Amelia's Marathon PB Story

The UK team lines up - Amelia, Tarit, Dhavala and Bhauliya.

For a full race gallery see:

http://www.srichinmoyraces.org/gallery/great-britain/joyday/stim2007/

The April 2007 Self-Transcendence Invitational Marathon was to be my 6th marathon, and I had trained hard for it during the winter. To enter the race you had to have run a sub 3:55:07 marathon in the last 5 years. This qualifying time was chosen because it is Sri Chinmoy's fastest marathon time (Sri Chinmoy being, of course, the founder of our international running club). It felt, in a way, like and "elite" race, with only 103 entrants. I was especially nervous before this marathon, partly because of the increased pressure to go fast! I also know that I had the capacity to run a lot faster than I'd run before, my previous best being 3:50:59.

At the start there was an air of excited apprehension. There were about 200 runners and spectators gathered at the Northern end of Meadow Lake, Flushing Meadows, waiting for the start of the race. It was a cold and windy day and the sky threatened rain. Sri Chinmoy arrived to start the race five minutes before it was due to begin. Standing with the other runners, I struggled to calm my nerves. I was shivering from the cold wind and my apprehension. Sri Chinmoy got out of his car and stood in front of the assembled runners. During the short meditation that followed, I felt a powerful sense of my fear and nervousness leaving me. My shivers subsided and a sense of calm positivity entered into me. I realised that I was in fact happy and excited to be there, at the start line of the marathon.

As soon as the traditional pre-race moment of silence was over we were off, and immediately into the wind that swept through the park that day. The previous day there had been 6 inches of rain, which had flooded parts of the park and forced a last-minute change in the course. Because of this there were no mile markers, which meant that my planned 8-minute pace would have to be a matter of guesswork rather than checking my watch. I think that it was a good thing in the end because I made sure that my pace felt comfortable over those first few miles, regardless of what it actually was!

The race-course took us out on a 3.7-mile loop around the park, past the tennis stadium, Queens Zoo, and the World's Fair structure. I enjoyed the fact that it was a loop because the landmarks became reassuringly familiar each time we ran past. I especially like the World's Fair structure because as we passed it, it meant that we weren't far from the end of the loop where all our friends and supporters had gathered. The structure is a large metal tower with a platform on top. It is rusty and obsolete now, and silhouetted against the cold grey sky it took on an eerie quality that I found fascinating. Something inside it made a clanging sound, like a bell in the wind.

My first three laps went by easily enough, and I exchanged a few words with Anja, who I found myself running with for some early miles. I was happy that I could talk and was not too out of breath! That meant my effort was about right. The distances between the landmarks on the course felt short and manageable, and compared to my previous marathons my pace was much quicker, so the miles seemed to fly by! We also saw Sri Chinmoy driving around the course twice over the first three laps. He looked at each runner very carefully and this silently reminded me of the intense joy and positivity that remained with me from the start. I know that the key to a successful race was for me to remain absolutely focused and positive inside.

At the halfway point our split was called out by a marshal. I had a moment of panic, because 1:42 sounded too fast to be sustainable. Anja reassured me and I thought to myself, no, I'm still comfortable at this pace, it feels good. Back at the end of Meadow Lake my friends were all very encouraging and supportive. It helped to have that vocal support, especially in the later laps when all I'd heard for a while was the wind in my ears.

After halfway I had to concentrate more on holding my pace. I also started overtaking some of the other runners, and found myself running with Petr from Czech Republic, whose pace matched mine right to the end. (Petr was taking it easy in this marathon, using it as a warm-up for the impending 10-day race, which he went on to win with a phenomenal 667 miles.) It helped me a lot to have someone to run with!

Parts of the course were very exposed and we had to battle our way through the wind each time we turned some of the corners. A small lake near the start of the loop was full of sharp, angry-looking waves. By lap 5 (two to go) I was starting to tire. By this time it felt like I was running flat out, but I know I was probably just maintaining my pace. I told myself that these last miles were what I'd trained for, and imagined the laps were like laps of a 400m track - only 2 more! It didn't sound like too much further. I ticked off the landmarks in my head; the road bridges, the ball park, the tennis stadium, the zoo.

The last tap seemed to go on forever. I was so happy to be seeing those landmarks for the last time, but my body was really getting tired. I gritted my teeth and tried not to think of anything except the next step, my next breath. I saw two girls come into view ahead of me and I realised that it was Narmada and Shamita, who had both run much faster times than me in previous marathons. It was much too late now to worry about losing my pace, so I thought, I wonder if I can catch them? I watched as Shamita overtook Narmada and before I know it, I had overtaken her too.

I overtook Shamita with perhaps 2 miles to go. I have to admit I was surprised to find myself in that situation! I expected at any second that she would sprint past me, because I know what a strong runner she is. I tried hard not to get distracted by this, and concentrated on keeping my legs going as I felt them start to spasm. Part of me wanted to panic and I had a fleeting vision of me falling over yards form the finish line. The strong sense of optimism I'd felt at the beginning of the race won through, and I held it together through the final mile.

As we turned the last corner into the finishing straight, the clock came into view. Fist I saw a "4" and thought, forty-something, that's okay I guess. Then I saw the "2" in front of it. My finishing time was 3:34:22- a whole 26 minutes faster than I'd run before! I could hardly believe my eyes. Sheer disbelief, joy and gratitude overwhelmed me as the marathon finally came to an end. My friends who had supported and helped me during the race were all there and I was so glad to fall into Shankara's arms and be still, at last!

I had felt for a long time (since 2002) that I could run sub 3:30. That year Sri Chinmoy had mentioned that he felt that at least 15 of his female students could do it. At the time I had just run my first marathon in 4:09, and I felt that I could and would run under 3:30. As Shamita so kindly and generously said to me at the end - "I'm so happy you finally found your speed."

My gratitude to Sri Chinmoy for the initial inspiration and the constant encouragement. Let's see what happens next!