2011 Self-Transcendence 5k Results

About the author:

Medur is our go-to person for many of the essential tasks involved in putting on our races: race setup, our lap counting system and our website. An enthusiastic runner himself, he has participated in many editions of the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run in Canada and the US.

Place	Name		Time	Pace (/mile)	Age Group	Age Place
1	Brendan Donoghue	Queens NY	18:21	3:40/K	Men 30 to 39	1
2	Eduardo Aponte	Brooklyn NY	18:48	3:46/K	Men under 20	1
3	John Werner	Brookline MA	18:51	3:46/K	Men 40 to 49	1
4	Joshua Fox	Jackson Hts. NY	18:59	3:48/K	Men 20 to 29	1
5	Agnikana Senkyrova	Zlin 76001 Czech Republic	19:31	3:54/K	Women 30 to 39	1
6	Gregory Rozlonowski	Bellerose NY	19:48	3:58/K	Men 30 to 39	2
7	Antara-Prabhat Kalajian	Jamaica NY	20:02	4:00/K	Men 20 to 29	2
8	Spencer Korwin	New York NY	20:30	4:06/K	Men 20 to 29	3
9	Arpan DeAngelo	Jamaica NY	20:37	4:07/K	Men 50 to 59	1
10	James Spencer	Forest HIlls NY	20:38	4:08/K	Men 20 to 29	4
11	Felipe Juarez	Corona NY	20:45	4:09/K	Men 40 to 49	2
12	Jonathan Cano	Corona NY	20:53	4:11/K	Men 20 to 29	5
13	Ryan Roslonowski	Bellerose NY	21:04	4:13/K	Men under 20	2
14	Angel Cumbe	Queens NY	21:11	4:14/K	Men 30 to 39	3
15	Julie Threlkeld	Yonkers NY	21:15	4:15/K	Women 40 to 49	1
16	Shashanka Karlen	Jamaica NY	21:35	4:19/K	Men 50 to 59	2
17	Matt Mandel	Brooklyn NY	21:38	4:20/K	Men 50 to 59	3
18	Patricia Alcivar	Forest Hills NY	21:50	4:22/K	Women 30 to 39	2
19	Will Havey	Astoria NY	21:55	4:23/K	Men 50 to 59	4
20	John Montoya	Corona NY	22:03	4:25/K	Men 20 to 29	6
21	Erika Werner	Brookline MA	22:09	4:26/K	Women 30 to 39	3
22	Jason Dunn	Jackson Hts. NY	22:14	4:27/K	Men 30 to 39	4
23	Sal D'Amico	Valley Stream NY	22:30	4:30/K	Men 30 to 39	5
24	Michael Forman	Jamaica NY	22:33	4:31/K	Men 20 to 29	7
25	Prapti Jensen	Ottawa ON Canada	22:34	4:31/K	Women 40 to 49	2
26	Matthew Kilkelly	Briarwood NY	22:54	4:35/K	Men 40 to 49	3
27	Johnny Schulz	Boca Raton FL	23:04	4:37/K	Men 40 to 49	4
28	Randolph Rosarion	New York NY	23:07	4:37/K	Men 40 to 49	5
29	Andrea Toro	Baltimore MD	23:30	4:42/K	Women 20 to 29	1
30	Navinchandra Gadkari	Jamaica NY	23:33	4:43/K	Men under 20	3
31	Dhanu Alaimo	Jamaica NY	23:38	4:44/K	Men 50 to 59	5
32	Tanya Higgins	Forest Hills NY	23:41	4:44/K	Women 30 to 39	4
33	Stephan Galicea	Bellerose NY	23:50	4:46/K	Men under 20	4
34	Antana Locs	Jamaica NY	24:15	4:51/K	Women 50 to 59	1
35	Kanala Bolvanska	Jamaica NY	24:20	4:52/K	Women 30 to 39	5
36	Eric Ohlson	Astoria NY	24:34	4:55/K	Men 60 to 69	1
37	Steven Cercy	New York NY	24:58	5:00/K	Men 40 to 49	6
39	Pulak Viscardi	Jamaica NY	25:33	5:07/K	Men 60 to 69	2
40	Nancy Alcivar	Rego Park NY	25:36	5:07/K	Women 30 to 39	6
41	David Kalvert	Melville NY	25:40	5:08/K	Men 30 to 39	6
42	Jennifer Vichinsky	Rego Park NY	25:44	5:09/K	Women 30 to 39	7
43	Mark Dunn	Astoria NY	25:46	5:09/K	Men 30 to 39	7
44	Javier Werner	Brookline MA	25:51	5:10/K	Men under 20	5
45	Maria Romano	Jamaica NY	25:52	5:10/K	Women 50 to 59	2
46	Salvatore Carretta	Yonkers NY	25:53	5:11/K	Men 50 to 59	6
47	James Babis	Forest Hills NY	26:10	5:14/K	Men 30 to 39	8
48	Noah Sheroff	Franklin Square NY	26:14	5:15/K	Men 20 to 29	8
49	Samahita Bender	Jamaica NY	26:18	5:16/K	Women 40 to 49	3
50	Dana Marriotti	Astoria NY	26:19	5:16/K	Men 30 to 39	9
51	Kevin Quinones	New York NY	26:25	5:17/K	Men 30 to 39	10
52	Anya Zaitsev	Flushing NY	26:32	5:18/K	Women 20 to 29	2
53	Sabrina Martin	Jamaica NY	26:44	5:21/K	Women 20 to 29	3
54	Itaiguara Dayns	Briarwood NY	27:00	5:24/K	Men 40 to 49	7
55	Alysha Reid	Brooklyn NY	27:03	5:25/K	Women 20 to 29	4
56	Mike Riina	Flushing NY	27:13	5:27/K	Men 40 to 49	8
57	Christine Yap	Astoria NY	27:18	5:28/K	Women 30 to 39	8
58	Simon Bacarella	Bayside NY	27:22	5:28/K	Men 40 to 49	9
59	Ahreum Kim	Bayside NY	27:31	5:30/K	Women 20 to 29	5
60	Liana Lien	Brooklyn NY	27:32	5:30/K	Women 20 to 29	6
61	Kevin Harford	Bayside NY	27:39	5:32/K	Men 40 to 49	10
62	Govinda White	Jamaica NY	27:47	5:33/K	Women 40 to 49	4
63	Melanie Hochwald	Berlin NY	27:55	5:35/K	Women 30 to 39	9
64	Josephine Smith	New Hyde Park NY	28:25	5:41/K	Women 30 to 39	10
65	Deborah Wyatt	Corona NY	28:26	5:41/K	Women 50 to 59	3
66	Reese Huebsch	Astoria NY	28:32	5:42/K	Men 30 to 39	11
67	Ray Howell	Jackson Hts. NY	28:37	5:43/K	Men 30 to 39	12
68	Morgan Strecker	Brooklyn NY	28:37	5:43/K	Women 20 to 29	7
69	Claudelle Trotman	Jamaica NY	28:40	5:44/K	Women 40 to 49	5
70	Katrina Hall	Alhambra CA	28:41	5:44/K	Women 30 to 39	11
71	Patrina Hall-Madry	Middle Village NY	28:41	5:44/K	Women 30 to 39	12
72	Stephen Rosenfeld	Olympia WA	28:47	5:45/K	Men 50 to 59	7
73	Valerie Fristachi	Bayside NY	28:53	5:47/K	Women 30 to 39	13
74	Susan Davidson	Astoria NY	28:56	5:47/K	Women 30 to 39	14
75	Yesenia Rodriguez	Woodside NY	29:03	5:49/K	Women 30 to 39	15
76	Joanne Contreras	Forest Hills NY	29:04	5:49/K	Women under 20	1
77	Michelle Bressler	Brooklyn NY	29:12	5:50/K	Women 30 to 39	16
78	Sarah Roslonowski	Bellerose NY	29:14	5:51/K	Women under 20	2
79	Lana Schwartz	Fresh Meadows NY	29:29	5:54/K	Women 20 to 29	8
80	Natalia Macrynikola	Astoria NY	29:30	5:54/K	Women 20 to 29	9
81	Angela Gallo	Bayside NY	29:31	5:54/K	Women 30 to 39	17
82	Mary Deyns	Briarwood NY	29:43	5:57/K	Women 30 to 39	18
83	Jose Serrano	Bronx NY	29:49	5:58/K	Men 60 to 69	3
84	Punya Kruglova	Moscow Russia	29:56	5:59/K	Women 50 to 59	4
85	Yuehao Wong	New York NY	30:20	6:04/K	Men under 20	6
86	Adhiratha Keefe	Kew Gardens Hills NY	30:27	6:05/K	Men 60 to 69	4
87	Thomas Wilkinson	New York NY	30:33	6:07/K	Men 30 to 39	13
88	Thomas Fleming	Jamaica NY	30:42	6:08/K	Men 30 to 39	14
89	Boreum Kim	Bayside NY	30:45	6:09/K	Women 20 to 29	10
90	Bhashwar Hart	Jersey City NJ	30:49	6:10/K	Men 60 to 69	5
91	Karen Babia	Forest Hills NY	30:53	6:11/K	Women 20 to 29	11
92	Jose Taveras	Jamaica Hills NY	30:57	6:11/K	Men 30 to 39	15
93	Jennifer Tsang	Uncasville CT	31:05	6:13/K	Women 20 to 29	12
94	Laila Faerman	Brooklyn NY	31:09	6:14/K	Women 20 to 29	13
95	Ana Garcia	Ringwood NJ	31:11	6:14/K	Women 20 to 29	14
96	Tiffany Rosenquist Torr	Astoria NY	31:16	6:15/K	Women 30 to 39	19
97	Christina Rufo	Whitestone NY	31:26	6:17/K	Women 20 to 29	15
98	Jennifer Schanke	Nashua NH	31:41	6:20/K	Women 20 to 29	16
99	Kate O'Donoghue	Bayside NY	31:43	6:21/K	Women 30 to 39	20
100	Michelle Carver	White Plains NY	32:07	6:25/K	Women 50 to 59	5
101	Michiko Satake	Rego Park NY	32:09	6:26/K	Women 20 to 29	17
102	Alyssa Pack	Astoria NY	32:17	6:27/K	Women 30 to 39	21
103	Don Hansen	College Point NY	32:43	6:33/K	Men 40 to 49	11
104	Will Kastner	Brooklyn NY	32:57	6:35/K	Men 30 to 39	16
105	Bhagirathi Savage	Jamaica NY	33:01	6:36/K	Women 50 to 59	6
106	Cristaly Trinidad	College Point NY	33:25	6:41/K	Women 20 to 29	18
107	Tricia Rhoden	Springfield NY	33:29	6:42/K	Women 20 to 29	19
108	Abdool Jabar	Queens Village NY	33:30	6:42/K	Men 50 to 59	8
109	Mark Du	Rego Park NY	33:30	6:42/K	Men 20 to 29	9
110	Annaliza Huffnaggle	Elmhurst NY	33:37	6:43/K	Women 30 to 39	22
111	Joshua Herman	Brooklyn NY	33:53	6:47/K	Men 30 to 39	17
112	Kristal Aliyas	New York NY	33:56	6:47/K	Women 30 to 39	23
113	James Messerscmidt	Astoria NY	34:04	6:49/K	Men 40 to 49	12
114	LaShonda Krokan	Bayside NY	34:07	6:49/K	Women 30 to 39	24
115	Snigdha Fitch	Jamaica NY	34:12	6:50/K	Women 60 to 69	2
116	Josephine La Tempa	Bayside NY	34:16	6:51/K	Women 40 to 49	6
117	Irapaul Turner	New York NY	34:17	6:51/K	Men 40 to 49	13
118	Barbara Cullinan	North Bergen NJ	34:17	6:51/K	Women 50 to 59	7
119	Kevin Kiernan	Woodhaven NY	34:36	6:55/K	Men 30 to 39	18
120	Janssen Tam	Brooklyn NY	34:40	6:56/K	Men 30 to 39	19
121	Gayle Kalvert	Melville NY	35:03	7:01/K	Women 30 to 39	25
122	Evergreen Chou	Flushing NY	35:16	7:03/K	Men 40 to 49	14
123	Jackie Chan	Jamaica NY	35:48	7:10/K	Women 30 to 39	26
124	Sumanas Sugar	Jamaica NY	36:02	7:12/K	Men 60 to 69	6
125	Tena Rufo	Whitestone NY	36:10	7:14/K	Women 30 to 39	27
126	Michele Calamari	Washington Towns NJ	36:16	7:15/K	Women 20 to 29	20
127	Erin Ritola	Glenhead NY	36:33	7:19/K	Women 20 to 29	21
128	Sylvia Romy	Glendale NY	36:34	7:19/K	Women 30 to 39	28
129	David Davidson	Astoria NY	36:47	7:21/K	Men 30 to 39	20
130	Ilana Goldfarb	New York NY	36:53	7:23/K	Women 30 to 39	29
131	Bobby Zouvelos	New York NY	36:57	7:23/K	Men 40 to 49	15
133	Adam Schear	Brooklyn NY	36:59	7:24/K	Men 30 to 39	21
134	Avital Lewis	Brooklyn NY	36:59	7:24/K	Women 20 to 29	22
135	Danielle Howell	Flushing NY	37:01	7:24/K	Women 30 to 39	30
137	Andra Brumberg	Rego Park NY	37:48	7:34/K	Women 20 to 29	23
138	Daryl Pasaylo	Safford AZ	37:52	7:34/K	Women 40 to 49	7
139	Dorothy DeNoto	Huntington Stn. NY	38:06	7:37/K	Women 50 to 59	8
140	Jide Alakw	Far Rockaway NY	38:58	7:48/K	Men 20 to 29	10
141	Michael Kalvert	Melville NY	39:02	7:48/K	Men 60 to 69	7
142	Paul Mager	Plainview NY	39:25	7:53/K	Men 20 to 29	11
143	Theresa Fleming	Astoria NY	39:54	7:59/K	Women 30 to 39	31
144	Carley Shepard	E. Quogue NY	40:01	8:00/K	Women under 20	3
145	Johanna Guardado	Bayside NY	40:34	8:07/K	Women 30 to 39	32
146	Catherine Fleming	Astoria NY	40:48	8:10/K	Women 30 to 39	33
147	Sean Fleming	Jamaica NY	40:48	8:10/K	Men 30 to 39	22
148	Richard Silbert	West CT	41:18	8:16/K	Men 50 to 59	9
149	Emilia Toro	Washington DC	41:18	8:16/K	Women 20 to 29	24
150	Camilla Rosenfeld	Olympia WA	41:20	8:16/K	Women under 20	4
151	Julia Silbert	West CT	41:21	8:16/K	Women under 20	5
152	Kate Rosenfeld	Olympia WA	41:45	8:21/K	Women 50 to 59	9
154	Pranika Baum	Jamaica NY	41:53	8:23/K	Women 50 to 59	10
156	Hashi Roberts	Jamaica NY	42:12	8:26/K	Women 60 to 69	3
157	Ernie Jab	Brooklyn NY	43:27	8:41/K	Men 30 to 39	23
158	Marcia Lee	Flushing NY	43:55	8:47/K	Women 20 to 29	25
159	Gloria Martinez	Stamford CT	45:37	9:07/K	Women 30 to 39	34
160	Cindy Bonzer	Bayside NY	45:56	9:11/K	Women 30 to 39	35
161	Abakash Konopiaty	Jamaica NY	47:13	9:27/K	Men 60 to 69	8
162	Carol Martzinek	College Point NY	48:12	9:38/K	Women 40 to 49	8
163	Susan Burris	Astoria NY	48:14	9:39/K	Women 40 to 49	9
164	Michael Shvartsman	New York NY	48:18	9:40/K	Men 20 to 29	12
165	Kay Katner	Brooklyn NY	48:19	9:40/K	Women 30 to 39	36
166	Jennie Huang	Chicago IL	49:44	9:57/K	Women 30 to 39	37
167	Day Star Chou	Flushing NY	51:13	10:15/K	Women 30 to 39	38
168	Shenelle D'Amico	Valley Stream NY	51:37	10:19/K	Women 30 to 39	39
169	Janene Smith	Brooklyn NY	51:39	10:20/K	Women 20 to 29	26
170	Marissa Kaplan	Brooklyn NY	51:40	10:20/K	Women 30 to 39	40
171	Joan Huang	NewYork NY	53:42	10:44/K	Women 20 to 29	27
172	Vera Huang	Maspeth NY	55:06	11:01/K	Women 60 to 69	4
173	Nilima Silver	Jamaica NY	55:19	11:04/K	Women 60 to 69	5
174	Amy Wyatt	Washington DC	57:25	11:29/K	Women 30 to 39	41
175	Josh Rosenblum	Washington DC	57:25	11:29/K	Men 30 to 39	24
176	Susan Rosenblum	Bayside NY	57:27	11:29/K	Women 60 to 69	6
177	Jeffrey Rosenblum	Bayside NY	57:29	11:30/K	Men 60 to 69	9
178	Maria Guevara	Middle Village NY	1:00:44	12:09/K	Women 60 to 69	1
179	Snehashila Alaimo	Jamaica NY	1:08:35	13:43/K	Women 70 and over	1

Cross-posted from us.srichinmoyraces.org

Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team articles - more articles

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.

On 30 August 2023, the 27th annual Sri Chinmoy 3100 Mile Self-Transcendence Race began in Jamaica, New York, US. This year, there are fourteen runners are on the start list and it is set to be a great race.

The start list includes the winner of the 2022 Race (Andrea Mercato, Italy) and last year's first woman (Susan Marshall, New Zealand). There are also four new runners - Tsai Wen-Ya, Mahasatya Janczak, Adrian Papuc and Jason Lester who will be entering the 3100 Mile Race for the first time. Despite being experienced ultra-distance runners, there is nothing that can fully prepare you for this unique ultra-marathon event.

In order to meet their goal of 3100 miles (4989km) in 52 days, they must log an average of 59.6 miles (95.9 km) per day. The runners begin at 6 a.m. and run for extended periods throughout the day. If they want to, they can continue as late as 12 midnight when the course closes for the night. After completing the race, runners have the option of continuing on to complete 5000km.

For many years, the race was held in the middle of the New York summer, with scorching temperatures adding to the challenge. Last year, the runners had cooler temperatures but also had to contend with the tail end of a hurricane and frequent heavy, persistent rain. This year the runners will be hoping for more favourable weather conditions, but whatever the conditions, the runners will be ready to seek their own personal self-transcendence and seek to overcome the many obstacles.

Sri Chinmoy the founder of the race saw distance running, and this race in particular, as a valuable opportunity for the runner to seek a life-transforming physical and spiritual self-transcendence.

“There is only one dream
That will always be perfect
In your lifetime,
And that is the dream
Of self-transcendence.”

– Sri Chinmoy

Follow this year's race at

3100 Mile Race

Further reading

View full article »

About the author:

Abhejali Bernardova, of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team from the Czech Republic has swum seven of the world's toughest stretches of open water, including the English Channel. She has also recently published a book about her swimming exploits in Czech entitled: "Until the Water Runs Out?" For a recent podcast after the book publication, Abhejali shared her thoughts on training, inspiration and meditation.

abhejali

Could you tell us about yourself?

abhejli I am forty-four years old and I am from the Czech Republic, which is a landlocked country. But I love swimming in the ocean. I was the fourth woman to finish the challenge called “Oceans Seven.” And just recently I did an ultra-triathlon that included swimming the English Channel and then biking and running all the way to the Czech Republic. I just love challenges, and I’m so happy to be able to share my adventures with your listeners.

Why is the book titled Until the Water Runs Out?

It is a theme of the book, based on advice from Channel General Freda Streeter, mum of former “Queen of the Channel” Alison Streeter (Sri Chinmoy lifted both of them). Her advice to swimmers is to swim until there is no more water, until you get to the other side. There is no use in stopping and looking around, no point in asking how far to go still—you just have to swim until the water runs out. And we also should live to the fullest until the water of our life runs out.

I would like to know more about what self-transcendence means to you?

It means trying to do more than I did before and have goals that can be maybe a little bit scary and then finding ways to achieve them. One side is the sports side, but also for me, it means being a better person than I was before. I think these sports achievements help me in achieving that because so much that I learn during the swims or the runs is transferable to my day-to-day life. Not only everything goes according to plan and stuff like that. You have to find a way to go around and just keep going until you get there. I remember even for my first English Channel swim: It never happened to me during the training, but after I started swimming—maybe forty-five minutes into the swim—I got seasick. Everything else was going fine, but I just couldn’t eat or drink anything, and I was feeding the fish every twenty minutes or so. But I remember you just have to go and keep going. As long as you give it your all, then you are happy and you are making progress.

Tell me a little more about the meditation? How and why did you get into meditating? You mentioned a name, could you repeat that name?

I started meditating with Sri Chinmoy when I was eighteen. There wasn’t any outside reason for me to start meditating. I had a happy childhood. I was happy, and everything was going well, but somehow maybe—not really consciously—I felt there was something missing in my life. So I saw this poster for a meditation class and I went to see what was going on. I really liked this feeling that I felt in my heart during the meditation exercise that we did that evening. Somehow it made sense for me to continue doing these exercises and trying to find something deeper within me. I guess it’s also why I started doing long-distance swimming and running. Just to know myself better, to get more outside of my comfort zone and kind of dig deeper to see what is there. I think we are just really limiting ourselves with what our mind tells us we can do or we can’t do. With the meditation, I’m calming my mind and opening my heart and then I can see that there is so much to explore and so much more to do. So, it somehow made sense to put all of this together.

What happened after the age of eighteen? Did you go on to University, did you start working and then how did you balance the sport and swimming and your running and your cycling during that time?

I started to go to University and I started to run really slowly. I remember my very first run and I just left my house and I ran around the block, it was like five minutes and I felt okay, I started running. Then I increased the distance. It was like twenty-five years ago so there were no, not that many races like there are now and the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team we started organising races, six hours, twelve hours, 100k. So when we did organise these races I wanted to try them out and see how far I could go. So from those five minutes I went to 3k, 10k then a marathon and then that six-hour. Then I still felt I could do more. So, it was just nice to widen my limits or my so-called limits. In a way, it was growing really slowly and then we organised a twenty-hour hour race and then actually I was helping my friend in New York and she ran a race that was one thousand miles long. It was in a park on a one-mile loop and I remember running a marathon after she finished the race maybe a week later. And I ran a marathon on the same loop and I remember that it was my easiest marathon ever because it was twenty-six laps whereas she had to do one thousand laps. So I could totally see how if you change your perspective, if something feels difficult then just look at it from a different side or different height. So that was my easiest marathon.

abhejali

For those people who maybe haven’t given swimming a go or they want to start pushing themselves and going for longer distances, what would be your advice about going further with swimming? Increasing your time from one hour to two hours to three hours or six or twelve to fifteen hours?

I think one important thing to have a really good technique, like a stroke. Because then if you have a good stroke, good form, then you can go forever. Then for me, like mentally it’s good to not think about you are going to train for ten hours because then your mind starts revolting and telling you you are crazy, why are you doing this? Different things that the mind does to us to discourage us. I would just think of going for a few hours and then while I swim I would just go from one feeding to the next. I would eat every half an hour so then you have just half an hour to go and then another half an hour. For my long swims I would do trainings, maybe six hours on Saturday, six hours on Sunday and what would help would be when you go for the second six hours on Sunday you are sore and you are tired then you don’t really feel so happy to go in the water, especially if the water is cold, but then I would imagine this is my hour number seven, number eight, until twelve. So I would take it as a whole chunk of twelve hours and then it’s like you have done half of it and then I would go downhill, I always like the second half of the race, of the distance, because then it feels like you are already on your way home. Somehow like mentally divide it, make it shorter, do different things to quiet your mind which in general is discouraging and trying to tell you that you don’t want to do this, you are too tired, you are too cold and different things to really stop you from doing it.

Is that when doing back to back training, six hours on Saturday, six hours on a Sunday, you could wake up feeling so sore and tired, what are you tips for recovery? How do you make sure that you stay injury free when you are doing endurance training of this length?

I try to eat really well. I’m a vegetarian but just to really have proper food even during the training I don’t really like having gels that much, we have soup or porridge or different things so that my body is really, really nourished. And then I try to sleep as much as I can in between the trainings and just stay positive, stay happy even though I am tired, especially when you are starting your training, your body needs to get used to it. Just being in a positive frame of mind. I think that is a big help to prevent injury. When you are happy to be out there in the water and swim and just be grateful that you can do it, you are the one who is in the water, this gratitude helps so much too.

abhejali — After swimming the English Channel

Tell me about Oceans Seven? What is the Oceans Seven challenge?

The Oceans Seven challenge involves seven swims around the globe that are difficult in some way or another. One of them is the English Channel. Then the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland, which is even colder than the English Channel. I never really wanted to swim this one. Then there are some warm-water swims like Hawaii’s Moloka’i Channel, which is really long. It is more than 2k, which is a marathon distance. Then there is Cook Strait in New Zealand, Tsugaru Strait in Japan, Strait of Gibraltar which is from Europe to Africa which I really loved. And there is Catalina Channel, which is from Catalina Island to Los Angeles. So, those are the seven swims and there are tides, there are waves, there are swells, there are some marine animals that are kind and not so kind. So there are different challenges in the swims.

Do you have a mantra or a motto that you sort of apply to your challenges and events?

I have one that I really like and it’s “I can do it, I have already done it.” It’s actually what Sri Chinmoy advised people when they were swimming the English Channel to really use the imagination even while training, to tell yourself “I can do it.” Imagine that you are swimming to the French shore and I am there. And just visualise it and then make it a reality, that’s my favourite. And I use mantras and singing when things get though. There is a song that Sri Chinmoy composed, “I am swimming in the English Channel today” so I was singing that song quite a lot during the swim.

I’d love for you to share your final words of advice to encourage other women and girls to step outside their comfort zone and to take on a new challenge. Apart from saying “just do it” what advice would you have for our listeners?

Dream big and don’t be afraid to dream. Don’t feel that you are too old to dream and to do different challenges and then just find ways to reach those goals and those challenges and sometimes it takes some years to really be able to do it but just not giving up. And then you get there and don’t allow your mind to tell you that you are too old, you are too weak, you can’t do it. You can do it and if you try then at least you can say that you tried. If you don’t try then you definitely won’t be able to accomplish that. So dream big.

Would you mind sharing a little more about what you main goal is in life?

My main goal I would describe as really knowing myself, what I am, why I am here, what I am supposed to do and just being me. Being the best version of me and getting better every day, becoming a better person.

Here some video-footage of Abhejali's Channel Swim from 2011