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.
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"Sri Chinmoy 70-Mile." Ultrarunning. September 1991.
The short and heavy downpour ended just minutes before the 9:00 pm start. It did little to lighten the hot, muggy summer heat, while the late-night fireworks display from Shea Stadium only lightened the sky. It was a story of survival for the 27 runners and two relay team competitors. Many of the elite runners rapidly burned themselves out while the middle-of-the-pack crew struggled on a few more miles before even they quit. Those who remained were of the survivor mentality: the tough folk who keep on running, no matter what.
Leading the field throughout was Miki Shiraki, 35, of Manhattan. A shadowy figure unknown to the rest of the runners, he carried himself like a Japanese samurai and wore a Central ark TC shirt. He ran silently, finishing in 9:48:58, accepted his trophy, and disappeared as mysteriously as he had come. Five more men finished, including 61-year-old Pat McElroy of Hoboken, NJ. First place for women went to Dipali Cunningham, 32, of Jamaica, one of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team's top runners.
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