Chippewa Triathlon June 7th, 2003

Chippewa Triathlon June 7th, 2003.

In northern Minnesota by the headwaters of the Mississippi river in what is called the Lake country is a beautiful canoeing triathlon. This triathlon is for everyone to test their skills and limits. You can do as much or as little as you want. There are different divisions depending on if you want to solo: canoe, bike, and run by yourself. Men's, woman's, or mixed doubles: canoe as a team and then split up and compete against each other in the bike and run, or team division: teams of two to six can break up the event any way they want.

This year there were 111 boats at the start with over 300 participants. The weather was threatening rain and many participants remember the 1998 race when the bike and running trails were a foot deep or more in water in many places. Many of us drove up from Minneapolis on the Friday before the race this year with it raining and pouring all the way up. Fifteen miles west of Cass Lake where the race starts my wipers were on high and traffic was slowing down, the rain was coming down so hard. By the time I got to the Cass Lake High School for registration the rain was now a drizzle and the ground was dry. This weather pattern is very typical of northern Minnesota, so it's hard to trust the weatherman.

Each year the local community comes out in force to help out with the race, they make this race one of the best run races I have done. The main organizer Jack Gustafson likes to change things up each year by changing the route a bit to add as he puts it"interesting experiences". The pre-race dinner of all you can eat spaghetti is filled with greeting other racers who you haven't seen in a year, and sizing up the new comers. There is much talk of the weather, the track conditions, and the new route. We all talk about what wheels we will bike on, depending on the conditions and how to handle the portages with the low water level. All in all we never know until we get out there how things are going to go, but we talk about it anyway.

The race starts at 7:00 in a bay in Cass Lake and heads out away from shore around some buoys and back under a bridge and through some narrows. The goal in canoeing is always to breakout fast to get ahead of the pack so that the wakes caused by the other boats don't slow you down or, tip you over. All the canoes are lined up between two buoys positioned in the bay. A NE wind is blowing causing the waves to hit the boats squarely on the side. The wind is making it hard to keep the boats from packing into each other. Everyone is jockeying for position trying to keep away from the boats next to them when the gun goes off and the race starts. The wakes caused from the canoes are amplified by the cross winds and canoes are in chaos. Three boats go down next to me, there are boats being pushed by waves right towards me, my goal has changed from busting up hard to lets just staying afloat, try to keep the round side of the canoe down. The canoes on my right cross my bow and collides with the ones on my left, a solo boat does down. I back off and go around this group and start to make headway around the buoys as we head for the narrows.

Just before I get to the narrows I pass another soloist, he says,"let's not be strangers, what's your name?" I say,"Yuyudhan, and what's yours?" He says,"Don, you won it last year", as he puts down the hammer a bit more. I say nothing in response to his statement for fear that my ego may be in need being checked. One big push forward and I get ahead of the soloist and a group heading for the narrows, I still need to weave in and out of a few boats in the narrows, as they were having difficulty in the shallow water. Solo boats do well in shallow water compared to tandem boats, but tandems make up for it in deep water and in the wind, they have better control.

The narrows open up into another lake, I'm catching the boats ahead of me when a tandem boat comes up from behind, and starts to pass. Now the goal of any race is not to be passed even if they are in another racing division, and the other thing is, is to take advantage of any situation that comes your way. The passing tandem is just the advantage I am looking for. As the tandem goes by I jump on their side wave and draft them like a cyclist would draft another bike, but in canoeing the side wave is the best place to be. I ride this boat all the way across the lake as we pass quite a few other boats.

Just before getting to the first portage a soloist who is only paddling and not biking or running catches me and we go into the portage together. I know that he is a faster canoer than I am and the only hope I have is to beat him in the portage, so I run hard passing him and making him work to catch me on the lakes, we fight back and forth between water and land. There are 16 miles of paddling with two plus miles of portaging, he ends up taking me in the end but it was a good battle. Northern Minnesota is a mix of lakes and swamps, and the portages are not all sandy beaches. On one portage I knew was bad I pushed hard to get the canoe onto the floating bog before I got out, and than I took it real easy until I was on hard ground. The boat behind me did not do so well. The bowman jumped out too early and disappeared under the water, only to reappear totally black from what the locals call"Moose Muck". It is very easy to get stuck in this muck stuff. There are stories of racers losing there shoes in the stuff when they tried pulling themselves out.

The last stretch of the canoe route is a very twisting narrow river. If a tandem team is good they can fly though it, if not there will be boat bashing and pile-ups. Well the boats ahead of me were in the second group the boat bashers. They did not want the other boats passing them and they were having a tough time going around the turns without hitting the sides and needing to back up and try again. Each time I tried to get around them they would collide with me and would not back off to let me through. In canoeing if you run into another boat you must give way, these guys wouldn't give, so we battled it out until I got ahead of them. This stretch of the course is tough for soloist, one person trying to turn a boat instead of two. Last year I tipped over twice in this river, this year I kept the round side down.

Out of the river into the last lake and head for the finish. The canoe must be portaged across the transition line and than set down, the race officials move them out of the way as the next boats come in. The bike transition went well, but the first quarter mile is on and off the bike due to the terrain. In the canoe your legs are static but working. Once you jump on the bike you realize that your legs are stiff and there is a bit of lactic acid that needs to get worked out. The bike route is 27 miles of paved, gravel, and fire roads mixed with mowed field paths and single track winding through the Chippewa National Forest. The Chippewa National Forest is a mix of forested cedar, poplar and old growth red pines. The times you are biking through the old growth you would rather slow down and enjoy the sights, but if you do much sight seeing and not pay attention you will soon meet a tree or be blessing its roots, the race goes on.

My biking started off slow, my quads and calf's were tight and I needed to get blood flowing in them again. The farther I went the better my legs were feeling and I was soon up to speed. Canoeing is my strong event so it is not long before I am passed by other cyclists. I always look at the legs of the cyclist passing me. If the cyclist legs are clean than they are part of a relay team and did not canoe. There is solace in seeing clean legs. I am pushing as hard as I can and going on the edge of my ability and of my equipment. Last night I changed the semi-slick on my back wheel for a tread with a bit more traction. I left the front with the semi-slick. In the sand and on the pavement the slick was fine but in the wet grass and mud the slick slid all over. There were times that the prayers were coming fast and furious and the mud was flying, somehow I was still upright.

This is my sixth year doing this race, and every year a friend of mine had a faster bike time than I had. Well what do I see but the green jersey of my nemesis. I catch up to Lee on a real rutty muddy hill that my front wheel could not handle so I dismount and walk. Lee also is walking up the hill and we chat. Lee tells me that Jan is just ahead of us and that I should be able to catch her. Now I'm not the type of racer that I need to beat this person or that person, it is more of how I do than who I beat. Lee and I have been friends along time and to finally catch him in a bike race makes me fell good, Lee is after all 16 years older than me. And than there is Jan, Jan is a first class cross country skier that wins races not just her age class, she qualified for the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon this year after coming in first place in her age group in the Milwaukee Ironman Triathlon. You can imagine my surprise when I catch Jan with about 5 miles left of the bike race. I went by her so fast that I thought I dropped her, but I heard her behind me and when I looked back she was riding my wheel. I guess I owed her this ride, it was after all her and her partner that I rode across the lake in the canoe segment.

I am going all out on the bike, I am holding nothing back, My legs are burning and my energy is fading, I am invoking God to help carry me through. Than to my relief I feel this stream of energy entering into my body and filling it up. My heart rate comes down my legs quit burning and in fact they speed up, I am feeling great I just feel gratitude.

Jan and I are heading for the last stretch, this is a paved part of the trail very nice to finish on, we pass some spectators who are cheering Jan on to pass me, I heard Jan ask if she could lead just for a bit to make the spectators feel good. She pulls until we go around the corner and than rides my wheel again. We ride into the bike/run transition this way and than Jan shows what she is made of, and takes off running, I take off hobbling, my legs were anything but runner's legs and I was spent, all I saw was Jan disappear in the distance. The run is seven miles of running that starts off on the side of the road and after about a mile converts to trail running thought the Chippewa National Park camp ground and hiking trails. I run, I walk, I am shot. I did not know how I would finish, but God was not done with me yet. God carried me through the bike and he was not going to watch me become road kill on the side of the road. A few more doses of energy and I was running again, slow but running. The farther I went the faster and better I was feeling. I could hear the announcer I was getting close, I could see the finish I was there. 6:00:57.

I finished in 20th place overall and 1st place in the solo division. Thank God for the canoeing, second place was 20 minutes behind me in the canoe and they made up 12 minutes in the bike and run.

When I compete in these type of events, the triathlon, marathon, and cross country skiing, I am sometimes aware of how little I actually do. There is this awareness that I sometimes get that if I can stay in the zone and go with the flow, I am not the doer, there is someone else that is enjoying the race, running the race, in an through me, I just go along for the ride. The last two years doing this race I have been along for the ride.

I dedicate this race and all the races I do to Sri Chinmoy, it is he who has taught me how to get into the zone.

Yuyudhan Hoppe 6/13/03

Pictures and results can be found on skinnyski.com.

Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team articles - more articles

About the author:

Rupantar has been the race director of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team since 1985, having been asked by Sri Chinmoy to serve in that capacity. As well as working on the big races the US Marathon Team organise each year - the 3100 Mile Race and the Six and 10 Day Race - he also spends a considerable amount of time archiving the Marathon Team's 40 year history on this website.

A few personal impressions from this years 6 day race in New York’s Flushing Meadows Park, 18–24 April 2022, by Shashanka Karlen

A multi-day race is a good way to discover the flexibility and fluidity of time. In the beginning, when you have covered your first 6-10 hours and realize what you have gotten yourself into, the look forward to the end of 6 days can be really frightening. At least for the mind. It seems an infinity of time away and mentally you may wonder how you can actually ever reach that goal. There are moments during the race where time does not seem to move, where each lap is just simply very hard work and there seems to be no way out, no person to talk to, no special food that would uplift you, no piece of music that would carry you forward. Don Winkley, the American Ultra runner, still running at 83, calls these “the character-building miles”. I thought of him several times during the race also because he had so many great stories to tell when we met 10 years ago during the Self-Transcendence 10 day race.

On the other hand, when you look back after 3 or 4 days to the beginning of the race it seems that time practically flew by, that all went so quickly that you could hardly grasp it. And even now, the second day after the race time has already moved on and we try to quickly preserve all the treasures that have come along the way of these 6 days.

The bathtub by Don Winkley
Don Winkley told me this story back in 2012 and it remained anchored in my memory ever since. Don said that once he had a very difficult race, the weather was miserable and at some point he said to himself “After this is over I will get a nice suite at a hotel and enjoy myself.” Once the race was over he did exactly that, checked in at the hotel and got a very large beautiful suite. The problem was that Don was in such a bad physical shape and the bathroom was very far away from his bed. As he needed the bathroom frequently and the distance was too far he finally decided to sleep in the bathtub...Poor Don!

Ode to Joy

One evening, I believe it was on the 3rd day, around midnight I got the inspiration to listen to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. I thought, good, this will take care of the race for 1 ½ hours, the total length of the four movements. There is a special live recording from December 1989, recorded in Berlin just after the Berlin Wall came down and includes musicians and singers from both East and West. The conductor is the famous Leonard Bernstein. Feeling the pulse of time, he took the freedom to change the name from “Ode to Joy” to “Ode to Freedom”. It is indeed a very special recording of a very special symphony in a very special moment of human history. This symphony has become a global hymn to freedom and the brotherhood of man and is loved more than ever.

Interestingly enough the next morning Kodanda, the “race-musician” played the theme of Ode to Joy, without knowing anything about my experience the night before. I thought it was a nice proof how on an inner level feelings and thoughts travel freely and are picked up, it may be as close as a few meters like in this case or it may be on the other side of the globe.

“Somehow it must be possible for us to learn from his [Beethoven’s] music by hearing it, no, not hearing it but by listening to it with all our power of attention and concentration. Then perhaps we can grow into something worth being called “the human race”. ...In this time of world agony and hopelessness and helplessness, we love his music and we need it. As despairing as we may be, we can not listen to this 9th Symphony without emerging from it changed, enriched, encouraged.” - Leonard Bernstein 1979

I think also for many other Ultra runners listening to music is an important support. I don’t know what other runners listen to, except maybe from the story that Grahak told from the 3100 mile race. He was listening to heavy rock music and was suddenly called to Sri Chinmoy’s car to get Prasad (blessed food) and he somehow did not manage to turn off the music. Even though it was only in the earphones, the music was clearly audible and he felt embarrassed... Like in the case of the perception of time, a multi day race also makes you much more sensitive to music and different kinds of music and their effect on yourself. I listened a good amount of time to Sri Chinmoy’s music and I liked particularly his singing. I could make a very easy connection to him through his singing. It just goes directly to your heart and soul.

Sometimes I would listen to popular music. “Paradise” by Coldplay came up, “Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits, “Comfortably Numb” and “Echos” by Pink Floyd (bringing back memories from long forgotten times). Later I discovered “Deja Vu” by Crosby, Still, Nash and Young and this worked very well with its rhythm and lightness. I was very careful not to cross a certain line, because I felt it would have a detrimental influence on my inner state of being. For example, Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” was beyond that red line even though I enjoyed this song 40 years ago when I was DJ in a Club.

The fourth dimension

One evening when Patanga came to the counting area he had a mystical, otherworldly look on his face. He suddenly looked up, lifted his right arm and pointed to the sky. He did not say anything. I was reminded of a scene in Martin Strel’s movie about swimming the entire length of the Amazon river (3273miles/5268km) in 2007. There is a moment in the film where he is alone standing on the shore of the Amazon in the middle of the Jungle and you see him from the back, immersed in this glorious nature, pointing with both hands to the sky. They are declaring in the film that Martin has entered “the fourth dimension”. For me the “fourth dimension” signifies the moment when there is no more separation between Paradise, you and nature, you become completely part of it. It is a direct, authentic, immediate experience of nature as it really is and you are part of it.

A multi-day race or other similar events (or even long training runs in beautiful nature) help greatly to become more subtle and receptive to this kind of experience. There were moments in this year’s race where these “ecstatic” moments of grace appeared, mainly in the morning at dawn.

The “4 Lap Interview” with Ananda Lahari

Ananda Lahari does not speak much during a race, his smile though has become legendary. I feel privileged therefore to have had the opportunity to do 4 laps with him. Maybe this exception happened because it was meant to be, like the fact that we were neighbours both on our race tables as well as with our tents, both totally “by chance”. I had just come out of the medical tent, in the morning of day 3. After a good early session of 8-9 laps of “refreshed” running, I suddenly felt a shooting pain in the shin of my right leg... I had become one of the many victims of shin splints and was not happy about it. In the corner after the medical tent and the bathrooms, Ananda Lahiri was just appearing and we started to walk together. He gave me an insight into his unique life and running universe and also greatly encouraged me concerning my shin splints. He gave me an overview of how people have dealt with it both physically as well as mentally. He mentioned cases where runners were able to get rid of shin splints within hours! (Some of us may remember just the opposite - the 14 days Madhupran Wolfgang Schwerk was walking because of shin splints during one of the 3100-mile races in New York...).

Ananda Lahiri also concretely gave me tips for the best foot movement so that the foot would be relaxed but still locked to avoid the stress on the shin when rolling up. I used all of the advice as good as possible and it felt almost like a miracle that the pain almost disappeared and I could keep a good walking pace. Running though was out of the question. That is why this article is called “A long walk to myself ”.

The Master's Breath

One other thing Ananda Lahari mentioned was that he would sometimes focus simply on his breath. Then, he said, everything becomes completely simplified and focused.

There was a moment when the race was really difficult and I started to focus also on the breath. I started to breathe through the nose which I did not normally do before and I started to repeat mantras in rhythm with the breath. “Supreme” did not work so well but “Guru” worked very well. I would breathe in with Gu- and breath out with -ru. After having done this for a while I suddenly felt the Master totally close. It felt like he was opening some inner chambers for me to come in. That was probably my most fulfilling experience of the whole race.

Love and Serve

I love running the nights where all is more quiet and there are less distractions. One early morning, maybe around 2 am, Rupantar (the SCMT director) was just leaving from the counting station where he had jumped in and we met for a few seconds. I thanked him for putting on this great event and mentioned that it is simply “invaluable”. It is valuable beyond measure. Just the experiences of even one runner seem so tremendously beneficial. He was smiling and it became a treasured moment. I felt what others have said before: there is so much love, dedication, and service going into an event like that. I felt this from the set-up crew that was extremely helpful with putting up the tents, to the great cooking teams, the medical staff and also the counters. Specially those that were announcing the miles were all great and really added a very supportive energy. More generally, you can see Sri Chinmoy’s signature in all of that. His teaching, his love, love for the world but also very specifically love for the running world, for the runners and also for the ideal of self-transcendence. In the difficult times of a race it is extremely rewarding and consoling to experience this generosity of heart and soul.

The Car Racers Flash Mob

During the last night, from Saturday to Sunday, shortly after 1 am, an avalanche of cars arrived in the parking lot. Very soon there were probably close to a hundred cars. In the middle, some cars with howling motors started to make sliding manoeuvres or demonstrated fast starts. Of course they had no idea that there was a running race going on and that a part of the parking lot was actually a running course. Imagine the runners, in the final period of the race, quite sensitive to what is going on in- and outside themselves. It felt to me like a sudden invasion, a hostile attack before the end of the race. Fortunately the people seemed to be all quite friendly and when the police finally arrived they all left, almost as fast as they appeared.

The Uniqueness of Flushing Meadow

The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team has held Ultra races in Flushing Meadow park since 1985, for nearly 40 years. Countless races have been held here, and many epic battles between runners or even between runners and nature have taken place here. In 1985 Yiannis Kouros and a few dozen other runners battled through a hurricane, Kouros ending up with a world best of 178 miles (285km). Personally, I always struggle to get used to the permanent noise of the cars from the highways on three sides, the planes that are coming in or starting very low from close by La Guardia airport and also to the unpredictable, extremely fast changing and often cold wind that rattles through the park much of the running time. It adds definitely a layer of challenge on top of the running itself. Fortunately, the noise cancellation headphones are a big help and it is also astounding how quickly the body and the whole system adjust to these new conditions.

Each Journey is different

One thing that I find really fascinating is to see the vast differences in runners; the different nationalities, running styles, attitudes and ambitions and goals. You can clearly see that each runner is on his or her own journey. One day they are flying, the next day they may be nearly dying. Sometimes it seems that all are feeling a new breath of energy at the same time, it is like somebody is infusing energy into the runners or even breathing through the runners and suddenly the faces are lightening up and the bodies are cooperating. I must say I could not see enough of Wei Mings' absolutely incredible running style. His absolutely smooth and harmonious movements were of such grace and beauty it really felt like running in perfection.

Inner World and Outer World

I did not watch any world news, specifically about the war in Ukraine during the entire race. I saw the danger that it would have a negative influence on my mental state and performance. On the other hand I felt clearly that all the runners (and helpers in any function) created such an incredibly positive energy through their efforts and aspiration. It was like a dynamo that was continually charged. I am sure that this positive energy will now continue to do its work in the world atmosphere and help to strengthen the positive forces and energies.

The Golden Shore

I think many if not most of the runners start longing from day 1 for the end of the race. The challenge is huge, the mind is unable to grasp the task, the problems set in soon... I think the longing remains for the duration of the race but then so many incredible things happen during these 6 days: there is an extraordinary depth of experience, there is the wonderful camaraderie, the team spirit, the smiles and warm support from all the helpers, the sense of achievement with each mile that has been put in the personal account. Then you start to realise that you will miss something when it is over, you may realise that something within you just opened up and is now ready to fly, you want to continue...I love running and running has given me so much over the last 40 years. I hope I can run or at least walk to the last day of my life!

I encourage all runners who feel the inspiration to move up to the Ultra level, to multi day running. It is worth the step, a deep, fulfilling experience is almost certainly guaranteed.

Shashanka, 24th April 2022 6 days: 278 miles / 448 km

Author's note: May it be duly noted that these notes were strongly encouraged, if not demanded, by my spiritual brother Devashishu. Several of the topics appeared in creative exchanges while he was a lap announcer in the morning shifts.

Photo Credit: Jowan, www.srichinmoyultraphoto.com / Utpal Marshall, https://perfectionjourney.org
Design of PDF: Bijoy, Zurich, Switzerland / Bird Drawings by Sri Chinmoy

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About the author:

The 23rd Sri Chinmoy Six-Day Race was held from April 18-24, 2022, on a new running course at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, just under a mile in length, and ready to be deployed. A group of 29 runners- 19 men and 10 women, comprised the international field from 17 countries, to seek new abilities in the multi-day format of run and ’go-as-you-please. The six-day world leader for 2021 was back in New York. Budjargal Byambaa from Ulaanbaatar Mongolia led the multi-day lists for the previous year with a sparkling PB of 561.7 miles/904.07km. He had won 10 of his previous 15 multi-day excursions, throughout the States, Europe and China.

Mr Byambaa’s 102.5 miles on Day 1 set the tone, as the pleasant running weather from the start took a deep dive after midnight, and a twisting, windy rain-storm pulverized the course and its occupants for 10 hours of flooding, wailing water, and winds off of Meadow Lake which tried any athlete to continue in such conditions. Plank bridges helped the runners get along the course. The sun did not really make a daytime appearance for 48 hours, but that did not halt the runners either.

The overall second place on Day 2 belonged to Andrea Marcato, the Italian phenom who blitzed the 3100 Mile Race in September/October of 2021 here in New York with a third –fastest finish and a star bright presence in this multi-day super-long events. However, six days is six days- not 42 days, so you had to be pushing the envelope to stay with stars like Budjargal, and likewise the elite women. Annabel Hepworth and Susan Marshall - both from Australia - were the pre-race favourites, and Miss Marshall, a Kiwi at birth and in heart, knew it would take all her abilities and more to stay with the experienced Annabel. Her resume brims with world-class performances and national dominance. After two full days the two ladies were one lap apart. They were also third and fourth best overall, as the difficulty and lack of sleep took its toll on the 29 runners.

At the halfway mark Budjargal Byambaa had a 50km lead on Mr Marcato, which would not be bridged all the way to the end. The excellent running by the top men pulled the other stalwarts along. Romanian Adrian Papuc emerged as a bona-fide talent. Wei-Ming Lo, the remarkable Taiwanese national icon, showed good form throughout the first four days, but his last day was the best men’s final day with 80.3 miles/ 129.2km. He moved to fourth for the gentlemen at age 58.

The women’s battle for the top spot continued. By the end of Day 5, Annabel Hepworth had a six-mile lead but Susan Marshall had placed her fitness and talent all in for the last day. She upped her pace and refused to stop for any duration throughout the last night. Annabel had pushed herself beyond the ability to stay on the track. After a pair of falls, while moving, she was forced to sleep for a few hours, which fueled Susan Marshall’s all-out attempt. Susan had the best final day of all the runners, reaching 84.2 miles, and a six-day PB by 34 miles at 442.3.

Taiwanese veteran Wen Ya Tsai pushed hard the last two days after getting through a bout of shin splints. She set a national record W50 of 385.21 miles/ 619.985 km to nail the mark. Budjargal topped 500 miles for the second time in his running career with 502.3 miles/ 808.37km- and another trophy for his burgeoning awards list. Andrea Marcato set a PB with a 463.6 miles/702.63km effort.

There were 10 PB’s reached in a race with difficult beginnings but promising ends. The SCMT is blessed to have had such wonderful volunteers and staff who gave of themselves for the duration. Next year the 10-Day Race will hopefully return to the fray, so that athletes will again test their abilities in longer phases, and those physical and mental bars set by previous performances will be equalled or surpassed. Thanks to Sri Chinmoy for the unwavering challenges and the inspiration to continue the fight to do more. Each goal attained becomes a new starting point. Good luck to all multi-day runners. Never give up.

Photos by: Jowan

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