Helping at the 3100 mile race 2005

In July, I was fortunate enough to be Suprabha Beckjord's helper in the 3100 mile race 2005, the longest foot race in the world. The role of the helper is to be able to assist the runner in anyway possible. Suprabha is the only female to ever attempt this race and has completed the distance now 9 times in a row... can you imagine!

I actually got a bit of a shock, when I arrived at the race course (a concrete loop around a school and a park that is just over half a mile in New York) when I realized the true extent of the race. The run is far more than the physicality of running up to 18 hours a day (for over a month and a half!) but is a means of actually doing something which many would consider impossible. By running around two marathons a day, these pioneer runners are serving humanity in a most unique way. To run this kind of race, you must a have developed such a lot of inner and outer strength, and spirituality. Through out the duration of the race the runners seemed to be in a childlike, and meditative space.  

Sri Chinmoy lives near the course and came to the race everyday and offered fruit to the runners. He also offered special concerts on the edge of the course, that we would all, especially Suprabha would look forward to. Sri Chinmoy has so often spoken about the parallels of the inner running and the outer running, and in race like this you can see the very strong link between the inner and outerworlds.

 I personally was so deeply moved by the runners determination, service and dedication, and encourage everyone to read into the multi-day race sites, and other shorter races held by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.