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photo by Jowan
The mercury did not top triple digits, but eight men crossed the 60 mile barrier on a generally warm summer day. Atmavir P. Spacil led all comers with 65.85 laps, while three had 64.75, including the overall leader, Asprihanal Aalto, who had missed a day due to overall fatigue. Three made it past halfway during the halfway-Day 26: Dharbhasana Lynn-25 days+13:52:27; Baladev P. Saraz-25 days+14:06:27; and Ananda-Lahari Zuscin-25 days+16:05:04. It appears Stutisheel Lebedyev may be out of the race due to a torn ligament in his knee.

photo by Arpan

As this observer has noted the courageous endeavors of the runners, all are subject to the intense weather elements without exception. The race leader Asprihanal Aalto was forced to sit a day with symptoms of heat stroke and dehydration – he even had two bags of IV fluid taken in to ensure a speedy recovery. He is hopeful to return to the fray Thursday. Meanwhile, Atmavir Petr Spacil has had a good recovery from weakness with a solid 64.75 mile day to lead the pack through the intense heat today as the heatwave has yet to break up. Galya V. Balatskyy was a close second for the day with 64.20 and remains third overall. And the ever relentless Pranjal Milovnik hovers in second place only 10 miles behind Asprihanal. To a man,or woman, they all miss Asprihanal and hope he can bounce back – soon.

photo by Jowan

Only four runners were able to move past 60 miles on this most difficult day. Asprihanal Aalto and Dharbhasana Lynn both challenged the vertical expansion of mercury by running 65.85 and 64.20 miles, respectively, as the race progressed through another hot day. The runners sensed it would be wiser to back off and not risk being battered by the sun so lower mileage and lesser expectations were in order. We have not had a heat wave of this difficulty since the 1999 race.

photo by Nandana
With the temps reaching 99ºF, our band of merry warriors continued on to the work at hand. Asprihanal Aalto ran 65.30 to lead the way, closely followed by Dharbhasana Lynn, with 63.66 and Pranjal Milovnik with 63.11 miles. Only five men made it past 60 miles- one has to be extra careful on extreme days like this to not topple the applecart, so to speak. Ice cubes on the head, a little extra salt with food, and tissue salts with water a few times throughout the day were first steps to surviving the heat-wave in progress. With possibly four more brutal days, we shall see what happens …

photo by Jowan
On a sweltering Fourth of July, Asprihanal Aalto and Pranjal Milovnik made the most of their talents whilst keeping in good form without breaking down. Asprihanal ran 68.6 miles, and Pranjal 68.05 as the field had six runners top 60 miles with the mercury sizzling to 94ºF. The top eight are still in the plus side of the battle for laps and average miles in order to finish. Asprihanal leads all with 70.29 miles per day average (113.13 km). The five day forecast does not look promising but our heroes will find a way to get it done.

photo by Arpan

Pranjal Milovnik was the Day 21 leader with 69.69 miles. Only five runners made it past sixty miles as the temps climbed to the mid nineties. Asprihanal Aalto still leads overall with 1477.91 miles, averaging 70.45 miles per day (113.45 KM).

Wow, here we are on day 21-three whole weeks and everybody is still alive and ticking along.  Today seems unusually quiet, probably because it is the 4^th of July long weekend.  All the runners have passed the 1000mile mark- already an amazing feat.  And today Dharbhasana needed a little something unusual to spice up his merry-go-round.

Two typical American school buses park themselves in front of the school everyday in between their many daily duties.  From driving kids to and from school, posing for photos, or in Dharbhasana’s case, a driver’s seat to another world; they await the opportunity to serve.  I guess there is just something about these big yellow machines that give us good feelings inside-maybe reminding us of childhood in one way or another.

Along with the magic school buses, there are several other little distractions exposing themselves throughout the most foot traveled city block in the world.  I’ve seen Pushkar brush his hand several times along the same swooping branch of a pine tree, Pranjal jiggle the same latch on a gate and Asprihanal, Dharbhasana and Surasa spin the prayer wheel- the top of a fire hydrant.  It just shows you how possible it is to find things to focus on or look forward to on a seemingly tedious journey.  Now, to remember this in my own life…

photo by ArpanFor one day, any runner can be the hero and lead the others. Today, three men came in with 68.05 miles – Asprihanal Aalto, Pranjal Milovnik, and Petr Spacil all landed with 124 laps. Meanwhile, seven men bested 60 miles on a warm but pleasant afternoon as the mercury eased towards the mid-eighties.

photo by Arpan
Asprihanal Aalto notched his sixth straight day of 70+ miles run with a neat 71.344 mile excursion around the ‘block’. Petr Spacil regained form after a two-day lapse cost him second place by running 70.79 miles to tie for third overall. Eight runners ran past 60 miles today . Purna-Samarpan Querhammer and Surasa Mairer both went past the 1000 mile split.

1000 miles- Purna-Samarpan Querhammer 18 days+03:14:11
1000 miles- Surasa Mairer 18 days +10:32:18.

photo by Arpan
It cooled off nicely for our merry band of thrill-seeker runners as they are negotiating their way through the third week of high-mileage running. Asprihanal Aalto again led the way with 71.344 miles as the weather reminded him of summers in Finland along the fjords and flatlands of Scandinavia. Pranjal Milovnik again excelled with 67.5 miles to secure second place overall. In all, nine of the Elevatin’ Eleven passed 60 miles or more today.