Day 50

Asprihanal Aalto finished this afternoon at 4:30.


The temperatures have cooled for the last few days and the runners can see the finish line from afar though some will be out there for some time to come.

Day 49

Server problems beyond my control have been preventing me from updating this journal but now it looks like those problems have been resolved.

Srdjan Stojanovich, 42, from Nish, Serbia-Montenegro wins the 2005 Self Transcendence 3100 mile race in 46 days+10:51:16.

Day 45

The Server is down unfortunately so this is a draft.

Hot day again but somehow we seem to be able to deal with it. Srdjan is closing in on the goal - as we all are - and will finish on Thursday. Asprihanal predicts he will finish late on Sunday night.

Day 42

Another good day for me. Finished with 104. Fingers crossed for tomorrow. Weather is good. Humidity is ok.

Using Brookes Beast shoes for the next few days.

Day 41

Martin Milovnik

Interesting day in many ways. Received a little package from friends in Cardiff - many thanks to Fran, Roger, Steph and the crew at Run and Become. Squeezed pasr Robert to move up a place in the leaderboard, saw Ultrarunning magazine and my first article in that august publication is an interview I did with Dipali and finally forced Trishul to take the Bronze as I win the day in the CG.

Day 40

Rainald Pobitzer

Another hot day ads the heatwave continues but today went over 2100 and now have some 990 miles left - a three figure number. The long countdown has begun. Srdjan will probably finish next Thursday and Asprihanal has some 9 days to go. The end is in sight at last.

Day 39

Robert is having a great first race despite his current injury.

Scraped into 92 laps again today. Tough day led to a massage from Vajra, treatment with Dr. Li and spiritual blessings from the race founder, Sri Chinmoy, who came by and practised playing his Blue Violin.
Humidity is down a little and plenty of blue sky. Srdjan has about a week or so to go. Suprabha reaches 2000 tomorrow.
Also have to thank Vijaya and Ahelee for their compassionate understanding.

Day 38

Tsvetan's post coffee smile

Hot hot hot!!! And humid. But no rain.
Today hit the 2000 mile point for the third time in my life. At the current rate I will need 59 days to finish 3100 miles.

Day 37

Asprihanal about to perform his Parrot impression

Hot and humid and something of a recovery day.
The race has stabilised into a holding pattern after 5 weeks and the days still seem to pass fairly quickly and we are begining to think of post race activities again.

Day 36

Stutisheel and his daughter Nastia

Very humid day today. Overcast almost the whole day and a T-storm that began at 7:30 a.m. and finished at 10: a.m.
Not wanting to run during the storm, I walked and by noon was under target. However the afternoon improved somehow and I hit 70 laps by 6:p.m. and finished the day with 104 laps which is just over 57 miles for the day.

Nick Palazzo came by in the evening having just returned from Vermont 100 mile race and said that Ritchie Innormorato will be holding his last race later in the year: a 100 miler run over the 3 days of a weekend in 3 parks in New York City.
Checkout the New York Ultra scene for more info

Day 35

Sri Chinmoy looks at the daily results with Ted Corbitt and Race Director Rupantar LaRusso

94 laps again today. We will see in the morning how everyone fared today. Suprabha looks like she will take 61-62 days to finish at her current pace and I should finish 2 days prior to that if I maintain my current pace. Trishul has worked out to the minute when he'll be done.

Weather was great today - mid 80's.

Chanakhya's blog

Day 33

Stutisheel hit the 2000 mile mark today and Srdjan has already dropped into the 3 digit zone: the long countdown has begun though it is still a long way off for us backpackers.

People have been bringing their violins out to the race to practice and to play for the runners which has been an elevating experience and no end of help.

Day 32

Darticus, Trishul and Karen

I didn't mention Dr.John Rousseau who kindly dropped by the race yesterday and gave me a Chiropractic treatment. Also, later in the afternoon Dr. Pradhan Balter arrived from Chicago for a few days and we are very grateful for his time and energy.
Tonight I finished 93 laps just before the end and I was very happy. I'll take what I can.

Today's weather was good.
Current shoes: Brookes Beast and NB 854 Activa

Day 32

Cool temps and T-storms and a particularly difficult morning finally amount to 92 laps. Srdjan hits 2100 and Asprihanal reaches 2000 miles.
Its getting harder to write...

Day 31

Chanakhya and myself.

Having a helper makes a big difference and I have been very fortunate in having Chanakhya to help in the evenings. Chanakhya has his own blog - the life of an Englishman in New York.

Today was a mix of stories.
Temps were cool after a warm start.

Day 30

This is how the start looks every other morning.

Today was fairly hot. Srdjan continues his tremendous progress with Asprihanal in second. Today I only managed 96 laps but thats ok. Went over 1600. Each day seems to be moving quickly now. Ted came out again this a.m.

Kamalakanta Nieves came and spoke to some of the people involved in the race and this can be heard on the Radio Sri Chinmoy site

Day 29

Suprabha Beckjord

Today was another improvement for me as I hit 100 laps again and also today there was the halfway point at 1550 miles.
Temps were great today but we are all watching to see what happens with Hurricane Dennis in the next few days.
A local resident who has been supporting us for years brought us corn on the cob today. "First pickings" said 92 year old George.

Day 28

Finally I figured out how to put pictures here. This is the Indian festival last Saturday that kept us entertained all day.
The weather was almost perfect today and we had a close shave with a T-storm and escaped with a light shower.
Yesterdays 80 laps improved to 92 today - still slow but re-inforcements have arrived from our Czech, Slovakian and British friends who are extremely generous. Many thanks.

Tim Kourounis dropped by today to say hello. Tim is one of the most dedicated ultrarunners I know. He travels all over the USA and abroad running ultras.

Day 27

Heavy rain for most of the day affected most of the runners if not all. However the clock never stops and the goal commands ever and anon. The days seem to be gathering speed and passing quickly.
Temperatures are very cool.

Day 26

Rathin, Martin and I all hit 1400 miles within 20 miutes of each other today. Remarkable feat. Weather was cool and overcast for most of the day and began raining on the last lap tonight, just before midnight. Three people have also gone over the mid-point of the race.
Ted Corbitt came by the race again today as did Dipali. Its nice to have visitors.

The forecast for tomorrow is heavy rain from a tropical storm...

Our hearts go out to the dead and injured in London.

Day 25 - Energy Management

Today was tough. Had no energy in my legs for most of the day and I was in the position of wonderingwhat to do about it. Should I wait for the energy to come back or am I just being lazy and should try and push through it? Ordinairily the rule is not to push as this can lead to a more challenging situation and just sit it out and hope that the energy returns sooner rather than later. However this takes a lot of patience and faith. I decided to wait and sure enough, at 10:00 tonight it came surging back in time for me to make it to 100 laps.
It made it a long day though and I was last to leave tonight and had my first minor hallucination of the race. I thought I saw Asprihanal in front of me and he turned to me speaking and just vanished into the air.

It was very humid all day today and we had rain on my last lap tonight. Asprihanal went over the halfway point today.

Day 24 - The Commonwealth Championships

We updated the table today. Trishul (Canada) leads with 58 points, Abichal(Wales) is second with 45 points and Rathin (Australia) has 44 points.
Asprihanal has an ankle problem that kept him to 109 laps tonight. Pranab has shin splints again and Martins shoe worries continue as he tries to find a store that has size 13 4e shoes. Only one little shower today.

Day 23

A very quiet day in the 'hood. Temps were moderate and most runners had good days in cheerful spirits. I managed 105 laps which is 57 miles. Asprihanal took the days honours I think. He was hammering around with Tsvetan in the latter part of the evening while Srdjan has a few blisters from yesterday.
Ted Corbitt came to the race today.

Day 22

Today the runners were entertained by several thousand Indians who gathered for a small festival in the baseball field we circle all day and everyday and most people seemed to run a little farther. The weather is still good. Srdjan is having an amazing race. He is moving so strongly.

Day 21 - Three Weeks Already

I began the day with a new pair of shoes after finishing the previous night in a very worn down pair which had made my legs ache considerably. New shoes are usually traumatic to the feet and legs - there is an adjustment period while muscles, tendons and ligaments re-align themselves to the new situation. This is why it's good to change shoes every few hours so that sore spots don't develop.
By 10 a.m. I was exhausted and ground to a halt and had to take a break, after which I thought my day had been wrecked as I still had a lot of discomfort. But as the morning wore on, I was able to keep some sort of pace. The day finished on an excellent note, not only did I hit 100 but am not too beat-up. It seemed impossible earlier on and now seems to be a minor miracle.

The weather is perfect.

Weight: 178 lbs

Day 20 - Almost 3 Weeks Already

Pranab and Martin are extremely grateful to their friends in Zlijn for responding so generously to their shoe plight. It is remarkable that a new pair of shoes can be worn out in just 3 days.

So today with lower temperatures the running was a little easier for most people especially for Rathin who had an excellent day and earned his 3 Commonwealth points and Srdjan is still powering away at the top of the board.

I would like to offer thanks to Dr. Pradan Balter who flew in from Chicago for a few days to straigthen us out. He left today and hopefully will be back in 10 days or so. I have also been wanting to offer my appreciation to the race staff who work tirelessly to keep us happy and moving.