photo by Arpan
Petr Spacil and Grahak Cunningham both tied with highest mileage today at 70.24 miles. Petr crossed the 2000 mile threshold earlier in 29 days+09:24:20. Asprihanal Aalto was back on the track in fair form reaching 63.11 miles.Vladimir Balatskyy of the Ukraine took sole possession of fifth place with an excellent 68.05 mile day. In all seven men pushed across the barrier of 60+ miles on a day when breezy sunny conditions prevailed.
Category: Articles
Flower Power
The day before the 3100 mile race started, Diganta, one of the runners, was inspired to plant flowers in various locations around the course. Although some of the flowers did not survive it inspired some of the helpers to start planting more flowers in locations suitable to sustain their growth.
Niriha and Arpita, who is visiting from Scotland, spent much time and money purchasing and planting flowering plants of many varieties. I and a few others volunteered to water them daily as they need to survive the summer heat, especially when first put in the ground. Luckily it has not been extremely hot of late, but our flowering friends still need their daily dose of H2O to keep all the runners and spectators feeling colorful and happy.
Oh, Those Feet!
photo by Jowan
| So, as we enter the 21st day of the race, and our last runner has passed the 1000 mile mark, one question must be asked of each of these heroes of the road: are you happy with your feet?
Suprabha: “So far, I am happy with my feet.” Wow! Revealing answers from our runners! |
Why Run 3100 Miles?
Two of the most common questions asked at the 3100 mile race are: Why? and What do the runners eat?
The eating requirements are easy to answer, see what runners eat. However, the question of why anyone would want to run a 3100 mile race is not so easy to answer. In fairness it can only really be answered by those who have actually completed the distance. The furthest I have run is a 7 mile cross country race, which I very nicely came last. That is another story, but suffice to say I am not the most qualified person to answer why people run 3100 miles. Nevertheless it is an intriguing question. On the face of it, running a 3100 mile race has many challenges:
- 2 months without working.
- Innumerable blisters and other physical ailments
- The weather: Hot, humid weather and thunderstorms.
- Lack of sleep. Runners run from 6am up until 12pm midnight.
- A good pair of running shoes can be worn out after just 10 days of running.
However, despite the difficulties inherent in such a race, it also touches a deep seated aspiration for self transcendence. There is no human who has not, at some time, aspired to achieve something better, more fulfilling than previously.
Women’s Distance Running and the 3100 Mile Race
In 1928, in the first year of women’s track and field events being allowed into the Olympics, 3 women collapsed in the 800 metres. Because of this it was felt by the authorities it was not safe for women to participate in events greater than 200 metres.
As a consequence, up until 1960, the longest distance for female runners at the Olympic Games was 200 metres. The idea of women running a marathon was at best frowned upon, but at worst was deemed to be medically dangerous. Women were placed in a catch 22 situation. They weren’t allowed to run, because it was thought marathon running was not safe. But, because they couldn’t run, they were unable to prove they could.
However, a few intrepid female runners ignored conventional wisdom to show that women could run respectable marathon times.
One of the early women marathon pioneers was Roberta Gibb; she sneaked into the Boston Marathon in 1966 and finished with an unofficial time of 3:21.25. When she entered a year later, officials forced her off course so she couldn’t get an official time.
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