Carl Lewis gives Autographed World Record Shoes to Sri Chinmoy

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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Carl Lewis (l) and Sri Chinmoy. Lewis is holding the Peace Run Torch, symbol of a global torch relay that seeks to promote harmony amongst people from all backgrounds.

"Carl Lewis Gives Autographed World Record Shoes to Sri Chinmoy." The North/West Facts (the northwest's largest African-American owned publication). September 11, 1991.

Carl Lewis sent his world record shoes to Sri Chinmoy, mentor and friend, for the peace leader's 60th birthday in New York. Lewis had broken the 100-meter world record before 75,000 spectators at he world Championship Games in Tokyo on August 25th. Lewis' record time of 9.86 beat former world record holder and teammate Leroy Burrell, who finished second in 9.88.

Carl Lewis autographed the shoes with '9.86' and thanked Sri Chinmoy on television for his help in winning the world record. Sri Chinmoy, who is known for his peace meditations, the arts and athletics, has advised Lewis on many occasions (as mentioned in Carl Lewis's book 'Inside Track') the peace leader talked with the track superstar by phone just before the meet and told Carl that now was the time to break the world record in Japan, the country that Lewis loves so dearly.

Before the Games, Carl performed Sri Chinmoy's theme song titled 'World Championships,' on Japanese television. Lewis will be present at a special awards dinner in New York on September 11 celebrating Sri Chinmoy's 60th birthday. The track star has been in Seattle on two occasions recently and met with local members of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.

Sri Chinmoy's athletic activities - more articles

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Sri Chinmoy gave the following address to the runners at the start of the 1300 mile race in Flushing Meadow Park on June 5 1987:

"Brave runners, my heart is all gratitude to you. The English dictionary houses the word "impossibility", but your life-history-book does not include the word "impossibility". You live not only in the world of possibility, but also in the world of inevitability. This race is new, unique and unprecedented. Only your heroic hearts can accept the challenge and become victorious in every possible way, inwardly and outwardly.

When we think of 700, 1,000 or 1,300 miles, we are reminded of Eternity. We all are running along Eternity's road, which is at once birthless and deathless. You are the pioneer hero-runners who will be running along Eternity's road. Today humanity is loving your hearts and treasuring your lives with utmost joy and utmost pride.

Once more, to each runner, on behalf of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team, I wish to offer my most humble and most soulful gratitude and gratitude. Each runner is marking the beginning of a new dawn that transcends at every moment its beauty, its light and its divinity. This divinity is embodying world joy and world peace. You are the true and perfect embodiments of world peace. For that, to each of you my heart bows with boundless love and gratitude."

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Sri Chinmoy’s remarks to the runners prior to the start of the Sri Chinmoy 7 Day Race, October 14, 1988, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, NY:

"My dear Seven Day Race Runners,

You are brave – very brave, exceptionally brave, divinely brave, supremely brave. Only the brave can and shall win the ultimate goal, which is birthless and deathless satisfaction. This birthless and deathless satisfaction you already have in the very depths of your souls. Now you are bringing it to the fore through your adamantine will power and your sleepless self-giving to the outer world of running and to the inner world of becoming. Being a truth-lover and a seeker of the ultimate truth, I wish to tell you that you are doing something most significant not only for yourself and your own life but also for those who love the outer running and the inner becoming.

You are the pioneer runners. You are the brave soldiers. You are tomorrow’s pathfinders. You are supremely courageous in virtue of your divine self-giving to the running world. I am very, very proud of you and very, very grateful to you all. My heart of joy and my life of infinite gratitude I am offering to each of you as you start on your way.

This is a seven-day race. The number ‘seven’ has a very special significance for those who study spirituality. According to the Indian way of thinking, there are seven higher worlds and seven lower worlds. Since we are human beings, we have already passed beyond the boundaries of the seven lower worlds. Now we are climbing up high, higher, highest in the seven higher worlds. Each of the seven higher worlds has some very special kind of delight – oneness-delight and fulfillment-delight – to give us. Each time we step into a higher world, we enter into a world of ecstasies. Each time we climb higher, this ecstasy increases. All the time we are dealing with a boundless and limitless ocean of ecstasy; but although it is an ocean, still it increases. For God the Supreme Runner at every moment is increasing His own Capacities, His own Light and His own Delight.

Although this is a seven-day race, please don’t think of all seven days while you are running. Think of only one day at a time. Then, do not even think of one day; think of only seven hours. Then, for a few minutes think of only one hour. If you can mentally divide the race and break it down into separate parts, you will get much more energy and much more joy while running. Every time your mind decreases the amount of time you have to run, you will get tremendous inner strength and vigor. So do not keep in mind seven days. Go at your own pace, but mentally divide the race to make the distance as short as possible. In this way you will all the time have inner strength and be able to run throughout."

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