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.As the race enters into its fifth week, the runners are getting into a good rhythm.
Every day the runners see both the rising sun and setting sun - a new feature of the race in the fall. It puts the runners in connection with the daily routine of Mother Earth - a feature often lost in modern life but for the runners out on the course ever day, they become finely attuned to their environment.
Both Asprihanal Aalto and Andrea Marcato ran consistently all day to pass the magic 70-mile mark. A remarkable achievement when you consider the previous 35 days of consecutive running. Vasu Duzhiy and Lo Wei Ming both maintain a steady pace, building up a good buffer of spare miles to finish well within the time limit. The top two women Susan Marshall and Huang Lan Yang are separated by just 10 miles with both exceeding 60-mile day and, like all the runners, inspiring each other to keep pushing the boundaries of self-transcendence.
Andrea Marcato share his thoughts on the race
Andrea impresses and inspires with his focused attitude to the race. As you can soon observe, every second counts as he seeks to gain the maximum performance from every aspect of his being - mind, body, spirit and the support of his helpers.
Asprihanal's Race so far
The modest Finn, Asprihanal Aalto has finished the race 15 times, has won on nine occasions, and is the current world record holder, finishing the 2015 edition of the 3100 Mile Race in just over 40 days. Within a few weeks, when he finishes for the sixteenth time, he will have completed nearly 50,000 miles (80,000km) just on the 3100 Mile Race circuit. What drives the runners to come back every year can be hard to articulate, but as Asprihanal says, it is the inner progress the race affords.
Vasu passes the Enthusiasm Singers
Susan Marshall enjoys the encouragement.
The runners' laps are counted by a team of counters who come from all other the world to help with the race.
Lo Wei Ming with the rising sun in the background.
Further reading
- Race Photos at Sri Chinmoy Ultra
- Race videos at Vimeo
- Photos and Videos at Instagram
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