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.It was a windy but clear day for most of the morning and afternoon. The runners ran when they could and covered the 39th day of the 3100 Mile Race. The leader of the pack Andrea Marcato, in the last hour of the day, reached 2600 miles, leaving only 500 more miles for his 6th victory in a row. His time was 38d:17:36:42. Vasu reached 2500 miles in 38d:14:41:21. Mahasatya Janczak was once again the leading daily mileage with 66.4 miles.
With the race starting at 6 am and finishing at midnight, the runners enjoy seeing the sun rise and then set; it really gives a feeling of being back in nature, which is ironic given the course is very much in the heart of Queens, New York, with the Grand Central roaring past the northern edge of the course. This morning, as the race started, the moon was still visible in the sky and added a real beauty to the course as the race started.
The runners also really become one with the changing of the seasons. Each day, the colour of the trees slowly changes as fall approaches. It is a testament to the length of the race that it spans two season,s summer and autumn.
- Visit Day 39 Galleries (Photos by Arpan and Luiza) for more photos of finishes and day break
Breaking free or Self-Transcendence in action
Today marks day 40 of the Self Transcendence 3,100-mile race, leaving 13 days until the final cut-off.
Although the whole and overall nature of the race is “self-transcendence” and the breaking of personal boundaries, runners, nonetheless, need to exhibit a little self-restraint, especially in the early stages.
It is not unlike the perceived wisdom when running a marathon that, “You won't achieve your final target goal in the first 10-kilometres, but you can certainly ruin your chances of achieving your target goal by setting off at an unrealistic fast pace.
Setting off too fast runs the risk of “blowing up” later in the race. Runners are traditionally advised to run steadily, if not slowly, in the early stages and aim to run an even pace. If all goes well, one aims to maintain or, if possible, slightly increase the effort in the last third of the race
In some ways, comparing a marathon to the Sri Chinmoy 3,100-mile race is futile, but now that we have reached day 40, we are well into the last third of the race.
Experienced observers of the 3,100 know and expect to see several runners slowly putting in “bigger days” in the last 10 days or so. Like experienced marathon runners, they have, in some ways, held back and run steadily to ensure they will last the course. Now, with the goal almost in sight, like reaching 20 miles in a marathon, they are testing themselves, not with a faster mile or kilometre, to see how the body responds, but with a stronger day.
Notably, Mahasatya Janczak and Alex Ramsey have been adding a few miles to their regular daily totals over the last week or so. It is almost a sign that they sense their bodies are coping with the physical rigours of the race, and they are now starting to override any subtle in-built safety mechanisms that may have been saying “Steady on. You still have a long way to go.”
In entering the final phase of any race, whether that is the last 100 metres of a 1500 metres, the last kilometre of a 10km, or the last 10km of a marathon, one just seems to sense inwardly if there is still something more to give. It is like an act of breaking free to test just where your limits truly lie, and it is a lesson of self-transcendence in action.
Expect some “bigger days” before the race ends.
“Self-transcendence means
Self-expansion,
In every way.”
- Sri Chinmoy
Videos by Arpan Day 39
Photos Day 40
- Photos Day 40 - Arpan and Luiza
Video Channels
- Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team - Vimeo Channel
- Stutisheel 3100 Mile Playlist YouTube Channel
- Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team 3100 Mile Race Youtube Channel
Photos
- US Gallery - Latest Photos and videos for day 39
- Sri Chinmoy Ultra Photos Latest photos for day 36
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