The longest footrace in the world.
As of 2012, less than 40 runners have completed the race since it was founded by Sri Chinmoy in 1997. Runners have to finish approximately two marathons a day from 6 AM to midnight for 52 continuous days in order to complete the distance in the allotted time. That translates into over 100 laps a day around the half mile city block in Queens where the race takes place during the heat of the summer.
Why do they do it?
When we wake up in the morning the runners are already on the road (or sidewalk as the case may be), they are still running when we turn on the air conditioning in the heat of the day, they are still running when we go to bed at night.
Why do they do it? There’s definitely more to it than physical strength - they are running an inner race as well as an outer race - and they report a rare sense of satisfaction.
About the organisers
The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team has been sponsoring multiday races in the New York area since the early eighties. In 1985 we offered our first 1000-mile race in Flushing Meadows Park, the first of its kind in this hemisphere in this century, soon followed by the Ultra Trio, a ground-breaking series of 700, 100 and 1300 mile races.
In 1996, the 2700 Mile Race took place, the prececessor to the 3100 which started the following year.