About the author:

Tejvan organises short-distance running and cycling races for the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in his home city of Oxford. He is also a very good cyclist, having won the National hill climb championships in 2013 and finished 3rd in the National 100 Mile Time Trials in 2014.
  • Ashprihanal crosses finish line during 2015 record run

    Ashprihanal crosses finish line during 2015 record run

  • Asprihanal on the 3100 Mile course in Jamaica, Queens.

    Asprihanal on the 3100 Mile course in Jamaica, Queens.

  • Ashprihanal

    Ashprihanal

  • Ashprihanal congratulates Yuri on winning the 2016 edition

    Ashprihanal congratulates Yuri on winning the 2016 edition

Ashprihanal Aalto is a member of the Sri Chinmoy marathon Team from Finland and a noted ultra-distance runner. He has won the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race on eight occasions, finishing a record 14 editions of the race. Ashprihanal also holds the course record with the quickest ever time of 40 days 09:06:21 (2015)

Ashprihanal was born Pekka Aalto on 27 August 1970 Stockholm, Sweden. He became a student of Sri Chinmoy in his twenties and later received from Sri Chinmoy, his spiritual name “Ashprihanal” After walking long distance trail events such as Appalachian Trail (3,500km) and the Pacific Crest Trail (4,286km), he entered his first major ultra distance races in 1999, finishing third in the Sri Chinmoy Ultra Trio 700 Mile Race in a time of 09:09:10:40.

The next year, 2000, he ran both the Self-Transcendence 10 day race in May (completing 669 miles) and later in the year, the 2000 edition of the Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race. He won at his first attempt in a time of 47:13:29:55. In both 2000 and 2001, he completed in three major ultra-distance races in the same year - the 6 Day Race, the 3100 Mile race and the 700 Mile race. This volume of race miles in a single calender year is unprecedented.

When not running, Ashprihanal works as a courier and delivery man in Helsinki. This enables him to do some training whilst working and also gain the free time necessary to undertake long distance running challenges. He says that because of his past volume of race miles he doesn't need to do very long distance training, but in winter likes to try other sports, such as cycling and skiing to keep fit.

In 2006, the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, honoured Ashprihanal as an "International Ambassador of Sport"

2015 Record-breaking run

In 2015, Ashprihanal came to the race in good form, well rested and already at race weight (58kg). He went on to break the course record by nearly 24 hours, setting a time of 40 days and 9 hours. Aalto said of that record-setting victory: “It was like an inner journey also. I felt like [I was] doing it for my spiritual teacher [Sri Chinmoy], in memory of him. He once told me, after I finished my first race here, he said, ‘You can do much, much better, so you come next year and break the record.’ I’m very happy that I was able to do it,” (Continue reading)

Interview with Asprihanal

Question: So, first things first, why run such extreme distances?
Asprihanal: "I started off walking long distances, I completed the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail and they are 3,500km and 4,286km long. I heard about multi-day running races and I thought it sounded nice, to run all day and night so I decided to take part. I also do meditation and running long distances is a good way to train your mind."
Continue reading: This guy ran 5,000km around the block at RedBull.com

Personal bests

  • Marathon 2.57, HCM 1999
  • 12 h 122.8 km, Lohja 2005
  • 24 hours running 217.7 km, Czech Republic 2004
  • 24-hour cross-country skiing 204 km, Vierumäki 2004
  • 6 day race - 457 miles (2003)
  • 10 days - 833 miles (2014)
  • 3100 miles -  40 days 9 hours 6 minutes

Related articles

External links

Multi-day race results

Year   -   Races     Distance (Miles)     Time (days, hours, mins, sec)     Placing
1999     Sri Chinmoy Ultra Trio 700 Mile Race     700     09:09:10:40      1.
2000     Sri Chinmoy Ultra Trio 700 Mile Race     700     09:09:44:59      1.
2000     Self-Transcendence 10 Day Race           669      10:00:00:00     2.
2000     Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race     3100     47:13:29:55      1.
2001     Self-Transcendence 10 Day Race          349      10:00:00:00     —
2001     Sri Chinmoy Ultra Trio 700 Mile Race     700     09:20:32:29      1.
2001     Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race     3100     48:10:56:12      1.
2002     Self-Transcendence 6 Day Race             422      06:00:00:00     1.
2002     Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race    3100     46:13:27:51      2.
2003     Self-Transcendence 6 Day Race            457      06:00:00:00     1.
2004     Self-Transcendence 6 Day Race             433      06:00:00:00     1.
2004     Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race     3100     46:06:55:11      1.
2005     Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race     3100     49:10:28:49      2.
2006     Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race     3100     43:15:49:33      2.
2007     Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race     3100     43:04:26:32      1.
2008     Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race     3100     44:02:42:15      1.
2009     Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race     3100     43:16:28:06      1.
2010     Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race     3100     46:07:37:24      1.
2011     Self-Transcendence 6 Day Race             467      06:00:00:00     2.
2011     Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race     3100     46:07:37:24      3.
2012     Self-Transcendence 6 Day Race             470      06:00:00:00     2.
2013     Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race     3100     48:16:14:33      3.
2014     Self-Transcendence 10 Day Race           833       10:00:00:00     1.
2015     Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race     3100     40:09:06:21      1.
2016     Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race     3100       46 days          2.