directive was to select flat courses! Secondly, Sri Chinmoy wanted aid stations at one-mile intervals for the runners. A year or two later he recommended using a one-mile loop for most of our races, no matter the overall distance.
These outer conditions that he proposed laid the foundation for the multi-day ultras he asked us to stage in the following years. The race directors in short time evolved into the team we have now. Sri Chinmoy always had faith that we had the willingness to do what he asked. We never questioned his requests, and with the amazing help provided by so many Marathon Team members in so many ways, his vision became a reality.
In the early 1990’s Sri Chinmoy asked if his students could stage a 2700-mile race! It took about 4 years of searching for staging areas for the race until we finally saw that no park was going to let us occupy an area around the clock for 47 days. He then said to stage it within 5 minutes of our neighborhood. We, in turn, asked about running for 18 hours and closing the course for 6 hours, and he said fine. We were then left with the choice between our current 2-mile race course around Jamaica High School, or what is now our 3100-mile course which I measured and submitted for certification. Our concerns were that it was only a little over a half mile and that it was a concrete sidewalk and not a softer “blacktop” surface. You know the course Sri Chinmoy chose.
Sandhani also has the job of patrolling the 3100 Mile course on his bicycle after dark.
Two general but profound things I have always felt about Sri Chinmoy’s races: First, he created them according to his vision, and was never bound by the conventions of the racing community. The distance or the time was always somewhat different, the previously mentioned conditions were applied to all the races, and the services and human contact with the participants provided by all the team members volunteering was very significant.
Second, and most meaningful to me, is what Sri Chinmoy brought to the earth consciousness in and through these events. God alone knows what he does, but I have always been able to feel it. The reason he could do this is because the races are totally his creation, and are made possible by the self-giving of all his students and volunteers and, most importantly, the willingness and determination of the runners to conquer these enormous distances. The Marathon Team makes the commitment to put on these huge races, because the runners themselves are so committed to complete the task put before them.
Nirbhasa is originally from Ireland but currently lives in Reykjavik, Iceland. He is an enthusiastic multi-day runner, having completed four times the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race - the longest race in the world.
If you have ever wondered about the different experiences that the participants in our ultra races go through, you can get a very good idea from this article in the Guardian. The writer visited the Self Transcendence 24 hour race at Tooting Bec athletics track in London at several points during the race, interviewing many of the runners and organisers and observing the changes in their physical and inner states during the race. The article was later syndicated by The Week, a popular British news magazine.
This race had a particularly high standard, with 26 runners breaking 100 miles in the 24 hours - over half the field. James Stewart ran 160 miles, which is just under 3-hour marathon pace. We also had a new age-group over-65 world record, as the article describes:
Some people stand out, calm and composed. One of them is 68-year-old Ann Bath. She’s not very fast, she’s a little bent over, but she is unrelenting. While others occasionally stop for a massage, or to eat something, she presses serenely on, never stopping. In the end, she runs an incredible 116 miles, an age-group world record....
Archives: How Sri Chinmoy started a winter marathon
By Rupantar LaRussoauthor bio »
1 December
About the author:
Rupantar has been the race director of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team since 1985, having been asked by Sri Chinmoy to serve in that capacity. As well as working on the big races the US Marathon Team organise each year - the 3100 Mile Race and the Six and 10 Day Race - he also spends a considerable amount of time archiving the Marathon Team's 40 year history on this website.
Sri Chinmoy participates in the Inspiration Marathon (Photo: Bhashwar Hart)
By 1980, Sri Chinmoy felt that his students needed more inspiration to train and race seriously, especially in the cold winter months of the Northeast when one can easily lose fitness with the excuse that it is too cold out to train or race. That lethargic notion was soon to be shattered when Sri Chinmoy sprang a marathon on his students in January 1980 in the subfreezing weather of Vermont....
Arpan De Angelo, a 200-marathon veteran and a participant in that race, describes the experience of participating in the first winter Sri Chinmoy Inspiration Marathon, an event that was held in Vermont or New Hampshire for many years in the eighties, often in icy temperatures, at a time when winter marathons were practically unheard of.
New book: A spiritual approach to swimming the English Channel
By Vasanti Niemz
28 September
For Adriano Passini from Brazil, with a longstanding love for triathlons and warm water, the cold English Channel was something like a myth in his youth – fascinating, but impossible to achieve.
However, Adriano's life changed when he started to practice meditation. Inspired from within, and by his teacher Sri Chinmoy`s philosophy of inner and outer self-transcendence, he decided to take up the challenge of the Channel. In his new book The Challenge of the English Channel: A Spiritual Approach to the Mount Everest of Swimming, Adriano shares the joys and hardships of his two-year-journey of physical and spiritual preparation and reveals to the reader how, with sincere dedication, the power of the heart, and God`s Grace, seemingly impossible dreams can become a reality.
The English Channel is often called the Mount Everest of Open Water Swimming. There may be longer or more difficult swims, but the challenge of swimming the English Channel remains stupendous. Swimmers will have to brave not only the vastness of the sea and all the elements, but also face their inner demons and weaknesses. Cold water, currents, waves, fog, sudden weather changes, cargo ships, jellyfish, seeweed, swimming in the dark, increasing fatigue, doubt, fears and hours of solitude force the swimmer to dig deep to be able to reach the “Golden Shore.”
Praise
"This book is one of the best I have seen on the subject. It covers how to increase chances of success, what is out of the hands of the swimmer and what will likely contribute to failure. ... A most inspiring telling with great tips that are very readily applied to other sporting and life events....The attempt to capture the inner lessons, seeing everything as a practice session for the next life adventure, was remarkable in its sensibility and practically."
Adhiratha Keefe, fellow SCMT member and first United Nations staff member to swim the Channel solo in 1985.
Video: Interviewwith Adriano after his English Channel swim in 2013
Famous Channel quotes
"An English Channel swim will always be a battle of one small, lone swimmer against the savage vastness of the open sea." - Michael Read, MBC, King of the English Channel (1979 - 2005) with 33 EC solos, President of the CSA
"Nothing great is easy." - Famous quote by Captain Matthew Webb, first person to successfully swim the English Channel unassisted in 1875
"If you want to successfully swim across the English Channel – you have to leave any doubt on the beach." - Lewis Pugh, pioneer swimmer and ocean advocate
"Self-transcendence-joy
Unmistakably knows
No equal." - Sri Chinmoy
Tejvan organises short-distance running and cycling races for the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in his home city of Oxford. He is also a very good cyclist, having won the National hill climb championships in 2013 and finished 3rd in the National 100 Mile Time Trials in 2014.
Self-transcendence simply means seeking to try and better yourself. Sport gives us an opportunity - whatever our current standard - to transcend our previous physical achievements.
Running up hill, with number flapping on the front
One of my earliest experiences of self-transcendence was competing in a four mile village fun run aged 7. It seemed a great adventure to run four miles, which in those days seemed to go on forever.
I remember that during the run, I stopped outside my house because my number was flapping in my face, so my Dad pinned it on the back. I paid dearly for this delay, getting pipped on the line by another under-7, finishing in second place.
The next year, I didn’t stop to rearrange my race number and won the coveted Menston under 7 boys prize, with corresponding bar of Yorkie chocolate. The joy of self-transcendence was great, even if I couldn’t walk for several days after. Four miles was a long way when you’re seven. It is probably banned for health and safety reasons these days, but I was glad to be able to do it.
The intense competition of Menston Fun Run (I am on the left)
There were no athletic talent spotters at Menston fun-run though, and my initial break through moment never materialised into anything more substantial. It wasn’t until several years later, I reluctantly took up running again; specifically, cross-country for my school. It wasn’t with any noble aim of individual self-transcendence; it was more that running seemed less bad than having to play rugby with lads who weighed twice as much as me. After a few years of underwhelming enthusiasm, lack of training and thinking of other things, my running career ended with a personal worst of finishing last in a race. I took this as a cue to slink away, blame poor athletic genes on my parents, and do something else more interesting for a 16-year-old teenager.
It wasn’t until joining Sri Chinmoy’s path, aged 22, I thought again of running. On joining the path, I was most interested in the possibility of spiritual self-transcendence through meditation. But Sri Chinmoy encouraged running as part of an integral spiritual path, so I gave it a go. This mainly involved running further and further each day, getting up to 13 mile training runs. There was a sense of achievement in re-finding running, and unlike earlier years, the running gave me more joy as I was running with a different motivation.
25 mile time trial
An injury curtailed further running, but at the age of 27, I took up cycling - something I had done and off throughout my life, though without any particular focus. In the first season of racing, I entered a few time trials - races where you compete against the clock, trying to cover a set distance (e.g. 25 miles) as quick as you can. Time trials are a great opportunity to practise self-transcendence. It is not just about keeping physically fit, but also getting together all the different aspects of performance - equipment, mental state, focus and enthusiasm.
To my surprise, I did better than expected. My first 25 mile time trial was 1.00.25 - not a bad average speed for a first time. However, the really encouraging thing was how I was able to reduce this personal best for 25 miles over the next year. Each race I entered, I seemed to take one minute off from this personal best time. By, the end of 2005, I had reduced my PB to 52.54 for 25 miles, which at one time had seemed an impossibility. There was a real sense of self-transcendence and it was very encouraging.
“Self-transcendence-joy unmistakably knows no equal.”
- Sri Chinmoy
With this kind of progress - getting a minute quicker with each race - I thought there was no limit to my cycling career, but alas, this golden period of ‘easily’ reducing times came to a temporary end. Rather than going quicker, I posted a few slower times, a potent reminder that self-transcendence requires patience and perseverance. It also reminds you that there is more to self-transcendence than going quicker. I now wanted to try and learn to get joy from the performance, whatever the outcome. This was a different type of self-transcendence; improving the inner attitude and dealing with disappointment as a way to help achieve satisfaction.
After a few years of setting no personal bests, I was finally able to go faster and reduced my PB to below the magic 30 mph barrier - 49.34 (2011). I was also able to set a 30mph 50 mile time trial of 1.39.30 (2014). This year, aged 39, I reduced my 25 mile pb to 49.11.
Going deep in a hill climb
However, my overwhelming goal in cycling was to try and win the national hill climb championship. Hills are my speciality because I am quite light. For quite a few years (2005-2012), I came close - I regularly finished in the top 10 and top five, but never quite managed to make the final improvement to get on the podium and top place.
In 2013, after nine years of trying, I felt this was the best chance to finally achieve the goal of winning a national championship. Rather than leave things to chance and hope for the best, I sought to make training and preparation as careful and focused as I could. I also read Sport and Meditation by Sri Chinmoy to garner any spiritual tips for physical self-transcendence. One thing that struck me was Sri Chinmoy’s advice to be in a happy frame of mind. If you enjoy what you do, you gain an added strength.
I tried to improve my physical preparations, and at the same time, tried to be more receptive to the inner strength. I hoped that the intangible inner motivation and inner grace could be the difference in this world of marginal gains.
The inner and outer preparations paid off, and on a cold, wet, windy day I finally finished first. It was great to win, after finishing 4th and 5th on so many occasions.
In recent years, younger riders have got faster and it has been harder to maintain the dominance of the hill climb season. Despite making great efforts at continued self-transcendence, you can’t always remain the fastest in the country. But that doesn’t bring self-transcendence to an end. The next year, defending the title, I finished 4th, but still felt that in the race I had experienced a form of self-transcendence - pulling out a good performance, doing the best I can. They say finishing 4th is the worst, but I disagree. Getting joy, no matter what the result, feels like a type of progress. (See article: reflections on 4th place)
This year, I tried in different direction. Rather than short ‘punchy’ hill climbs which require fast twitch muscle fibres, I tried my first 12 hour time trial. Despite back pain, I finished 2nd in the national 12 hour championship with 284 miles. The hardest point of the race was at two hours, but I was really committed to finishing the 12 hours - whatever the distance. This helped to relax and get in a flow; for the middle part of the race, I got into a good rhythm. When you think about cycling continuously for 12 hours it seems really difficult, but it was great to be able to do it and find the experience different to what you imagine it would be like.
Next year I hit 40, which moves me into something called a ‘veteran category’. An excuse to go slower. or opportunities for different kinds of transcendence - trying to maintain the form and effort, despite advancing physical years. Sri Chinmoy took up weightlifting in his mid 50s, so there is still plenty of time to do something worthwhile.
Swimming Tsugaru Strait: Abhejali achieves her 4th 'Oceans Seven'
By Vasanti Niemz
13 August
almost there - Abhejali swimming Tsugaru Strait
on the boat before the start
swimming into the dawn
ideal and actual route
successful and happy
Prayers, focus, visualisation and serious preparation nicely worked together! After the strong wind conditions caused by a typhoon blew out any chances for swimmers only few days earlier, Abhejali Bernardova (39) of our Czech Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team had almost perfect conditions for her attempt to cross the Tsugaru Channel between Honshu and Hokkaido in northern Japan, which is about 19.5 km wide at its narrowest point.
In the early morning of Friday, Aug. 12, 2016, at 3.30 am, shortly before sunrise, the accomplished English Channel swimmer and "Triple Crowner" (EC, Manhattan Island and Catalina Channel) stepped into the unusually warm (23°C) waters of the strait on the shores of Tappi Misaki, taking advantage of the calm after the storm, to tackle the 30km distance. As you can see on the map, Tappi Misaki is not the closest point to the other shore, but experience shows it is one of the best points to start a swim factoring in the currents constantly pushing from the west through the straits.
Expertly guided by captain Mizushima of the Tsugaru Channel Swimming Association, who uses a white underwater "streamer" to help the swimmer stay on course, and supported by a great team with observer Mika Tokairin from Tokyo, sister Jana Bernadova from London, sister`s fiancé Tiago, and good friends Uddyogini Hall from Australia and Harashita of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team Japan, Abhejali experienced one of the calmest swim days of the year. Her helpers texted: "There were only tiny waves and almost no wind. In the middle she was visibly slowed down by the strong current passing through the strait, but she managed to stay west of the perfect line, which was ideal to avoid any tricky currents at the end." She had a perfect finish at the foot of the lighthouse in a time of 11 hours 07 min 58 sec. According to the captain, only some 3 swimmers or so have managed to land right at the lighthouse before.
Abhejali is the first Czech swimmer to successfully cross the Tsugaru Channel. Having completed 4 Oceans Seven solo swims now (the "classic way" without wetsuit!) - English Channel (2011), Gibraltar Strait (2013), Catalina Channel (2015) and Tsugaru Strait (2016) - she is already planning her next big swim adventure. Abhejali is inspired on the one hand by the challenge of the "Oceans Seven" launched by Open Water visionary Steven Munatones, as well as by the philosophy of self-transcendence of her late meditation-teacher Sri Chinmoy, founder of the international Sri Chinmoy Marathon team, who is known for his pioneering inner approach to athletic endurance feats in running, swimming and beyond.
"Our philosophy
Is progress.
In our self-transcendence
Is our tremendous joy."
Tejvan organises short-distance running and cycling races for the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in his home city of Oxford. He is also a very good cyclist, having won the National hill climb championships in 2013 and finished 3rd in the National 100 Mile Time Trials in 2014.
“The very word Olympics is, for me, a magnificent thrill, absolutely a universal thrill, and it raises the consciousness of humanity in the inner world. True, in the outer world we may notice some wrong forces, but in the inner world the Olympics is a great opportunity for the upliftment of human consciousness.
This world is full of sadness, sorrows, frustrations and depression, and so many unfriendly, hostile things happen. But in the Olympics at least we get the opportunity to meet together for a few weeks and create a oneness-world-family.”
As Sri Chinmoy mentions in the above quote, there is a spiritual dimension to the Olympics.
Carl Lewis at the 1984 Olympics. CC0
Higher, further and faster - This is the motto of the Olympics. It means that the Olympics offers the pinnacle of individual self-transcendence - the striving to exceed previous bests and go beyond the limitations of the mind and body. We get joy watching the Olympics, because we can feel a oneness with those athletes and sportsmen who have dedicated their time to pursuing their best efforts at self-transcendence. The Olympics reminds us of our own inner yearning to transcend and do better.
Breaking down barriers. The Olympics is a dynamic way to celebrate sporting achievement and international friendship. This wonderful ethos is explained by the great Emil Zatopek, who competed in the 1948 Olympics.
"For me, the 1948 Olympics was a liberation of the spirit. After all those dark days of the war, the bombing, the killing, the starvation, the revival of the Olympics was as if the sun had come out. I went into the Olympic Village in 1948 and suddenly there were no more frontiers, no more barriers. Just the people meeting together. It was wonderfully warm. Men and women who had lost five years of life were back again."
A Oneness-World. The Olympics is a rare occasion where 204 countries from around the world come together in a spirit of friendship and sporting endeavour; it is like a sporting United Nations. During the Olympics it is much easier to break down the barriers that often keep nations at loggerheads. Through sport, we can remember there is much more that unites us than divides us.
Fair-minded competition. Pierre de Coubertin the 'father of the modern Olympics' said that "the important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part; the important thing in life is not triumph, but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."
This is a lofty ideal. It is human nature to want to win, but also the Olympic spirit reminds us that winning is not the only goal of competition. The ideal is to feel oneness with the result - whatever the outcome. Sri Chinmoy writes:
"Who is the winner? Not he who wins, but he who has established his cheerful oneness with the result, which is an experience in the form of failure or success, a journey forward or a journey backward." [Source]
There are many examples of the Olympic spirit in action. For example, General Patton competed in the modern pentathlon (1912) which in those days was only for military officers. He shot a bullseye which was not recorded by the judges. However he did not complain about the ruling, but took it in the spirit of detachment, saying “each man did his best and took what fortune sent them like a true soldier, and at the end we all felt more like good friends and comrades than rivals in a severe competition, yet this spirit of friendship in no manner detracted from the zeal with which all strove for success.”
Honest competition. The ideal of the Olympics holds that athletes must compete in clean and fair way - competing in a manner which you would expect from everyone else. Sadly, the spectre of drug taking still hangs over the Olympics, but the inner spirit of the Olympics teaches that if we learn to compete with honesty and sincerity, the joy will always be much greater than the false goal of winning at any cost.
Friendship. Another example of Olympic friendship helping to breaking down racial and national barriers was Jesse Owens brief friendship with German long jumper Luz Long at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Despite the prevailing political ideology of racial division, Long saw Owens as a fellow brother-competitor. Long offered Owens advice to help him jump further, and after finishing second behind Owens was the first to congratulate him. They posed together for photos and walked arm-in-arm to the dressing room. Owens later said, "It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler... You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the twenty-four karat friendship that I felt for Luz Long at that moment"
Another example of real friendship between fellow Olympic athletes is told by Sri Chinmoy here, about his athlete-friend Emil Zatopek:
“Through the expansion of his heart, Zatopek always wanted to give and get joy. There is a most significant incident involving Ron Clarke was such a great runner. He set so many world records, but never got any gold medals. Zatopek's sympathetic heart felt the sadness of Clarke's heart. So in secret he gave Ron Clarke one of his gold medals, putting it in the younger runner's suitcase while he was visiting him. When Clarke got home and opened his suitcase, to his wide surprise he found Zatopek's gold medal.” (view source at Sri Chinmoy Library)
More than sport
The Olympics is more than sport. It offers an opportunity for the whole community to participate in something worthwhile. There is a good documentary about “One Night in 2012” ( link to BBC site) which tells how thousands of local volunteers took part in the opening Olympic ceremony in London in 2012.
The success of each Games comes from the involvement of ordinary people. It is an opportunity to showcase a country, and the spirit of ordinary people. It is also an opportunity for people to affirm their belief in creating a better world.
At the London Olympics, a brief ceremony during the games celebrated the Olympics, diversity and humanity's wish for Peace. It involved Olympic athletes, school children, local dignitaries and participants of the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run. Among the speakers was Tegla Loroupe (pictured below) who in the 2016 Olympics is the head of a special team of refugees participating in the Olympics.
A Moment's Peace at 2012 London Olympics - a celebration of Olympics, diversity and humanity's wish for Peace. Photo: A.Zubaty
The joy of newness
2016 Olympic stadium. Photo Erica Ramalho/Portal da Copa/Março de 2013 CC BY 3.0
In 2016, the Olympics take place in Brazil, showcasing a new country who has not hosted the Olympics before. That is the nature of the Olympics: whatever outer difficulties there may be, there is always the scope for new inspiration and new good stories to emerge.
Yuri Trostenyuk wins Sri Chinmoy Self Transcendence 3100 Mile Race
By Tejvan Pettingerauthor bio »
5 August
About the author:
Tejvan organises short-distance running and cycling races for the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in his home city of Oxford. He is also a very good cyclist, having won the National hill climb championships in 2013 and finished 3rd in the National 100 Mile Time Trials in 2014.
Yuri finishes
Yuri crosses the finish line after 46 days+01:10:25
3100 Mile record holder Asprihanal Aalto congratulates Yuri Trostenyuk
Yuri Trostenyuk, a plumber from Vinnitsa Ukraine, won the 2016 edition of the 3100 Mile Race after a closely fought contest with current record holder Asprihanal Aalto (Finland).
In an epic race, Yuri finished in a time of 46 days +01:10:25 - averaging 67 miles / 108.346 km per day. It was the closest ever finish to the 3100 Mile Race, with Yuri holding off a late surge from last years winner Ashprihanal. In 2015, Mr Aalto set the current all-time record for 3100 miles in a blistering speed of 40 days +09 hours. However, perhaps suffering from the effects of last years effort, Asprihanal struggled in the early parts of this years race, but the flying Finn finished in a flurry, covering an average of 78.61 miles over the final four days to push Yuri all the way to the finish. It marked a fitting end to the race, where runners battled through injuries, a heatwave, and the gruelling nature of the course.
On the last full day, Yuri ran 79 miles and Ashprihanal 86 miles - as Yuri crossed the finish line, only eight miles separated the two runners.
This year's race was the closest margin of victory ever. Graphic: Matthias Van Baaren
Yuri has now finished the 3100 Mile Race four times. He is also a four-time winner of the 10 Day Race.
Asprihanal's completion today took 46 days + 02:54:22, which is an average of 67.218 miles per day (108.177 km). Asprihanal holds the record for - course record, the most victories, and most completions while averaging 70 plus miles per day.
Other runners Atmavir Petr Spacil and Vasu Duzhiy are also close behind and set to finish very soon. In the womens race Kaneenika Janakova and Surasa Mairer are also edging closer to the magic 3100 mile mark.
Nirbhasa is originally from Ireland but currently lives in Reykjavik, Iceland. He is an enthusiastic multi-day runner, having completed four times the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race - the longest race in the world.
Vajin Armstrong, a member of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in New Zealand won the prestigious Swiss Alpine Marathon in Davos with a time of 6:25:23 h, followed by Evgenii Glyva (UKR) with 6:41:17 h and Bernhard Eggenschiler (CH) with 6:44:11 h. The race is considered one of the premier ultramarathons in Europe, with a length of 76 k and a difference of altitude of 2560 m over the course.
Vajin has had many memorable races over the years, including multiple wins of New Zealands Kepler challenge and representing New Zealand in the Commonewalth Trail race. He also hold the course record for our invitational 47 mile race in August of 5:08, beating a record that had existed for almost 30 years. In the below video, Vajin talks with some supporters from the Marathon Team and a fellow competitor immediately after winning the race:
Here is also another nice video from a few years ago where Vajin talks about his training and what inspires him to run.
1700 people participate in Darkhan marathon - including the city governor!
By Nirbhasa Mageeauthor bio »
22 July
About the author:
Nirbhasa is originally from Ireland but currently lives in Reykjavik, Iceland. He is an enthusiastic multi-day runner, having completed four times the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race - the longest race in the world.
Since 2005, the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in Mongolia has been organizing a Self-Transcendence Marathon in Darkhan city, including a 4 km race and half-marathon. This race has been becoming more popular as time goes by – this year, not only runners from Darkhan city, but also runners from another 6 provinces and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital city. This year, more than 1700 runners, including the Governor of Darkhan City and many professional runners, participated. Here are some notes from Enkhmaa, one of the race organisers:
In past years we had more and more people to run the race, but we did not have much success in involving the authorities in the event. But this year, I had the chance to involve the authorities in the Darkhan Marathon. In April an international conference was held at the university where I work, and the governor attended. When I took the chance to meet him and tell him about the public marathon, he was extremely enthusiastically and, he wanted to run the race himself! He proposed a meeting in his office the next day. Knowing the diffculties in getting an appointment with the governor, I could not believe it. At one point during the meeting the governor took one paper out from a thick old file to show us. It was an award certificate for his winning a peace race back in 1985.
Although it was cold on the race day, a lot of people, including many professional runners, came and even more people joined just to see the governor running or to run alongside him. The opening ceremony was great with the national anthem and the nice speech by the governor and other honorable guests. Then the start was overwhelming; it seemed just like a colorful range of flowers. We had 1700 runners from 35 organizations to run the 4k, 21k and full marathon, and the governor finished 4km in 33 minutes.
With the inspiration from this year’s successful event, we have ended up with higher aspiration and new ideas for the next year and agreed with the governor to bring it up to another level by involving great runners from other countries!
Q&A on the 3100 Mile race - with Suprabha Beckjord, 13-time finisher
By Nirbhasa Mageeauthor bio »
20 July
About the author:
Nirbhasa is originally from Ireland but currently lives in Reykjavik, Iceland. He is an enthusiastic multi-day runner, having completed four times the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race - the longest race in the world.
The world's longest certified road race is now heading into the last 3 weeks - a good time to publish this 2008 interview with Suprabha Beckjord from Washington D.C, who jointly holds the record for the most finishes ever during this race.
How did you get started as an ultra-runner?
I started running when I joined the Centre 29 years ago. I started by running a little bit and gauging my progress by counting the telephone poles. My first race was a 4-mile race and then I did marathons and our annual 47-mile race in August. I didn’t feel I had a special capacity, but when I heard that there would be a 200-mile race in celebration of Sri Chinmoy’s 200-lb lift, I got inspired to try it out. I had such a beautiful experience at that race. After that, I did a 50-miler and a 24-hour race. Then a 5-day race and a later a 7-day race. After that I moved to 1000 miles.
What does self-transcendence mean to you?
I love this aspect of Sri Chinmoy’s philosophy, mainly because he always demonstrated it in such a beautiful way himself, in all aspects of his existence — not just athletics. In the 3100-mile race, my goal every year is to transcend. My first three years were my fastest; since then I have been transcending my capacities in different ways. Just getting over the fact that I couldn’t finish within the time limit was one way. Going beyond my mind’s limits makes me happy.
Sri Chinmoy was so appreciative of the 3100-mile runners—their courage, perseverance, cheerfulness, and so much more. How do you feel this race is in influencing future generations of humanity?
At my gift shop in Washington DC, there are quite a few customers who know I do this long race, and they get a lot of inspiration from it. It seems to them like an impossible task, but then they see that I can do it even though I’m just a pipsqueak. This race helps people to open up their minds and see what is possible with our heart-power. At the end of the first 3100-mile race, Sri Chinmoy mentioned that when he drove along the race course he was reminded of the soul’s journey.
Do you have a favorite meditative aphorism, poem, or song that you recite during the race?
One favourite is this one: “I do not measure God’s blessingful Gifts. I only treasure them.” That’s one of the daily prayers Sri Chinmoy gave during the 2006 race. Another one is a song that Sri Chinmoy wrote for Enthusiasm-Awakeners (a group of singers that sing at the course at 6.30am every morning): “All Your Grace, All Your Grace, My soul and I are able to join in Your birthless and deathless race.”
Sri Chinmoy once responded to a question you asked about the race by saying (in part), “Always take it as a garden, not as a street, not as a big block.” Do you find that you’re able to visualize that when you’re running on this urban course?
That answer was unbelievably beautiful and I try to feel that all the time; it really helps to take me out of the mind and into the heart. To focus on time and laps is torture, so I try to focus on the joy of running and feel that I’m in a garden.The course doesn’t bother me. Some reporters can’t believe it — they see it as so monotonous — but I enjoy it. On one side of the course, I feel like I’m running along a country road. Many of the runners are very fond of a huge pine tree at one corner of the course.
This race and the other Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team ultras make up a real community. In what ways do you all interact and support each other?
There is so much harmony and oneness. It’s not the kind of race in which runners go fast and constantly look behind them to see who’s catching up. We definitely make up a team and there is a lot of love and support among the runners. The runners who have done the race before are looking out for the new ones, and we are all an extended family — the runners, the supporters, and the Marathon Team. There is such an intensity to these races, and at the same time there is so much peace. That creates a bond.
The 3100-mile website says, “The serious athlete must have tremendous courage, physical stamina, concentration and the capacity to endure fatigue, boredom and minor injuries.” Which of these do you find the most challenging?
Well, we all experience minor injuries. All kinds of physical ailments come and go. I just try to give them no importance when they come. God’s Grace carries us along. Without it, I would never reach the goal.
Some of us who come out to the race course wonder what we can do to encourage the runners while not disturbing their focus and serenity. What is most helpful to you all when people visit the race?
I have to say that the most helpful thing is just for people to come visit us. All the runners get a tremendous lift just from seeing people come out to the race. Of course, it is great to have the Enthusiasm-Awakeners group and others sing. Everyone expresses themselves in their own way, and that’s wonderful. When the people who live nearby come by on their daily runs, I get a thrill. Last year, many outside people came to the race because they saw us on the website. There were two girls who drove from Pennsylvania just to observe, and some people came from Brooklyn to bring us ice cream.
In 100 years, how many runners will participate in the 3100-mile race?
Wow! On this present course, Sri Chinmoy felt that 15 runners was the right number. In 100 years, there will be several thousand! I think a lot of people will be inspired to try.
Suprabha was interviewed by Vasudha Deming on 27 May 2008.
Tejvan organises short-distance running and cycling races for the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in his home city of Oxford. He is also a very good cyclist, having won the National hill climb championships in 2013 and finished 3rd in the National 100 Mile Time Trials in 2014.
Sri Chinmoy loved running. In his early years in India, he was an excellent sprinter; and in his mid-forties, he took up long distance running, completing 22 marathons and several ultra-marathons, with a best marathon of 3:55:07 in Toledo, Ohio in 1979. He continued practising sprinting up to his mid sixties.
He believed that running could also be an integral part of a spiritual life, and that the inner life and running were complementary. Here are some excerpts from his considerable writings on running:
“Running helps us considerably. Running is continuous motion. Because of our running, we feel that there is a goal — not only an outer goal but also an inner goal.” (1)
“In the morning if we can energise ourselves with physical activities, then we can accomplish so many things during the rest of the day. That is why I say sports and physical fitness are of supreme importance. If we neglect the physical and let the body become weak, then the mind also becomes weak.” (2)
“Runners deal with freshness, freshness of the mind. While they are running, nature is helping them. Every day, early in the morning or in the evening, runners go out to practise in the street or at a track. When you run, it is just you and Mother Nature. From the sky, light is flowing. Here, there, you get so much inspiration. Everything helps you to achieve your goal.” (3)
Meditation and running
Sri Chinmoy showed how meditation could be of help to aspiring runners, from his writings and also through his own example.
“Before running, however, meditation is good to make the mind calm and quiet so that wrong forces do not enter. When you meditate, your mind acquires some poise. Then, while you are running, if you can bring forward this poise, it will help you overcome the mental frustration that often comes while running long distances.” (4)
“In sports we need energy, strength and dynamism. When we meditate, we make our mind calm and quiet. If inside us there is peace, then we will derive tremendous strength from our inner life. That is to say, if I have a peaceful moment, even for one second, that peace will come to me as solid strength in my sports, whether I am running or jumping or throwing. That strength is almost indomitable strength, whereas if we are restless, we do not have strength like that.” (5)
“When a runner focuses all his attention on a particular race, he is in a position to free his mind, liberate his mind, from uncomely distractions. Here one-pointed concentration is the pathfinder for a deeper meditative consciousness.” (6)
The meaning of running
“Running means continual transcendence, and that is also the message of our inner life.” (7)
“These long distance races remind me of our Eternity’s race. Along Eternity’s Shore we are running, running, running. We are running and running with our birthless and deathless hopes. We are running and running with the ever-transcending Beyond.” (8)
“Running is a symbolic sport in the sense that it reminds us of spiritual seekers continuously running towards the goal; it resembles the seekers running inwardly to achieve the ultimate goal in meditation.” (9)
The philosophy of running
Question: How does running relate to your philosophy?
Sri Chinmoy: The body is like a temple, and the soul or inner reality is like the shrine inside the body-temple. If the temple does not have a shrine, then we cannot appreciate the temple. Again, if we do not keep the temple in good condition, then how can we take proper care of the shrine? We have to keep the body fit, and for this, running is of considerable help. If we are physically fit, then we will be more inspired to get up early in the morning to meditate. True, the inspiration to meditate comes from within, but if we do not have a stomach upset or headache or any other physical ailment, then it will be much easier for us to get up to pray and meditate. In this way the inner life is being helped by the outer life. Again, if I am inspired to get up early to meditate, then I will also be able to go out and run. Here we see that the outer life is being helped by the inner life.
Both the outer running and the inner running are important. A marathon is twenty-six miles. Let us say that twenty-six miles is our ultimate goal. When we first take up running, we cannot run that distance. But by practising every day, we develop more stamina, speed, perseverance and so forth. Gradually we transcend our capacity and eventually we reach our goal
We can say that our prayer and meditation is our inner running. If we pray and meditate every day, we increase our inner capacity. The body's capacity and the soul's capacity, the body's speed and the soul's speed, go together. The soul is running along Eternity's Road. The outer running reminds us of our inner running. In this way our body reminds us of something higher and deeper — the soul — which is dealing with Eternity, Infinity and Immortality. Running and physical fitness help us both in our inner life of aspiration and in our outer life of activity. (10)
Winning and losing
Sri Chinmoy taught that running and sports is an opportunity for self-transcendence, not just individual glory. The real champion is one who can be detached from the outer result, but endeavour to gain joy from both winning and losing.
“He is the great winner
Who wins.
He is the greater winner
Who is the cheerful loser.
He is the greatest winner
Who gives equal value
To victory and defeat.
He alone is the real loser
Who separates
Defeat from victory.” (11)
"A great champion is he who wins all the races.
A great champion is he who participates in all the races.
A great champion is he who does not care for the results of the races — whether he is first or last or in between. He races just to get joy and give joy to the observers."
A great champion is he who transcends his own previous records.A great champion is he who maintains his standard.
A great champion is he who remains happy even when he cannot maintain his standard.
A great champion is he who has established his inseparable oneness with the winner and the loser alike."
Tejvan organises short-distance running and cycling races for the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in his home city of Oxford. He is also a very good cyclist, having won the National hill climb championships in 2013 and finished 3rd in the National 100 Mile Time Trials in 2014.
Ten years after Sri Chinmoy founded the Marathon Team, he initiated the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run, a worldwide torch relay run that unites people from all walks of life around a shared wish for peace. This video contains some very touching interviews with the international team of runners as they make their way across all 50 states of America.
Shot in 2011 (the Peace Run was called the World Harmony Run at that time), the interviews take place after the runners have been on the team for a prolonged period of time, and have gained a profound sense of how running for the ideals of peace and harmony have affected their own outlook on life, and their hopes for peace and understanding in the world.
As anyone who has participated in the Peace Run will tell you, one remarkable feature of it is how you come away from the run with a more optimistic view of life and human nature. Running through local communities with a positive message helps to bring out everyone's heart - and their deep inner wish to create a better world. “It was amazing how receptive people are to the spirit behind the run – what’s behind it." Palash Bosgang, one of the international team of runners, says in the video. "The whole concept of world harmony and world peace and how each person responds with enthusiasm.”
On the other hand, organising a Peace Run, especially one which crosses a whole continent, is also a great challenge, which requiring the runners to rely on living in the moment and accepting the help and support of areas the Peace Run passes through. But, as these runners testify, this challenge can also bring out the best in human nature.
How running and and peace go together
Sri Chinmoy felt that each and every individual on earth could play a role in making a more peaceful world a reality.
“World peace can blossom throughout the length and breadth of the world only when the world-peace-dreamers, world-peace-lovers and world-peace-servers desperately, sleeplessly and breathlessly long for the full manifestation of peace here on earth.”
Sri Chinmoy
Sri Chinmoy believed peace could be made a reality only when people seek peace within themselves and also share this inner peace with others. This inner peace does not come from retreating from the world, but is very compatable with a dynamic outer life - making running and peace complementary to each other.
“The inner running and the outer running complement each other. For outer running, we need discipline. Without a life of discipline, we cannot succeed in any walk of life. So when we do outer running, it reminds us of the inner running.”
Due to their shared origin, many members of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team have also played a role in organising and participating in Peace Runs. Currently, international teams of runners from the Peace Run are on their way through Russia, Canada, and Germany. You can find out more on peacerun.org »
The Passing of a Friend: ultrarunning legend Al Howie
By Arpan De Angelo
30 June
On June 21, 2016, the ultrarunning community lost a great runner and beloved friend, Al Howie. Al competed in many of our ultra races, and at his prime he was a formidable foe that cut a dashing figure with his beard and accent. In 1989, Al became first person to ever run 1300 miles in a certified race when he won the Sri Chinmoy 1300 Mile Race. In 1991 he returned after running across Canada that summer in 72 days (averaging 63 miles a day over mountains and prairies), breaking his own 1300 mile record by several hours. In the following article, Arpan De Angelo reminisces about his long-time friend:
One night as I sat eating in Annam Brahma Restaurant in Queens, New York, a familiar figure walked in. It was Al Howie, bags in tow, looking like he was travel-weary and hungry. I had not seen Al since we ran in a Sri Chinmoy 24 hour race in Ottawa six years ago. Now he was here to run 1,300 miles in the Ultra Trio. I greeted Al and invited him to sit down and eat.
During dinner, I was inspired by his friendly manner and courage. He had just travelled four days by bus from Vancouver Island to get here and was determined to become the first runner in history to complete 1,300 miles in a certified race. His enthusiasm was contagious, and I decided to help Al in any way I could. I invited him to stay at my place for the three days before the race was to start. This gave me an opportunity to get to know one of the greatest ultra runners of all time.
Photo: Al Howie (l) became the first runner to complete the 1,300 mile distance. Stefan Schlett (r) also completed the distance.
The following day I participated in the Sri Chinmoy 24 Hour TAC/USA National Championship in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Al offered to be my handler. This was probably the first 24 hour race that Al attended as a volunteer instead of a runner. He had run in about 20 such races, winning most of them, usually with 140-150 miles. At the time, he also held the current 24 hour record (150.2 miles) for both Scottish citizens and Canadian residents. Although I had placed second in this race last year with 130 miles, I had to drop out at 92 miles because of an unexplainable dizziness and leg cramps. Anyway, Al stayed on, assisting throughout the night in whatever capacity he was needed. He was inspired by the intensity of Ann Trason’s great performance – a woman’s world record for 100 miles (13:55:02) and winning the race overall with 143 miles. Helping around the clock in the 24 hour primed him for the incredible challenge he was about to undertake.
Al was no stranger to the flat, fast one mile loop in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. He won the Sri Chinmoy Seven Day here last May in his first multi-day race. In fact, Al won every race he ran this year, including a 12 hour August 13 in Victoria, B.C. (82+ miles), a 50 mile June 10 on Vancouver Island in a ‘slow’ 6 hours and 30 minutes, and finally the seven day in May here in New York City.
Besides those performances, he told me how he had intensified his training, averaging 160 miles or more per week for most of the year in preparation for the 1,300 mile. Also, he started weight training for both upper body and legs, about one and a half hours every other day. On those days he would only run 15 miles; on the days between he would run 30 miles.
At age 44, he was in the best physical condition of his life.
Photo: Al Howie takes a short food break with his friend Arpan DeAngelo.
On September 18th Al and ten other intrepid runners, including one woman, started their first steps on the long 1,300 mile journey. Al ran 113 miles the first day comfortably, but had a more conservative strategy for the remainder of the race. His schedule would be to average just over 70 miles a day after that. He soon discovered that walking some sections of every loop helped him to maintain his energy and strength through the long days and nights. He took meal breaks three times a day, usually for a half hour or less, but enjoying big meals with plenty of high carbohydrate and nutritional foods. He would also take small snacks regularly throughout the day and night. Water was his main drink but he also had electrolyte replacement drinks and an occasional coffee. He slept three hours every night, usually from around 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. In the daytime he would put his feet up or even lie down for a short time when feeling a bit road weary.
Al was a self-sufficient runner who never complained or demanded too much from anyone. It impressed me the way he maintained a positive mental attitude no matter how tired. He was friendly to the other runners and seemed to draw positive energy from them. I thought this was a great factor in his favor along with the awesome physical condition that he was in. Day by day he kept faithfully to his schedule. He completed 573 miles in the first week, 62 miles more than his winning effort in the seven day race in May.
Although Al ran just as intensely the second week as the first, he still took time to be civil and friendly. He was working hard in this race, leading from the first mile to the last, yet like the legendary baseball player Joe DiMaggio, he made it look so easy. He seemed to have the knack of keeping his energy level high throughout the long days and even longer nights.
At 13 days +00:27:37 he completed 1,000 miles, making him the fourth fastest in the world at the distance. Prior to this, Al’s longest distance had been 876 miles in 11 days +03:18:00 on a solo journey run the length of Britain, the best time for that course. Another mark that he held that that time was nonstop running – 361 miles (580 km) with only five minutes rest allowed per hour. But now he was on his way to an uninhabited realm. After 13 days of hard running, he still had 300 more miles to cover before the 18 day cut-off.
Al approached the third and final week cautiously. Realizing he was becoming tired much earlier in the day than before, he increased his sleep time to four hours per night. He took more short breaks during the day, but still maintained around 70 miles per day. He was now paying closer attention to the condition of his feet, which had developed a few small blisters. On the fifteenth day, with less than 150 miles to go, he discovered that his right calf was much larger than his left. The medical staff determined that it was just a strange case of fluid retention, as there was no pain or injury related to the swelling. Keeping it wrapped, icing it occasionally, and being very cautious about any other unexpected surprises that could stop him dead in his tracks, Al carried on his mission cheerfully and courageously. The swelling went down.
Finally, to the cheers and hurrahs of the assembled crowd, carrying the Canadian flag and the Scottish lion-rampant battle flag, with his beard and long golden hair flowing – Al finished the 1,300 miles in 17 days +08:25:34, becoming the first person ever to go that distance under certified race conditions.
Three years ago, when Sri Chinmoy stipulated an 18 day cutoff for 1,300 miles, some of us felt that it was not enough time, that no one except perhaps Yiannis Kouros would be able to do it. Sri Chinmoy felt the challenge would inspire runners to transcend themselves. This year three did. At the awards ceremony Al paid tribute to a man with the vision, concern and inspiration to put on such races. He said: ‘Finishing this race was the greatest moment of my life. I’m not a disciple of his, but I am dedicating this race to Sri Chinmoy.’
These results are incredible and may stand for some time. But the most amazing thing for me and many other people who supported Al in his victory was the fact that this friendly, keen-witted Scotsman accomplished a previously impossible endurance feat with considerable grace and poise. This was testimony to the true stature of Al Howie, who has established himself as one of the greatest ultra distance runners of all time.
Excerpted from the article in Ultrarunning, December 1989 “Canadian Al Howie – A Multi-Day Ultra Champion.” Ultrarunning. December 1989. Reprinted with permission from the publisher.
In the UK national 12 hour time trial championship, Tejvan Pettinger from the Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team finished in second place with a total of 284 miles. It was Tejvan's first attempt at the distance and it makes a rare double to win both the national Hill climb championship (2013) and gain a medal in the 12 hour championship.
The championship was held on a course in South Wales. It featured an opening leg of 90 miles, before moving onto a 26 mile circuit and finally a finishing lap of 19 miles. The riders had to contend with persistent rain for the last half of the race, which made conditions tough.
Tejvan waiting at traffic lights on the course
Speaking of his debut at the 12 hour challenge, Tejvan said:
"The furthest I have ridden this year was 103 miles, so a 12 hour was a step into the unknown. Although it was a national championship, I didn't think too much about the distance or result, but just concentrated on being able to finish the 12 hours and seeing how far I could go. In an event of this duration, you inevitably have good periods, but also difficult times. After two hours, I was already wondering how I would make it, but after these difficult early morning hours I got into a good rhythm and was going really well in the middle of the event. I think I started to enjoy it, despite the pain in the shoulders.
In the last two hours, the persistent rain seeped through and I suffered from the cold quite a lot, but I just about managed to hang on. Although it was tough, I can see the attraction of these long-distance events and am planning how to try and go further next year. Vilas Silverton, a fellow member of Sri Chinmoy CT, did a great job in helping out passing many bottles and energy gels - even though he did a 300km bike ride the day before.
Vilas in action on cyclo cross bike
It was also good to do a 12 hour time trial because every April, the Sri Chinmoy Centre put on a 12 hour walk to mark the anniversary of Sri Chinmoy's arrival in the West, but I never do it because I don't want to interfere with my cycle training, so this is a kind of compensation. In the future I'd like to do a 24 hour time trial, because Sri Chinmoy, with many other members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre, entered a 24 hour cycle challenge in the late 1970s."