The 3100 mile race is so long that, just as in life, you never know what lies ahead. As this journey to the unknown unfolds we learn from our experiences and the unknown slowly becomes the known. With this new knowledge of life and of ourselves we make progress and hopefully become better people for it. The runners in this epic journey are having this experience every day in their own unique ways as well. On my birthday today I wish to express this experience of the 3100 mile race with a poem I wrote 13 years ago, which I dedicated to Sri Chinmoy, the Founder of this amazing, on the occasion of my 50th birthday. He had the vision of this race for years as he saw the increasing capacity for self-transcendence that multiday runners were developing. In this spirit Sri Chinmoy offered an opportunity for these uniquely talented runners to experience their own form of self-transcendence while inspiring others to do the same in other aspects of life.
Journey to the Unknown
A 3,100 mile orbit of concrete, automobiles and local humanity,
Lightly spiced with a hint of nature
And fed by the Grace of God,
Supported with the efforts of friends
Who sympathize with the pain,
The Joys
And the challenges
Facing at every moment
These handful of Hero-Warriors.
Running, walking, struggling
To the beat of their own undying aspirations
In this perpetually moving Epic adventure,
These Ultimate Survivors
Of obstacles unimaginable
Are proving to humanity
With their unparalleled perseverance,
Adamantine wills
And unswerving Faith,
That the impossible can be done,
And the Universal Energy can be unleashed,
To raise our standards and lift our minds
Beyond the limits of our broken bodies
And faithless thoughts,
To reveal the Beauty and the Power
Of life’s long and arduous
Journey to the Unknown.
Arpan DeAngelo
