Pangkor Island New Year's Challenge

About the author:

Nirbhasa is originally from Ireland but currently lives in Reykjavik, Iceland. He is an enthusiastic multi-day runner, having completed four times the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race - the longest race in the world.

The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team marked the beginning of 2011 in fine fashion with a 17 kilometer race around the circumference of beautiful Pangkor Island in Malaysia.

23 intrepid runners lined up for the start of the race, which made its way clockwise along the shoreline, quickly entering lush jungle territory. The first challenge came only a few minutes into the race in the form of a rather monstrous hill that even the motorcycles and taxis servicing the island have trouble getting over. For many of the runners, the next half an hour or so was spent recovering from that hill!

The race continued downhill into populated territory, past the famous Kaliamman Temple where SCMT founder Sri Chinmoy had given a concert in 2005 and where just the previous evening a plaque had been erected in memory of that visit, before going into Pankgor town itself.

At this stage, the race was being led by our Dutch marathon champion Abhinabha Tangerman (fresh from a 2:27 PB in the Amsterdam Marathon), with Italian Giovanni Amantea surprisingly close on his tails following a strong performance on the hills - however some directional issues on Giovanni's part led to a gap opening up between the two runners. The runners were greeted by business as usual in Pangkor town - shopekeepers setting up stalls and motorcycles scuttling to and fro (New Years day isn't quite the holiday in Malaysia it is in other places). The run then made its way up the western half of the island, back into jungle territory and a few more hills, cheered on by the various monkeys who had turned out to watch the race.

Ultimately, the race was won by Abhinabha in a time of 66 minutes, with Giovanni finishing second in a time of 72 minutes. Pradeep Hoogaker made it two Dutchmen in the top 3 with a time of 74 minutes, with Udayachal Senkyr from the Czech Republic performing strongly to finish a couple of minutes behind, and our women's champion Jayasalini Abramovskikh from Moscow coming on only 30 seconds later to finish in a time of 76 minutes. The most satisfying aspect of the race was how strong the entire field was - race director Rupantar LaRusso had allowed a cutoff time of 3 hours, but everyone finished well within 2 hours. Such was the joy that we got from that race that the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team is now planning to make a New Year's challenge race every year, wherever we happen to find ourselves at the time. Here's to more fun-filled New Year races in the future!!

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.

In the 27th edition of the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence Race, Tswi Wen-Ya attained a new women's world record for the 3100 Mile Race, in a time of 45 days +12:28:44. The diminutive runner from Taiwan, overcame tiredness, heavy rain and numerous physical challenges to set this remarkable new record which involved running an average of 68 miles for 45 days straight. After a short victory celebration, she continued to set a new world record for 5,000km in a time of 45 days +14:56:42.

The race saw fourteen runners take to the start line, and each runner had their own unique experience of self-transcendence. The first place finisher was Andrea Marcato from Italy. it was his fourth consecutive 1st place in the 3100 Mile Race and comes after an amazing year which included two ten day races and other ultra-distance events. His time of 43 days+13:33:23 was not a personal record, but he joins the Finnish men's world record holder Ashprihanal Aalto for being the only runner with four consecutive first places.

Another notable achievement was 2nd place, Lo Wei-Ming (Taiwan) who covered 17 of the last 19 days in 71+ miles, including 14 days over 72.4 and 74.3 miles, with two days wrangling 79.4 miles. He averaged 68.343 miles/ 109.986 km per day. He then completed the 13 extra laps needed to reach 5000km in a sparkling time of 45 days+ 11:16:51. These top personal results are National records and Asian records.

The race was inspired by Sri Chinmoy who saw distance running as a unique challenge to bring to the fore all the inner and outer resources of the competitor. Sri Chinmoy taught the real goal was not the outer accomplishment, but the inner progress which can come from transcending our previous capacities, and remaining cheerful whatever happens during the race.

“We compete not for the sake of defeating others, but in order to bring forward our own capacity. Our best capacity comes forward only when there are other people around us. They inspire us to bring forward our utmost capacity, and we inspire them to bring forward their utmost capacity”

– Sri Chinmoy

The race inspired many people who both took part, but also who came to help or cheer on the runners. This video gives an insight into the thoughts, feelings and experiences of the runners

3100 Mile Race Feature on US National Public Radio

3100 Mile Race Featured on NPR

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About the author:

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.