On a mostly sunny day in the mid-eighties, Czech Republican Atmavir Peter Spacil separated himself from first-day leader Ananda-Lahari Zuscin by running 73.53 miles. The Slovakian could only muster 67.5 to hold on to second place. Yuri Trostenyuk was the only other runner to reach 70 miles today, yet nine of the dozen stayed above 60 miles once again. Surasa Mairer led the ladies with a solid 65.8 miles. Eleven of the starting 12 are on daily pace, but the race has 49 days left, enough for a lifetime of ups and downs, discoveries and dilemmas. This is the essence of sport, and ultimately life. It is how we live and respond that makes life meaningful, and sport temporarily useful. Tomorrow is another day, another chance…to move forward.
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Day 2: Two Men at the Top
After trailing Slovakian Ananda-Lahari Zuscin by a scant lap after one day, Atmavir Petr Spacil reversed the favor and tied Mr Zuscin with the same number laps after two days. Both men stand at 159.70 miles, just shy of 80 miles a day. Vasu Duzhiy remained in third with another 72+ mile day. Yuri Trostenyuk from Ukraine pulled into fourth place with a fine 71.89 miles. He is averaging 76 miles per day. Ashprihanal Aalto stands in fifth place, an unlikely position, but given his all-time great performance last year, he gets a flyer from this observer. His legs don’t have the spring and his astounding long-distance resume predicts a little more human level of performance. He is still averaging 72+ miles a day.
Austrian Surasa Mairer climbed within one lap of Kaneenika Janakova of Slovakia with a fine 64.21 mile day. Both ladies are averaging 67 miles per day. Watch out fellas!
In all, eight runners passed the 60 mile mark, with the top four men cresting 70+.
The hazy sunshine gave way to bright skies in the middle of the day, as the summer solstice arrived in New York just after 6:00PM EDT. Have a great summer, oh Northern Hemisphere.
Day 1 The start
Twelve courageous runners stepped up to the start line and moved forward precisely at 6:00am as a crowd of 200 people watched the beginning of the 20th Annual Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race today. The setting is the same .5488 mile(883.2079 meters) concrete sidewalk near a vocational school, playground and athletic field used for the previous 20 summers (the forerunner of this race-the 2700 Mile Race, used the exact same course in 1996.
The men’s and women’s record holders headlined a strong field from seven countries.
The race employs a mandatory 6-hour curfew at midnight. After the first 18 hours, Ananda-Lahari Zuscin from Slovakia led the pack with 85.51 miles, a scant one lap ahead of Czech Republican and eight-time finisher Atmavir Peter Spacil. Russian Vasu Duzhiy who finished third last year was third again today, with 13-time finisher and world leader Ashprihanal Aalto comfortably in fourth, tied with three-time finisher Yuri Trostenyuk. The top five men total an amazing 33 finishes of the world’s longest certified race.
The distaff side was led by Kannenika Janakova of Slovakia with 75.18 miles, good for sixth overall as well. Three-time finisher and women’s record holder Surasa Mairer of Austria was sitting at 70.24 miles. Shamita Achenbach-Konig was third with 66.95 miles for the ladies.
Day 52
Thirty-three year old Jayasalini Olga Abramovskikh reached the 3100 mile finish line in
51 days+12:30:32 to become second woman and eighth finisher in the race. The tall Russian was gracious for her inspired handlers, friends and well-wishers. The remaining six athletes stayed the course to see what they could do before midnight.
Thanks, friends for following our little race around the block. May the wind always be at your back.
Day 51: Two More Make It In
Sarah Barnett from Adelaide Australia finished first woman and sixth place overall in the 3100 mile race today for a personal best distance(3100=50 days+03:55:08). Sarah averaged 61.802 miles per day(99.46 km). She is now second-ranked woman in race history. Nearly 12 hours later William Sichel from Sanday,Orkney Islands Scotland reached perhaps the pinnacle of his running career by completing 3100 miles in 50 days+15:06:04. William fell below the needed minimum on Day 19 by 71+ miles. He rallied and ran well from that point on to average 61.233 miles(98.545 km) per day. He is the first man over 60 years old to ever complete the 3100 miler.
Day 50: Two At The Rail
With only 27 laps to go Australian Sarah Barnett stands to win the ladies crown and sixth place overall on Monday morning. She has had a very good race to this point and is averaging 61.71 miles per day(99.30 km). Probably 12 hours later, Scotsman William Sichel will glide past 3100 miles and into the history books as the first man over sixty to ever finish this difficult race. On sunday he ran another impressive 65.3 miles to get into position to finish. He needs only 105 laps(57.62 miles) to reach his dream goal.
Day 49: A Tireless Pioneer
Stutisheel Lebedyev finished his eighth 3100 mile race in ten attempts with a personal best of 48 days+03:57:19, which averages to 64.36 miles per day(103.58 km). He moved from 20th ranked up to 16th with this fine effort. He was the fifth finisher so far in the world’s longest, continuous ultra marathon. Sarah Barnett moved to within 78 miles of finishing- probably Monday morning,late. William Sichel of Scotland is promising to finish monday evening with a flurry of activity from his arsenal of running tricks. Jayasalini Olga Abramovskikh is still on pace to finish on the last day.
Day 48: Two More In
Forty-nine year old Vasu Duzhiy of St. Petersburg Russia finished 3100 miles in a time of 47 days+04:24:27. This was his third consecutive finish and second podium position, and a personal best as well, by over an hour. Later in the evening Pranjal Milovnik, the Iron Man with the heart of a lion, finished his tenth straight 3100 miler in fourth place overall(3100 miles= 47 days+13:44:06). Pranjal joins the elite level of finishers who have gone past 31,000 miles in their careers here- around the world and then some. Only Ashprihanal Aalto of Finland and Suprabha Beckjord of the USA have more completions. Stutisheel Lebedyev is set to finish Saturday morning with only 36 laps to go. All Joy.
Day 47:Second Finisher In
Yuri Trostenyuk from Vinnitsa, Ukraine finished second overall in the Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race. He took over four and a half days off his previous time to reach the goal in 46 days+14:16:05, an average of 66.535 miles per day(107.078 km). He moves up the rankings from 27th place to ninth place as a result of this fine performance. Vasu Duzhiy should finish at 11:00 am on Friday thanks to a strong 74.63 miles. He only needs 41 laps(22.5 miles). Slovakian Pranjal Milovnik should finish just before dinner-time as well. He needs 90 laps (49.39 miles) to complete the journey.
Day 46: Getting Closer
Stutisheel Lebedyev led the terrific thirteen through their paces with 70.79 miles today as Day leader. Yuri Trostenyuk needs only 56.5 more miles(103 laps) to bag his second 3100 Mile finish on Thursday evening. This one will be worth seeing as he is primed to slice several days off of his finish time from last year. William Sichel rattled off another 68.6 mile day to move into seventh position and onto the ‘Big Board’, -the scoreboard with the placards of the runners who will all finish the race. Six days remain and the amazing weather has been holding onto our region. Eight or nine runners will finish, many with personal bests. Stay tuned…