3100 Mile Race-The Longest Foot Race in the World

These are a few aspects that struck me about the 3100 Mile Race

• Staying focuses and being really intense for 50 to 60 days (even if you have run 10k, you know how difficult this is)
• Keeping moving forward all the time, despite how your feeling one day to the next
• Sleeping from 12:30 – 5:30 for weeks on end (this alone would probably do me in, let alone the physical exhaustion of running in between)
• Running through a New York summer (from humid - ‘soupy’ days to frequent thunderstorms – this years race saw one of the biggest storms seen in 5years)
• Sri Chinmoy (founder of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team and spiritual teacher) came at least 150 times – usually 3 times a day, offering prasad(this is an Indian custom where blessed food is offered by a spiritual teacher). He also composing daily songs for the runners, and prayers
• Running through injuries, boredom, through teenagers going to and from summer school and kids on bikes on the .55 mile concrete loop
• Suprabha finishing her 11th 3100, 12th summer on the course (2700 previous year)
• Asprihanal was super fast. He wore a quote on his T-shirt by Sri Chinmoy, which I thought was quite suited “He who has life-transforming determination is already on his way to victory supreme.”
• Grahak did really well for his first multi day, averaging at 60 miles a day, that’s about enough miles to have made him come 5th in the 10 day this year – only he had to keep that pace for 50 days!

With all of those points; running through blistering heat and every human limitation on all levels, the one that gets me the most, is from what I understand, they do it for their love of self-transcendence in their thirst for perfection, attaining higher goals. Breaking previous mental and physical barriers and pioneering a new level of what is possible for humanity to achieve.