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This year's event featured 23 teams as well as individual swimmers. Below you can view a nice video shot by members of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team from Hungary. Maybe it will inspire you to join us next time!

Event page for 6 hour swim »

This video was taken at the British Time Trial Championship, June 2015. The footage was shown on British Cycling Live streaming and also British Eurosport. The event was held at Cadwell Motor Park and the Lincolnshire countryside.

 

There was a big startlist with other 300 riders, from different categories and many top British professional entering the race.

Tejvan Pettinger of Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team finished 7th, in a time of 1.06. The winner was Alex Dowsett Movistar, who earlier in the year had broken the world hour record.

Top 10 Men

1 Alex Dowsett Movistar Team 01:00:11.13
2 Edmund Bradbury NFTO 01:03:42.25
3 Ryan Perry SportGrub KUOTA Cycling Team 01:04:02.28
4 Matthew Bottrill www.drag2zero.com 01:04:31.50
5 Lloyd Chapman Richardsons – Trek RT 01:05:43.02
6 Ashley Cox CC Luton 01:05:52.70
7 Tejvan Pettinger Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team 01:06:07.64
8 Jason Bouttell Velopro 01:06:15.57
9 Josh Williams Revolutions Racing 01:06:23.50
10 Gruffudd Lewis Pedal Heaven RT 01:06:31.07

Photos: Yiannis Kouros after his 1000 mile world record in 1998, with Sandra Barwick and Michel Careau. 1000km and 5000km record holder Surasa Mairer; 5000km record holder Ashprihanal Aalto.

The top performances in each distances are shown below; the full lists are available via PDF download. With thanks to Andy Milroy from the IAU

• 5000 km
• 4000 km
• 2000km, 3000km, 2000miles and 3000 miles
• 1000km, 1500km, 1000miles

 

5000km

Men

Time	Runner	Country	DOB	Race pos.	Place	Date
40:12:30:26	Ashprihanal Aalto	FIN	27.08.70	1	New York	14 Jun/24 July 2015
41:10:15:48	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER	20.07.55	1	New York	11 Jun/22 July 2006
42:15:45:29	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER		1	New York	16 Jun/28 Jul 2002
43:01:52:17	Galya V. Balatskyy	UKR	21.07.72	2	New York	14 Jun/27 July 2015

 

Women

49:10:39:01	Surasa Paula Mairer		06.03.59	1	New York	14 Jun/02 Aug 2015
49:16:50:45	Suprabha Beckjord		21.02.56	1	New York	13 Jun/01 Aug 1998
50:06:42:43	Sarah Barnett			1	New York	15 Jun/03 Aug 2014
50:08:25:28	Surasa Paula Mairer		19.19.75	1	New York	16 Jun/05 Aug 2013
51:13:38:31	Nidhruvi G Zimmerman			2	New York	16 Jun/06 Aug 2013

 

3000 miles (Road loop split)

Men

39:04:39:10	Ashprihanal Aalto	FIN	27.08.70	1	New York	14 Jun/23 Jul 15
40:03:21:31	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER	20.07.55	1	New York	11 Jun/21 Jul 06
41:05:40:30	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER		1	New York	16 Jun/27 Jul 02
41:11:05:23	Galya V Balatskyi	UKR	21.07.72	2	New York	14 Jun/25 Jul 15
41:17:07:47	Ashprihanal Aalto	FIN		1	New York	17 Jun/28 Jul 07

 

Women

47:16:33:18	Surasa Mairer	AUT	06.03.59	1	New York	14 Jun/31 Jul 15
48:04:03:14	Suprabha Beckjord	USA	21.02.56	1	New York	13 Jun/01 Aug 98
48:09:13:25	Suprabha Beckjord	USA		1	New York	12 Jun/31 Jul 97
48:10:47:11	Sarah Barnett	AUS	19.19.75	1	New York	15 Jun/02 Aug 14
48:14:00:37	Surasa Mairer	AUT		1	New York	16 Jun/03 Aug 13

 

4000 km

Men

32:06:35:55	Ashprihanal Aalto	FIN	27.08.70	1	New York	14 Jun/16 Jul 2015
32:14:15:33	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER	28.07.55	1	New York	11 Jun/13 Jul 2006
33:17:28:24	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER	28.07.55	1	New York	16 Jun/19 Jul 2002
34:06:03:58	Ashprihanal Aalto	FIN		3	New York	12 Jun/16 Jul 2011
34:07:40:52	Galya V Balatskyy	UKR	21.07.72	2	New York	14 Jun/18 Jul 2015
34:14:29:41	Grahak Cunningham	AUS	21.05.77	1	New York	17 Jun/21 Jul 2012

 

Women

39:12:59:30	Suprabha Beckjord	USA	21.02.56	1		13 Jun/22 Jul 1998
39:13:14:07	Suprabha Beckjord	USA		1	New York	13 Jun/22 Jul 1996
39:15:18:05	Surasa Paula Mairer	AUT	06.03.59	1	New York	14 Jun/23 Jul 2015
40:00:33:39	Sarah Barnett	AUS	19.10.75	3	New York	15 Jun/25 Jul 2014
40:02:58:55	Suprabha Beckjord	USA		1	New York	12 Jun/22 Jul 1997

 

2000 miles (road only)

Men

26:00:35:45	Ashprihanal Aalto	FIN	27.08.70	1	New York	14 Jun/10 Jul 15
26:06:33:50	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER	28.07.55	1	New York	11 Jun/07 Jul 06
27:02:16:18	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER		1	New York	16 Jun/13 Jul 02
27:08:07:59	Ashprihanal Aalto	FIN		1	New York	14 Jun/11 Jul 09
27:11:44:13	Galya V Balatskyy	UKR	21.07.72	2	New York	14 Jun/11 Jul 15

 

Women

4w 4d 1h 6m 32s	Suprabha Beckjord	USA	21.02.56	1	New York	20 Jun/22 Jul 99
32:01:22:40	Suprabha Beckjord	USA	1		New York	13 Jun/15 Jul 96
32:03:12:15	Surasa Mairer	AUT	06.03.59	1	New York	14 Jun/16 Jul 15
32:03:46:38	Suprabha Beckjord	USA		1	New York	12 Jun/14 Jul 97
32:04:33:37	Sarah Barnett	AUS	19.19.75	1	New York	15 Jun/17 Jul 14

 

3000km (Road Only)

Men

24:04:06:04	Ashprihanal Aalto	FIN	27.08.70	1	New York	14 Jun/08 Jul 15
24:11:27:20	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER	28.07.55	1	New York	11 Jun/05 Jul 06
25:05:40:13	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER		1	New York	16 Jun/11 Jul 02
25:09:03:58	Ashprihanal Aalto	FIN		1	New York	14 Jun/09 Jul 09
25:13:33:08	Galya V Balatskyi	UKR	21.07.72	2	New York	14 Jun/09 Jul 15

 

Women

29:11:01:39	Suprabha Beckjord	USA	21.02.56	1	New York	13 Jun/12 Jul 98
29:14:10:10	Suprabha Beckjord	USA		1	New York	20 Jun/19 Jul 99
29:22:52:25	Suprabha Beckjord	USA		1	New York	13 Jun/12 Jul 96
30:00:21:34	Sarah Barnett	AUS	19.19.75	1	New York	15 Jun/15 Jul 14
30:01:03:19	Suprabha Beckjord	USA		1	New York	12 Jun/12 Jul 97

 

2000km

Men - road

15:10:06:02	Rimas Jakelaitis	LTH	14.04.55	1	New York	5/20 Sep 00
15:17:30:21	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER	28.07.55	1	New York	11 Jun/26 Jun 06
15:23:08:04	Istvan Sipos	HUN	28.05.59	1	New York	16 Sep/2 Oct 93
15:23:46:19	Al Howie	GBR	16.09.45	1	New York	16 Oct/2 Nov 91
16:00:31:50	George Jermolajevs	LAT	17.11.42	1	New York	11/28 Sep 95

 

Women -Track

19:20:26:07

Silvia Andonie

MEX

7.10.55

1

Monterrey

1/20 Mar 97

 

Women - Road

17:03:01:12	Sandra Barwick	NZL	27.02.49	1	New York	15 Sep/2 Oct 91
17:03:51:24	Surasa Mairer	AUT	06.03.59	1	New York	04/21 Sep 01
17:22:22:28	Martina Hausmann	GER	13.01.60	2	New York	04/13 Sep 01
18:00:30:42	Antana Locs	CAN	3.10.58	1	New York	12 Sep/1 Oct 94
18:00:58:22	Antana Locs	CAN		2	New York	15 Sep/2 Oct 91

 

1000 miles

Men - Road

10:10:30:36	Yiannis Kouros	GRE	13.02.56	1	New York	20/30 May 1988
11:20:36:50	Stu Mittleman	USA	12.05.51	1	New York	26 Ap/08 May 1986
11:23:07:21	Rimas Jakelaitis	LIT	14.04.55	1	New York	05/17 Sep 2000
11:23:18:32	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER	28.07.55	1	Athens	15/27 Apr 2010
12:01:25:47	Georgs Jermolajevs	LAT	17.11.42	1	New York	11/23 Sep 1997

 

Men - Track

11:13:54:58	Piotr Silkinas	LIT	06.08.41	1	Nanango	11/22 Mar 1998
11:23:31:44	Bryan Smith	AUS	26.10.43	2	Nanango	11/22 Mar 1998
12:04:06:02	Piotr Silkinas		06.08.41	1	Odessa	04/17 Oct 1997
12:11:32:33	Vladimir Glazkov	RUS	13.10.38	3	Nanango	11/22 Mar 1998
12:13:32:41	Vladimir Glazkov	RUS	13.10.38	1	Odessa	05/18 Oct 1996

 

Women - Track

13:02:16:49	Eleanor Robinson	GBR	20.11.47	1	Nanango	11/24 Mar 1998
14:10:27:21	Sandra Brown	GBR	01.04.49	1	Nanango	13/28 Mar 1996
14:22:22:42	Martina Hausmann	GER	13.01.60	1	Nanango	15/29 Mar 2000
15:15:38:19	Silvia Andonie	MEX	07.10.55	1	Monterrey	01/16 Mar 1997
15:21:36:13	Martina Hausmann	GER	13.01.60	1	Odessa	04/19 Oct 1997

 

Women - Road

12:14:38:40	Sandra Barwick	NZL	27.02.49	1	New York	15/28 Sep 1991
13:17:49:52	Surasa Paula Mairer	AUT	06.02.59	1	New York	04/18 Sep 2001
13:20:18:24	Dipali Cunningham	AUS/GBR	27.08.58	1	New York	10/24 Sep 1997
13:23:18:32	Antana Locs	CAN	03.10.58	2	New York	15/29 Sep 1991
14:00:51:24	Sandra Barwick		27.02.49	1	New York	16/30 Sep 1992

 

1500 km

Men - Road

9:14:30:44	Yiannis Kouros	GRE	13.02.56	1	New York	20/30 May 1988
10:23:58:46	Stu Mittleman	USA	12.05.51	1	New York	26 Apr/l0 May 1986
11:05:19:47	Al Howie	GBR	16.09.45	1	New York	16/27 Oct 1991
11:06:39:20	Rimas Jakelaitis	LIT	14.04.55	1	New York	05/16 Sep 2000
11:09:23:13	Georgs Jermolajevs LAT		17.11.42	1	New York	11/22 Sep 1997
11:21:38:13	Georg Jermolajevs	LAT	17.11.41	1	New York	11/23 Sep 1995

 

Men - Track

10:17:28:26	Piotr Silkinas	LIT	06.08.41	1	Nanango	11/22 Mar 1998
11:00:30:06	Bryan Smith	AUS	26.10.43	2	Nanango	11/22 Mar 1998
11:08:09:30	Piotr Silkinas	LIT	06.08.41	1	Odessa	04/17 Oct 1997
11:21:02:29	Alfredo Uria	ESP	16.02.39	1	Baracaldo	15/28 Sep 1996
11:23:04:03	Gary Parsons	AUS	23.12.49	1	Nanango	13/27 Mar 1996

 

Women - Road

11:16:51:33	Sandra Barwick	NZL	27.02.49	1	New York	15/26 Sep 1991
12:19:00:10	Surasa Mairer	AUT	06.03.59	1	New York	04/17 Sep 2001
13:01:42:20	C.D Cunningham	AUS/GBR	27.08.58	1	New York	08/22 Sep 1997
13:02:06:17	Antana Locs	CAN	03.10.58	2	New York	15/28 Oct 1991
13:05:26:27	Martina Hausmann	GER	13.01.60	1	New York	10/23 Sep 2002

 

Women - Track

12:06:52:12	Eleanor Robinson	GBR	20.11.47	1	Nanango	11/24 Mar 1998
13:10:29:48	Sandra Brown	GBR	01.04.49	1	Nanango	13/28 Mar 1996
14:12:07:05	Silvia Andonie	MEX	07.10.55	1	Monterrey	01/16 Mar 1997
14:21:45:15	Martina Hausmann	GER	13.01.60	1	Odessa	04/19 Oct 1997

 

1000 km

Men - Track

5:16:17:00	Yiannis Kouros	GRE	13.02.56	1	Colac	26 Nov/02 Dec 1984
5:17:26:38	Yiannis Kouros	AUS/GRE	13.02.56	1	Colac	20/26 Nov 2005
5:21:02:30	Yiannis Kouros	GRE	13.02.56	1	New York	02/8 Jul 1984
5:22:46:09	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER	28.07.55	1	Erkrath	01/7 Jul 2007
5:23:52:23	Brian Smith	AUS	26.10.43	1	Colac	13/19 Nov 1989

 

Men - indoor

5:18:39:55	Jean-Gilles Boussiquet	FRA	26.07.44	1	La Rochelle	16/23 Nov 1992
5:23:32:58	Gilbert Mainix	FRA	08.06.35	2	La Rochelle	16/23 Nov 1992

 

Men - Road

5:20:13:40	Yiannis Kouros	GRE	13.02.56	1	New York	20/26 May 1988
6:06:45:10	Rimas Jakelaitis	LIT	14.04.55	1	New York	25 Apr/01 May 2001
6:12:24:00	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER	28.07.55	1	Athens	31Mar/06 Apr 2007
6:23:10:30	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER		1	New York	26 Apr/03 May 2008
6:23:32:00	Wolfgang Schwerk	GER		1	Athens	15/22 Apr 2010

 

Women - Track

8:00:39:20	Eleanor Robinson	GBR	20.11.47	1	Nanango	11/18 Mar 1998
8:00:27.06	Eleanor Robinson	GBR	20.11.47	1	Nanango	11/18 Mar 1998
8:11:06:06	Martina Hausmann	GER	13.01.60	1	Nanango	15/29 Mar 2000
8:12:06:20	Sandra Brown	GBR	01.04.49	1	Nanango	13/21 Mar 1996
8:13:46:35	Silvia Andonie	MEX	07.10.55	1	Monterray	01/10 Mar 1997

 

Women - Road

7:16:08:37	Surasa Paula Mairer	AUT	06.03.59	1	New York	29 Sep/06 Oct 2002
7:16:11:00	Sandra Barwick	NZL	27.02.49	1	New York	15/22 Oct 1991
7:18:07:34	Sandra Barwick	NZL	27.02.49	1	New York	16/24 Sep 1992
8:08:03:55	Surasa Mairer	AUT	06.03.59	1	New York	04/12 Sep 2001
8:09:20:52	Antana Locs	CAN	03.10.58	2	New York	15/23 Oct 1991

Matthias van Baaren from Austria has given us many interesting graphics over the past couple of years, which helped inspire our charts display. He just sent us this interesting comparison of race times over the years, along with a few interesting tidbits; you can see the hi-res pdf version here »

 

The Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100-Mile Race was highlighted as one of '5 extremely extreme races' in the December 2015 issue of British Airways' 'High Life' inflight magazine.

 

Nirbhasa Magee from Ireland recently finished the 3100 mile Self-Transcendence Race on his first attempt. He became the first Irishman to finish the world's longest certified race - a unique race founded by spiritual Teacher Sri Chinmoy as one of the ultimate tests of physical, mental and spiritual self-transcendence. Nirbhasa recently spoke to the Daily Telegraph about what it takes to finish the race within the 52 day time limit, about using up 11 pairs of shoes, and whether he will go back and do the race again.

"If you possess a low pain threshold, get bored easily and need more than four hours' sleep a night, the 3100 Mile Race is probably not for you." Read more on the Daily Telegraph website »

The following video, made by Utpal Marshall, shows a short interview with Nirbhasa on the last day of the race, where he remains in a cheerful and positive frame of mind, despite the accumulation of deep fatigue by this point.The video is taken on this final day - hence Nirbhasa pretending to sprint out of the blocks.

Before entering the 3100 mile Self-Transcendence race, Nirbhasa had some experience in running multidays. He has finished two 10 day races, including an impressive 702 miles in the 2014 Ten Day Race. This performance indicated long-distance running capacity. However, nothing can really prepare a runner for the ordeal of completing the 3100 mile Race. To complete the race requires an average of just under 60 miles for 52 consecutive days. The remarkable thing about Nirbhasa's race was that he finished on the last day, with just a few hours spare. It was so close, that in the last few weeks, every minute became precious as he eked out mile after mile. 

Some other articles about Nirbhasa and the 3100 Mile Race:

• Irish Examiner - Meath man finishes world's longest race
• Interview with the Irish Voice, the leading paper for the Irish diaspora in America
• The Path to Self Transcendence begins with 3100 Miles, by Outside Magazine 

On Sunday November 15th the Impossibility Challenger record festival took place in Berlin, Germany.

The event was founded by Sri Chinmoy in 1982, Impossibility Challenger invites people from all over the world to challenge themselves by setting records in various disciplines, from strength to speed to humour. 14 record breakers from 9 different countries came to Berlin to perform a total of 23 records. Among them were the fastest mile running while wearing swim-fins, the most jokes told in one hour, going up and down a set of stairs carrying 20 eggs on spoons and lifting a 130 kg weight with the teeth.

 
Karteek Clark from the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in Scotland told 587 jokes by heart in one hour.

 
Rainer Schröder from Germany lifted two people with a total weight of 130 kg with his teeth.

 
Radek Rosa from the Czech Republic pulled a bus full of people weighing 13,257 kg a distance of 20 meters.


Samalya Schäfer from the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in Berlin completed 1 mile in 5 minutes and 33 seconds wearing swim-fins.

 

Related

 

• Results from 2015

 

After 33 years at Palmer Street, the successful running shop Run and Become has moved to a new location in the heart of Victoria, London. To celebrate the move to Ecclestone Street, many customers, suppliers and long-time supporters were invited to an evening function to mark the occasion. In addition, Ashrita Furman, the world’s most prolific Guinness World Record holder record, came over from New York to attempt a new Guinness World Record.

Run and Become was founded in 1982, by Ongkar and Vinodini Smith - after their spiritual Teacher Sri Chinmoy suggested they open an enterprise for sporting goods. 1982 was one year after the first London marathon and, in those years, running was very much a minority sport - with no specialist running shop retailers. Over the past 33 years, Run and Become has played an important role in the London and British running community - serving runners with independent service and advice.

Run and Become, also have branches in Edinburgh and Cardiff.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the current manager, Shankara Smith spoke about the aims of Run and Become, and how it is inspired by the philosophy of Sri Chinmoy. Sri Chinmoy himself was a keen runner, completing many marathons and ultra-marathons during his running career. Sri Chinmoy also taught how meditation and the philosophy of self-transcendence could play a beneficial role in helping the outer running. Throughout the store, there are several photos of Sri Chinmoy, including photos of meeting great running heroes, such as Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis.

The new store

The new store is set on Ecclestone Street, just off Buckingham Palace road - and a few minutes from Victoria train station. A team of talented architects from Czech Sri Chinmoy Centres have helped create a beautiful, light and spacious environment to display the running shoes and clothes.

Within the store, there is also a mini running track - ideal for testing out spikes and running shoes. All shop assistants have been carefully trained to help customers find the best running shoes for their needs. In the downstairs floor, the store will also hold related workshops and personal physiotherapy services for runners seeking to prevent and deal with injuries.

Guinness World Record Attempt

Ashrita Furman sought to break the Guinness World Record for blowing over the most number of eggs in a cup, in a minute. Ashrita was on great form, blowing over 61 eggs within a minute. (the record is yet to be confirmed by Guinness)

After Ashrita’s successful record attempt, those spectating had a go for themselves - learning that it was much more difficult than it looked. Some, including the author of this article, took a good few minutes before successfully flipping over one egg.

Run and Become photos

 

Welcome

Run and Become

Your Running Goal?

Run and Become
Become and run.

Run to succeed
in the outer world.

Become to proceed
in the inner world.

- Sri Chinmoy

Dipika and Shakara Smith.

 

A Corinthian Endeavour by Paul Jones tells the story of the UK National hill climb Championship from 1944 to 2014. The championship holds a unique place in the UK cycling calendar, always being held in the last weekend in October, marking the end of the domestic time trial season. It is a race that has, over the years, attracted some of the top professionals, such as Tour de France riders like Chris Boardman, Brian Robinson, and Malcolm Elliot - but also a breed of specialist hill climbers, such as Granville Sydney and Jim Henderson - riders who are ideally built for racing up steep hills.

In this book, the author Paul Jones, takes us on a humorous and informed journey through the diverse and sometimes quirky nature of the British hill climb season. As the title suggests, Jones is also interested in the amateur ethos and the fact that the race embodies some of the finest qualities of cycle racing.

For the uninitiated, Jones explains some of the fascinating aspects which go into a successful hill climber - a high power to weigh ratio, an ability to do repetitive, lung bursting hill climb intervals, meticulous attention to stripping weight from his bike, and the ability to ride at the very limit of physical and mental endurance.

The Stang

Within the book, Jones devotes a chapter to Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team rider, Tejvan Pettinger. Pettinger won the event in 2013 - after ten years of trying and near misses. Jones examines those 10 years of near misses that characterised Tejvan’s previous attempts to win the title, but also has a look at the spiritual aspect of Tejvan’s cycling.

Writing in the book:

“And yet, there is another layer of spirituality to Pettinger. He doesn't hide it, it's emblazoned across the jersey of the 'club' he rides for, Sri Chinmoy CC (sic):” “p253

Quoting Pettinger in the book, he says:

“The spiritual life has to come first, but fortunately, cycling is very complimentary. (though) I never race on wednesday evenings because of meditation. I could never be a professional.”

“I’m not the kind of person who needs to win for my self-esteem. I just enjoy cycling and I enjoy cycling hard. The motivation to try to win the championship - it's more than an ego thing, it's an opportunity to achieve something; there is an inner element to it. Sri Chinmoy's philosophy is that a big thing is self-transcendence, trying to go beyond your limits, spiritually, mentally, physically. Trying to go faster is part of spirituality, of meditation. If you can be happy, in a good consciousness, you can bring a lot of energy to the fore. When you're abut to race it can be easy to be nervous or think about your competitors. That's an important challenge: to be in a better consciousness." p.254

Talking about the mental aspect of racing:

"Often when I'm doing a race," he says, "I'm trying to keep my mind quiet and not think. To help that I repeat a mantra, like 'Supreme'. It's just a mantra I use in meditation. I don't want any thoughts going through my mind, only the mantra, inwardly. The best experience is when you're in the zone, you've not got that 'did I go off too hard, too early, that spectator's looking at me funny.' You're absorbed in the effort. That's the real buzz of hill climbs; you can get into this state which you very rarely get into; you're so beyond the limit, you're way beyond your ordinary experience and it has some parallels to meditation, because in meditation you're trying to get away from your mind and the thought, everyday world, and here you're doing it in a very real way because you're pushing yourself so much. And it's torture physically, but you get some kind of joy from it, and you look back and you think, 'Wow, that was a real three minutes. I really lived in that three minutes. I don't quite know what went on but I was on the edge and experiencing something different.'

Related

• A Corinthian Endeavour at Amazon.com
• A Corinthian Endeavour at Amazon.co.uk
• Read Tejvan's review of A Corinthian Endeavour on his cycling website

On Monday 26 October, Samunnati Nataliya Lehonkova won the Dublin Marathon in blustery conditions in a time of 2:31 - a personal best. Over 15,000 runners turned out for this year's event, including 4,800 runners from abroad. 

Samunnati is the fastest female marathon runner of Sri Chinmoy's students around the wold. Over the past few years she has won a string of European marathons including Belfast, Edinburgh and Toulouse. She has also frequently participated in the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run - the world's largest peace torch relay - and has toured Australia and Europe with the international team. After her victory in Dublin, she said in a post race interview "I didn't think about it; I just tried to run faster. I just tried to do my best."

More: Coverage of Dublin Marathon on RTE news - video 

Tejvan Pettinger of Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team finished in 6th placed in the UK national hill climb championship. The former national champion (2013) finished in 6th place out of a field of 240. His time of 4.25 was just 3 seconds off a podium place.

Photo Dan Monaghan cadenceimages.co.uk/ @13images

The championship was held at Jackson Bridge, West Yorkshire on a steep 0.9 mile course, which averages 11% and reached 20% in some places. This year the level of competition was very high with seven men within seven seconds of third place.

Photo James Allen

Results top 10 Men

Pos Rider Club Split Time

1 Richard Bussell RST Sport/Aero-Coach 1:54 4:15.6

2 Dan Evans Team Elite/Paul Bethall Electrical 1:51 4:20.5

3 Joseph Clark Team Envelopemaster 1:56 4:21.9

4 James Lowden Neon Velo 2:02 4:23.3

5 Tom Bell Fluid Fin Race Team 2:02 4:23.9

6 Tejvan Pettinger Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team 2:06 4:25.1

7 Matt Clinton Mike Vaughan Cycles 1:58 4:27.3

8 Adam Kenway SportGrub Kuota Cycling Team 1:51 4:27.8

9 Edmund Bradbury NFTO Pro Cycling 1:53 4:28.5

10 Kieran Savage Yorkshire Road Club 2:05 4:28.8

Photo Bob Askwith

It caps a successful 2015 for the Sri Chinmoy CT rider, who placed 7th in the British Time Trial Championship and won over 12 races during the year.

The Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team

• Full results for 2015

Channel Swimmer Vasanti Niemz participates in this year's swim, and gives the following report:

44 solo swimmers and 18 relay teams representing 18 nations headed off early on Sunday morning of July 26, 2015, in Rapperswil, Switzerland, to conquer the length of Lake Zurich (26,4 km) in the 28th annual international Self-Transcendence Marathon-Schwimmen organized by the Swiss Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team (SCMT).

Solo swimmers - without and with swimsuit - started at 7 am, followed by the relay teams  at 7:15 am, each swimmer or team accompanied by either a rowing, sailing or motor boat (trying to find your boat or your swimmer is always the first challenge!). Weather conditions were excellent. Although there were storm warnings on the lake the evening before, it calmed down and the lake was incredibly peaceful most of the way (maybe because it had been rededicated as a Peace Lake just a few weeks before?), with just a tiny bit of chop for some time after Meilen, the halfway cutoff point. The water was a comfortable 24°C and the air 23°C (not good for training for the English Channel!). The morning was sunny, later it became nicely overcast with the sun peeking out here and there again. Only close to the cutoff at 12 hours the usual bit of rain came, so helpers of the slower swimmers also got a bit wet. Only three soloist did not make the 6 hour cutoff at Meilen and had to stop.

The fastest finishing times were 6 h 14 for the relays (Uusschwümme :), CH), 6 h 52 (Felix Lenz, GER) for the wetsuit men, 7 h 40 for non-wetsuit (bioprene) men (John Zemaitis, USA), a new woman`s wetsuit masters record with 7 h 53 (Frederike Wachs, GER), and the fastest woman sans wetsuit was 8 h 21(Jo Yetman, GB).

SCMT members participating (again) were: Abhejali Bernadova (CZ), solo, 3rd place women main category (8 h 39)

 

Vasanti Niemz (GER), 2nd place women masters (10 h 19)

Pataka Spacek (CZ, 11 h 15, wetsuit)

 

And our boys relay: Kallol, Harkara, Sukinkar (GER, 10 h 41).

All the finisher faces were beaming as usual, every finisher received a medal and a flower garland. The huge buffet with Chi and tofu sponsored by the Secrets of Perfection Flames (http://www.soyana.ch) was amazing as always. Knowing there is some great food waiting always helps to make it across the last almost never-ending stretch from Küsnacht to the finish!

Gratitude to all the organisers and helpers and congratulations to all the finishers! For all the results and photos visit: http://ch.srichinmoyraces.org/zürichsee-schwimmen-marathon-swim/previous-results/2015/    Maybe we will see you in Zurich August 7th 2016, for the next Lake Zurich Swim!

 

 

 

Third fastest legs in the world

I wrote earlier about the marathon career of my father (http://www.stutisheel.org/press/my-father-the-marathon-runner/). I wanted to share an update, as the last two years have been particularly bright in his sport life.

Following his principle, my father always selects one significant race to start the year, training for it and performing at his maximum. At other times, he occasionally participates in various short races – varying from 5 to 21 km in length.

In 2014, he chose the marathon at the European Masters Games in Turkey (age category 70- 74). As usual, he trained hardest in the last month before the race, running up to 155 km per week. Previously, my father’s only supplement was a multivitamin. Recently, however, I was able to introduce some useful supplements into his diet to help him recover faster after his runs. I tested out all these supplements at my 3100-mile race performances.

When my father arrived in Izmir, Turkey, a few days before the start of the race, he was stricken by the heat - 36 degrees Celsius. He was not prepared for that and I had no time to figure out a way to help him cope with it. According to the story my father told me after the race, the marathon went pretty well up to 35 km, when due to the great heat and dehydration, he started having cramps. He tried to cope with them by pricks of pins, which he salvaged from around his bib number … One cramp was pretty severe just in sight of the finish line… Can you imagine: you see the finish line but can hardly move! He managed to finish and overtook the second runner by 90 seconds. At the age of 73 my father, Dmytro Lebedev, became European champion with a time of 3:40:22.

2015. World Masters Athletics Championship in Lyon, France. 

I convinced my father to pay more attention to his heart rate during training and competition, so he bought a Garmin watch. By uploading his workouts to the internet he also gave me the opportunity to adjust the volume of his running and his nutrition regime. In previous years, he had counted the workout time based on the given distance and the approximate pace. Now the watch was measuring the distance and pace, and it turned out that he was running slower than he thought. As a result of the watch he was able to adjust his pace and run about 530 km in the last month of preparation. 

As the weather was hot in Lyon, we decided to make a special drink for the marathon, which contained salt, minerals and other components to support performance in the extreme heat. But on the day of the start, the temperature decreased to 23C, and weather conditions were pretty good for the race. My father finished third in his age group M70-74 with a time of 3:25:39. As he joked later - the third fastest legs in the world.

When he came to New York last August and we all met together it was especially touching to see how he inspires and encourages his granddaughter Alakananda in training for her first marathon. 

Photos:

1. Three generations: Dmytro Lebedev, Stutisheel, Alakananda. After 2 mile race, New York City.

2. Finishing Lyon Marathon

 

 

 

Brett Wilkins from DigitalJournal.com profiles Marathon Team founder Sri Chinmoy:

"Meditation has long been associated with spiritual awakening and deep relaxation, but we uncover the roots of a particular mode of meditation launched by Sri Chinmoy, an Indian spiritual guru whose meditative theories extended into the athletic world....These days, there is a lot of buzz around meditation and how it can improve a practitioner's quality of life. As mindfulness and other meditation-based practices have gone mainstream throughout the Western world, the meditative arts have crossed over from the realm of spirituality into countless other areas, including sports and physical fitness."

Read the full article on digitaljournal.com »

Starting in May of 1981, this race has an unbroken streak, except for one year, that now stretches back 35 years. It just may be the longest continually held 24-hour race in the world. For the past few years the race, which now also accommodates a 6 and 12 hour event, has been held in the Louis Riel dome. 49 participants came to take part this year on September 26 and the winner of the race won the Canadian 24 hour championship.

Here are some comments from participants:

“You get to see and run with folks you have seen before. That is the fun part. Running is fun. It gets a little less fun later on. The bear climbs on board and the fun factor is reduced. The people are still here and it is great running with other folks who are going through the same highs and lows. It is not like dog eat dog. If somebody is running well you encourage them, and if somebody is not running well you encourage them. It is great. Everybody is a winner. Anybody who has the guts to run for 6, 12, or 24 hours that is great. They are are demonstrating a fit lifestyle. They are challenging their own limitations."
Bruce

“I have only heard good things about this race. For many ultra runners it is kind of an institution. The people are always enjoyable. But also it is fun to just run and not think about anything for 24 hours. It is kind of like meditation."
Debra

“I have been doing long distance running for the past 33 years. The race organizers here are the top notch people in the world. You never know what is going to happen. It is such a long race, lots of things can happen. So you have to handle the demons. The demons go when you handle them properly. They are mental as well as physical.
Hans

It is incredible. There is a long term satisfaction doing the race and knowing that you can. But the feeling you get, even when you don’t do well. The last hour or so when you are on the track there is a feeling and energy that comes that is just incredible. You can only experience it by doing it. The bad thing from the beginning is that you have to the other 23 hours to feel that last hour."
Sue 

“I am doing it this year because I just turned 70. I wanted to do one as a 70 year old. It will probably be my last ultra. My goal is to always stay on the track and keep moving. It doesn’t matter how slow I am. It is just about participation. I think the real race is the human race. I think all the years of running and being active improves my life in general. To get the most out of it you have to move. Be active. Doing something. Get excited about something.”
Paul

“The vision behind this race is incredible. How could Sri Chinmoy, at the time (35 years ago) have envisioned to seed 24 hour races all around the world. There were tons of them. That was one of the starts of the ultra world. People did not know at the time the potential of human beings to do long races like this, and Sri chinmoy saw that. He made it happen. Look at this. It is continuing. Good people. You can see, we are having fun.”
Darika

"This is a beautiful race because there are beautiful people here."
Kimberley