Celebrating the Marathon- 30 Years

Today is March 3 as I write this post, the 30th Anniversary of Sri
Chinmoy running his first marathon in Chico, California. Little did we
know at the time that he would run 21 more marathons in four years and
two ultra-marathons as well.

Here in New York, last Saturday, we celebrated this auspicious day with
a marathon race in the morning and a function in the evening. The
marathon started at 7:00 a.m. and went around Jamaica High School, up
the hills like the 2-mile race does. With two hills on every lap and
almost 31 laps, that means 61 hills and a cold headwind to make things a
bit more challenging.

But the conditions did not dampen the spirits of almost 50 people who
came out to celebrate this most meaningful event. Five men and nine
women completed the full marathon, solo, and more than twenty other
runners ran stages of the marathon as part of relay teams.

"God-realisation
Is
a solo run."

"God-manifestation
is
A relay run"

Sri Chinmoy

There were also quite a few people who came out to help or just watch,
share in the inspiration of the event and offer their encouragement even
though the cold wind was sometimes a bit discouraging.

I must say that of all the races I have done around this school over the
years this is one of the most memorable. At the start of the race we
sang the song, ‘My Own Gratitude Heart’. I announced that
this event is not so much of a race as it is just a long offering of
gratitude for the fact that Sri Chinmoy would actually attempt such an
endeavor at age 47 and keep it up for years to come. During the long
hours of the race one could really feel not only a sense of gratitude
but an energy which inspired many of us to run longer or faster than we
had thought we could under these conditions. Though the body may feel
tired or suffer in some ways during such a long run, the heart
definitely felt joy, happiness and peace. In the words of the last of
Sri Chinmoy's many marathon songs written over the years:

“Marathon is an unimaginable joy experience of the heart.
Marathon is an unbearable suffering experience of the body, vital and
the mind.”

In this case the joy experience alleviated some of the suffering so it
was not too unbearable for me and others, I am sure.

Since many of us considered it more of a gratitude offering than a race
I do not want to mention the finishing times nor the order of finishers.
I am even considering getting this regular marathon that we have been
doing for years here in New York called ‘The Gratitude
Marathon’. Gratitude is the only word I can think of for all the
inspiration and encouragement that I and many others received and still
are receiving from Sri Chinmoy in our running lives, especially those of
us who are still running marathons.

In the evening function we celebrated by singing five of Sri
Chinmoy's marathon songs including the one mentioned above. The
first song, which was written in September of 1977, is the most powerful
and familiar of the marathon songs. The words are:

"Marathon, Marathon, Marathon,

Eternity's dawn!

O kindling, streaming flames

Of great Olympic Games,

O Greece-world vision-height,

Cosmos-oneness-delight!

Humanity's transcendence-race,

Divinity's supreme Grace."

The other songs were:
"Twenty-six miles I am running,Smiling, dancing, no crying. I am
a marathon runner:Body's ignorance-hunter.” “I am running
a marathon.Self-pity, self-doubt, all gone. The golden Goal is beckoning
me.I am now ecstasy-flood-sea.”
“My Supreme, My Supreme, My Supreme,

Marathon I run, marathon I run, marathon.

To be the smile of Your Infinity's Dawn.

I must say that running for me has something in common with poetry and
music. Especially in the simple way that Sri Chinmoy writes some of his
most inspiring poems and songs, one can feel the energy and the rhythm
which can carry you along in a run or a race, especially the marathon.

Sri Chinmoy also wrote many stories about his running experiences, both
in training and racing. A few troupes of actors and actresses performed
some of these most amusing stories at this function after the songs. One
can find these stories at this link if you want true inspiration and
entertainment as well as enlightenment in the running world:
http://www.srichinmoylibrary.com/search?SearchableText=Run+and+Become

I know that many other Centres have celebrated this most auspicious
anniversary in one way or another. Anyone who wants to share that with
us here can post something brief if they are inspired, or let me know
and I can post it. I recently received an email about Milan, Italy where
20 runners braved the cold rain to run a very inspiring marathon last
weekend. I also heard that about 20 runners in California were running
the Napa Valley Marathon which is the former Chico Marathon that Sri
Chinmoy ran as his first marathon 30 years ago. I am sure we all would
love to hear a report about that experience. I think it would have been
quite a bit warmer than most of the other races some of us experienced
this past weekend.

To conclude in a meaningful and illuming way I wish to offer the words
of another poem by Sri Chinmoy which is at once enlightening and
illumining, offering us a true sense of the real value of the marathon
and its relationship to the spiritual life.

"The spiritual life is a marathon,

An inner marathon which never ends.

The Supreme is begging

All His seeker-children

To be excellent runners-

To run speedily, like deer-

In this eternal inner journey."

Sri Chinmoy

In Gratitude to Guru-(The Supreme Marathoner),

Arpan