Outside Magaine, (online): Review of '3100: Run and Become'

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.

Start of the 2015 Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100-MIle Race

Outside Magazine's online review of Sanjay Rawal's new film "3100: Run and Become", examines the director's own spiritual background against the film's exploration of the common thread between the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race, the Kalahari Bushmen of Botswana, the 'marathon monks' of Hiei, Japan, and Shaun Martin, a Navajo runner who created the Canyon de Chelly Ultramarathon.

From the review:

"It’s hard to show transcendence, especially the kind that comes from the devotional practice of moving your body, but that’s what director Sanjay Rawal was trying to capture as he filmed runners around the world. 'My background is in mysticism and spirituality, so I’m interested in how running was their way to commune with the divine,' he says."

Soon to be released on iTunes.

For the full review from Outside Magazine...

Photo above: start of the 2015 Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race.

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About the author:

Since its initial release last year in the US, the documentary film 3100: Run and Become has been gradually rolled out across the globe. The film travels the world to celebrate the importance of running to the human soul, with a particular emphasis on our very own Sri Chinmoy Self-Trancendence 3100-Mile Race. Now the film has reached new Zealand and Australia, with premiere screenings in February and March.

New Zealand schedule

11 February Rialto Cinemas, Auckland • tickets »
13-14 February Lumiere Cinemas, Christchurch • tickets »
17 February Penthouse Cinemas, Wellington • tickets »

While previewing the film, Stuff (New Zealand's biggest news website) interviewed Harita Davies (pictured above) from Christchurch, who completed the race in 2017 and 2019:

"What am I doing? It's crazy! That was the thought of New Zealander Harita Davies as she stepped up to the start line of the world's longest running race....The New-York based Cantabrian was the first New Zealand female to run the 3100. She's now done it twice." For the complete article...

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About the author:

We here at the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team definitely believe that sport is something beyond mere competition and beating the other guy into the dust - it can actually be a key part of one's self-discovery and finding true meaning in life. It is something our race founder and spiritual Teacher, Sri Chinmoy, advocated for many years, and we must admit we do find it kind of nice when we see people appreciating that philosophy in various places! Here are some such instances in recent months:

1. Rise of the Ultrarunners

Dean Karnazes called this book the the definitive book on ultra running today, and it made quite a few sports-books-of-the-year shortlists in 2019. The author, Adharanand Finn, previously wrote a nice article in the Guardian about our 24 hour race in London, and then as part of his research into this book came back the next year to do the race himself.

“This race holds a bizarre fascination for me. I love the way it merges the mundane with the epic, people attempting mind-boggling feats not out in the Himalayas or the depths of the jungle, but on a running track in Tooting in south London. It shows that you don’t have to go to the far corners of the Earth to find adventure, enlightenment, craziness, or whatever it is we’re all seeking, but that it exists everywhere if you just open your eyes.” (quote from the book)

His story of the race takes up a whole chapter (chapter 11, if you're interested) and is not only an amazing story of his own reaching the point where he considers quitting, but then breaks through into a whole other level of experience, but is also an extremely touching tribute to the many ordinary extraordinary people who also did the race with him, some of them in their seventies. The book tracks his running journey through many other ultradistance races, and at the same time opens a window for the uninitiated into the whole weird and wonderful world of ultrarunning itself. The book can be purchased on Amazon here...

2. Runner's tribe

In his January 10, 2020 column in Runnerstribe.com, Matt Fitzgerald (author of books such as The Endurance Diet and 80/20 Running) explores famous marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge's philosophy on running:

"There’s nothing unique about Kipchoge in this regard. Endurance racing is a spiritual experience for many athletes. Indeed, it’s almost impossible for a spiritually sensitive person to experience endurance racing non-spiritually, which is why spiritual leaders including Sri Chinmoy, an Indian-born advocate of meditation and running influential in the U.S. in the late 20th century, have promoted it even to nonathletes. “The inner running and the outer running complement each other,” Chinmoy wrote. “For outer running, we need discipline. Without a life of discipline, we cannot succeed in any walk of life. So when we do outer running, it reminds us of the inner running.” For the complete article...

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