Twice the Fun

It started with the Marathon on the 25^th of August at Rockland Park, upstate New York. A race I was nervous about… One I couldn’t wait to be over with! 26 miles around a three mile loop an a relatively flat and shady course. My aim was to go under 4hrs 20mins- a 10 minute per mile pace. The goal was in reach until just before the half way mark, all I wanted to do was stop and watch the other runners fly by, they made it look so easy!. My knees started to painfully swell. The last two laps seemed like an eternity… Finally I made it in 4 hours 56 mins. Not the time I wanted, but with less than 5 weeks training not a bad effort!

Hours after completing this feat I was surprisingly looking forward to the 47-mile race… Time for recovery before this race began was less than 48 hours. In fact it started just after midnight on the 27^th of August!!

Crazy!

My legs felt fine, my energy levels were good, I had completed the 47 mile ultra marathon previously.. “Just start,” I thought to myself. “See what you can do!”

We started and my legs were instantly screaming “Stop! Stop!” Stiffness enveloped my whole being. It was only lap one for Gods Sake! I had to at least get through the first hour.

It was a hard race from the onset. Amazing to think that there were other runners out there that ran for months on end, to complete the world’s longest footrace of 3100miles.

Even though I only managed to complete 32.74 miles I was very grateful for the experience and the opportunity to participate. In fact my marathon time for the 47-mile race was only half an hour slower that the marathon days earlier!

Lessons learned:

Train harder and run faster!

Next year…

There is always another opportunity to transcend.

Full results for the Self Transcendance Marathon can be viewed at the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team Site.
You may also browse through the gallery of photos taken on race day.