RB 493. 19 April 1982↩
Even before I covered the first mile, I was totally exhausted. You can call it tiredness or hunger or thirst — God knows. After seven miles a little boy stood right in front of me and gave me a glass of water, literally forcing me to drink it.
I said, “How old are you?”
He said, “Four.”
So many runners patted me on the back, saying, “Come along, friend, you can make it. Don’t give up. Go on, go on, go on!” They were going ahead of me and encouraging me as they passed by. They were very nice people.
RB 494. 19 April 1982↩
I saw two or three more non-disciples wearing different shirts of ours. But Kim was the only one who recognised me.
RB 495. 19 April 1982↩
An elderly black man and I were running together, and two or three times people got so much joy from drenching us. We were two runners who were getting new life from the hoses. But other runners were cursing them. They had to go to the other side of the street to avoid the hoses.
RB 496. 19 April 1982↩
RB 497. 19 April 1982↩
The man said, “From England?”
The boy said, “Where else?”
RB 498. 19 April 1982↩
RB 499. 19 April 1982↩
RB 500. 19 April 1982↩
I was planning to walk the whole race, but then Vince would have had no other competitor, except for a few ladies. His fate would have been like Senani’s in the sixty-and-over race.
RB 501. 25 April 1982↩
Nayana and Dhrubha have exactly the same style, but Nayana twists her face and smiles while she runs. Dhrubha never smiles.
RB 502. 27 April 1982↩
Then I saw Sanatan. For thirty or forty metres I was smiling at him, but he was blind; he could not see me. Then, when he came near me, he folded his hands.
Then I saw Sudhir on the other side of the street. Only when I started shouting his name did he recognise me. Then I saw Shephali. By that time I was dying.
RB 503. 27 April 1982↩
Then, after about two miles, somebody right behind me said, “Very good pace, very good pace!
I said to myself, “A joker!” and looked around. Whom did I see? It was the young black man who had stood third in our race on Sunday. He said, “You put on a very good race, and I enjoyed it very much.” So I smiled at him. After two minutes he was still running ahead of me. Then, after three minutes, he was nowhere to be seen.
After about three miles I saw Karabi. As I continued running, I saw the young man returning. When he saw me, he raised his arms over his head, greeting me.
RB 504. 27 April 1982↩
RB 505. 27 April 1982↩
I couldn’t help laughing. I said, “I am an Indian. I did it in 54 and 53.6. Under 54 I did it many times before you were born.”
Then he said, “I am so honoured that you have come.”
Then Databir told him that I had done it without shoes, on a cinder track.
The first time, in 1945, I did the quarter-mile in one minute. Then in 1946 from one minute it came down to 56 seconds, then 55 and then always under 55-54, 53.9 and so on.
RB 506. 28 April 1982↩
Seven miles a day I ran for five days. Is it a joke? And Union Turnpike has hills!
I have maintained my weight at 138 pounds for so many days! Today I have come down to 136. I have a chart of good runners. Out of twelve runners, only one runner is fat. Eleven are thin.
RB 507. 29 April 1982↩
I said I was.
He said, “I am so happy and honoured to be here and speak to you. This is my first marathon.”
So I congratulated him. He said, “I have run quite a few races of yours.”
Then the funniest thing happened. After fourteen miles, I got the shock of my life. He was passing me coming from the other direction. I asked myself, “How could he be so far ahead of me if this is his first marathon?”
I waved to him. I usually don’t wave to anybody, but he had been so nice to me. Later I realised that I was actually ahead of him. He finished far behind me.
RB 508. 1 May 1982↩
RB 509. 1 May 1982↩
RB 510. 1 May 1982↩
I said, “I am all right.”
Then he was telling the people who were helping me, “He is all right, don’t worry.”
Then I started running, but he was still walking.
RB 511. 1 May 1982↩
After Yasu I saw Sundar. He was running so fast and making such noise with his legs; they were thundering!
RB 512. 4 May 1982↩
RB 513. 4 May 1982↩
Suddenly the car stopped right alongside of me. It was a red car with a black hood. Two young girls were inside. One of them said, “Excuse me, excuse me, are you Sri Chinmoy? Are you Sri Chinmoy?”
I said, “Yes.”
She said, “We are so happy to see you. We saw you on television two days ago.” They were so excited to see me at that hour. So I thanked them.
They were very, very nice girls, but what were they doing in that car at that hour?
RB 514. 6 May 1982↩
RB 515. 6 May 1982↩
Then I was near Divine Robe Supreme. I wanted to go to the playground, so I took a side street, again only to meet four or five undivine people — near Chidananda’s house. They were very bad people. So I went back and started running on another road. After I got to the track there was no problem. Then I ran alone on the beautiful track.
While coming back near Annam Brahma, I saw somebody trying to start his motorbike. The noise was unbearable. His girlfriend didn’t want to go with him on the motorbike. With one hand he was holding the bike and with the other hand he was holding her.
RB 516. 8 May 1982↩
After running five miles I was returning, near Main Street. According to my standard, I was going fast. But a middle-aged lady said to her friend, “His nose is running faster than his legs!”
It was true that my nose was running.
So the other lady said, “Yes, you go and join him and try to run.”
Inwardly I thanked the second lady.
In the morning what kind of appreciation I get! These people’s souls want to talk to me.
RB 517. 8 May 1982↩
Yasu saw me, then Kalatit and then Edythe. She was in a car, driving to Flushing Meadow to set up. But once I got home I pretended that I had not yet run so I could surprise everyone later.
During the race I was afraid Yasu would say, “I saw you running this morning,” but fortunately he didn’t say anything, so I kept my secret.
I was running so slowly during the ten-mile race that I didn’t feel tired at all, even after nine miles. Then I waved to Lucy and Chetana, saying that I was going to go faster for the last mile.
So this morning altogether I ran seventeen miles.
RB 518. 9 May 1982↩
I said, “Yes.”
She said, “How old are you?”
I said, “Fifty.”
She said, “How do you keep your body so fit?”
RB 519. 9 May 1982↩
RB 520. 9 May 1982↩
I told him, “They are very comfortable.”
RB 521. 9 May 1982↩
I was proud that Janani was far behind us, because I still remember how she defeated me in Antigua. Altogether Janaka and I ran seven miles. Then we drove back to get Janani. She was so happy to stop running!
Afterwards, we went to an Indian restaurant, but unfortunately the food was very bad.
RB 522. 20 May 1982↩
Then we came to such a steep hill! It went straight up. We saw one man run about a hundred metres up the hill and we were admiring him. I also wanted to run up that hill, but the Scottish disciples were saying that the road was not good enough to run on.
RB 523. 20 May 1982↩
RB 524. 20 May 1982↩
RB 525. 20 May 1982↩
RB 526. 20 May 1982↩
RB 527. 20 May 1982↩
Abarita was the fifth over-all. For the first mile Abarita ran with the top runners. I was so happy. Then, at the second mile, he fell behind. He could not keep up with them. Among the disciples Abarita was the first boy and Indu was the first girl. The girl who stood first over-all was far ahead of Indu. She was quite fat, but she was such a fast runner!
RB 528. 20 May 1982↩
Everybody thought that Devashishu’s little brother, Aaron, had got lost, but he was running at an eleven or twelve-minute pace. When the father finished, he ran back to find Aaron, and then he started running with him. They were coming towards the finish line together so I said, “Now let us have the physical father and the spiritual father run together with the son.” So I was on one side and his father was on the other. Aaron was killing himself to beat us. I stopped deliberately to let him go ahead, and he was so delighted that he could defeat me. But his father didn’t stop.
RB 529. 20 May 1982↩
Then, in the ten-mile race a week later, I was about to catch her, but then she disappeared and defeated me.
RB 530. 20 May 1982↩
RB 531. 20 May 1982↩
Then she said, “You have two dogs.”
I said, “Yes.”
She said, “Good, very good.”
I asked her, “What is your dog’s name?”
She said, “Vila.”
This lady is always walking her dog. So its name is Vila, like the tennis champion Vilas.
RB 532. 27 May 1982↩
When I was coming back from my run around four-thirty, at the thousand-metre mark what did I see? A policeman jogging. He had no car and he was not running to catch any thief. He had a radio with earphones and he was in his police uniform. He was a real policeman, with a badge and a gun. He was not someone joking or pretending.
As soon as I saw him, I smiled at him. Then he said to me either, “Sri” or “Shrai” — I could not hear very well — “Good morning!”
When I said to him, “Sir, good morning,” he stopped and shook hands with me. He was very fat and very tall at the same time.
This was the first time I had seen a policeman jogging. He was going very, very slowly. What he was doing jogging at that hour, God alone knows.
RB 533. 3 June 1982↩
RB 534. 5 June 1982↩
RB 535. 5 June 1982↩
At the seventeen-mile point, Sharon said to me, “Gayatri is coming up behind you.”
I said, “Let me enter into the car. Take me at least two miles ahead of her.”
So Sharon took me about two miles in the car, but she couldn’t go any farther because of the beach. Then I started running very peacefully. After that, I saw Gangadhar running in the other direction. Then I saw Gayatri coming from a different direction and she was shouting to Gangadhar.
RB 536. 11 June 1982↩
I said, “Yes, yes!”
Then I said to myself, “O God, I am not going to run with the runners. I don’t want to show people how tired I am.” From then on I ran on the left side of the street. Most of the runners were running on the right side. There were still some runners on the left side, but very few in comparison.
There were many people who were breathing louder than I was. In the Athens Marathon that I ran a few years ago, there was one person breathing so heavily that you could hear him a hundred meters away.
After about seven or eight miles, I saw a man lying down by the side of the road. Two people were helping him. Then the ambulance came.
RB 537. 11 June 1982↩
Before the marathon that year, a Chinese doctor had given a talk about how he had cured so many patients who had come to him. In spite of my cramps this doctor was two or three miles behind me.
This time nothing happened — no cramps or anything. I was absolutely flying. This is the difference between two years ago and now!
RB 538. 11 June 1982↩
RB 539. 11 June 1982↩
Just before the twelve-mile point, there was an Indian ahead of me. He turned around and shouted, “Are you an Indian?”
I said, “Yes.”
Then the man he was running with, an American, said, “He is the big boss.”
That Indian lives only three houses away from Sharon. She knows him.
RB 540. 11 June 1982↩
RB 541. 11 June 1982↩
There was one old man whose style I will never forget. His right leg had one kind of position, his left leg another, and his shoulder had a completely different position. O God, how did he run? His entire body was twisted in three different places.
RB 542. 11 June 1982↩
I didn’t know what to say. So I smiled at him soulfully. Then he went back into his car.
RB 543. 11 June 1982↩
I stopped and gave the young man a smile. He was in the seventh heaven of delight. He was tall and clean-shaven, with curly hair, and he had a pack on his back.
These people who greet me in the morning are in some ways my first-class disciples. They get up early in the morning, and they are so happy to see me.
RB 544. 11 June 1982↩
I called Databir and he came running. I told him, “Please talk to her.” So Databir talked to her. Later, he said she was crazy. But she didn’t seem to me to be crazy. Perhaps she also thought that Databir was crazy.
RB 545. 11 June 1982↩
Sri Chinmoy regards running as a perfect spiritual metaphor. “Try to be a runner and go beyond all that is bothering you and standing in your way,” he tells his students. “Be a real runner so that ignorance, limitations and imperfections will all drop far behind you in the race.” In this spirit he has inspired countless individuals to “run” — both literally and figuratively.
“Who is the winner?” he writes in one of his aphorisms. “Not he who wins the race, but he who loves to run sleeplessly and breathlessly with God the Supreme Runner.” As a fully God-realised spiritual Master, Sri Chinmoy has consecrated his life to this divinely soulful and supremely fruitful task. At the same time, on an entirely different level, he has made some significant contributions to the sport of running. He was the inspiration behind several long-distance relays, including a recent 300-mile run in Connecticut and the 9,000-mile Liberty-Torch run through all the states held during the 1976 Bicentennial. He has composed several running songs, which his students have performed at a number of races. His students have sponsored Sri Chinmoy Runs throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia as an offering to the running community. Moreover, Sri Chinmoy has encouraged his followers around the world to take up running as a means of overcoming lethargy and increasing their spiritual aspiration on the physical plane. Two hundred of his disciples, for example — most of whom were novice runners — completed last years’s New York City Marathon.
In the year he has been running, Sri Chinmoy himself has completed seven marathons. He averages about seventy to ninety miles a week, with most of his running done late at night or in the early hours of the morning. During his runs he has been chased by dogs, accosted by hooligans, greeted by admirers and cheered on by children. Sometimes he has had significant inner experiences; other times he has suffered deplorable outer experiences. As a spiritual Master of the highest order, Sri Chinmoy views these experiences — both the divine ones and the undivine ones — with a unique perspective. The running world is nothing but the human world in microcosm, and Sri Chinmoy’s reminiscences stand as a remarkable commentary on the whimsical, poignant, funny, outrageous and, above all, supremely significant experience we call life.From:Sri Chinmoy,Run and become, become and run, part 10, Agni Press, 1983
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/rb_10