The following blog is by Mark Dorian. Photos by Arpan;
I must have missed the Friday visit of Larry Phillips and Family by mere hours, as I got out to the famous loop around Edison School and Austin Park at about 9 p.m. It was raining steadily but the temperatures were pleasant, and I put in a few enjoyable laps with Sundar Dalton (the Irish poet, also well-known NY hair stylist) and 3100 racer Purna-Samarpan O. Querhammer. I chatted with old friend and race leader Asprihanal P.
Aalto, and then surprised him by placing a realistic-looking skunk (a gift for him, as I know he enjoys the wildlife in ultras) under his food and gear table.
My joke on Aalto was quickly returned by Atmavir Petr Spacil, who hid in the dark shadows of a large maple tree and then lurched out at me with a scream! I jumped, then laughed.
While all this joking and chatting was going on, the Ukrainian “Torrid Twosome” of
Sarvagata Ukrainskyi and Igor Mudryck were churning out laps in the 6:00 range (10:30>11:00 per mile pace)– this as they neared 2,000 miles of day-after day running. I estimate that on the downhills Sarvagata was cruising at 9:00 per mile pace, or even faster. Whether on TV or in an actual ultra race, many of us have seen great athletes when they are “in the zone.” While I ran the reverse direction on the loops for many laps (so as to clap and cheer each runner), the straight-ahead, intense focus on Sarvagata’s face had me wondering if he even noticed I was there.
I helped race directors Sahishnu, Bipin and Vajra fold tables and chairs and clean up the start-finish zone (basically, each night right after midnight most equipment is stacked in the vans and RV and driven back to the RD’s homes, only to be delivered back to the race site a mile away at about 5:30 a.m.). After many errands and some business (including meeting with Guinness-world record holder legend Ashrita Furman regarding an upcoming record-attempt) in NYC Saturday morning, I started running a bit after 2 p.m. I intended to put in about 6 miles at a good pace, then hop in the car to hightail it back to Vermont and summer camp, but before I knew it I was lured into many, many more miles at all sorts of paces by the great stories, jokes, and intellectual discussions of Purna-Samarpan, Ananda-Lahari Zuscin, Utpal Marshall, Pradeep Hoogaker and others.Â
Pradeep (in his first 3100) told me what I have heard so many other racers in this super-long event tell me over the years– the first week to 10 days was the hardest, and now after the halfway point (days 27/28) he actually felt better. This is the classic case of the athlete’s physical and mental condition adapting to the day-after-day racing.
Wherever you are and whatever you are doing in the next few days, think about these runners who are out there at 6 a.m. in New York, starting sleepily and then pushing the pace throughout the heat of the day and onto into night.
And remember to watch out for skunks/
Best wishes,
Mark Dorion