Gary Fanelli: Sometimes when I am racing, I ask myself, "What am I doing here, beating my brains and body out?" I've had some injuries, but I continue racing. What is the best attitude toward this?10
Sri Chinmoy: Dear Gary, you are an excellent runner. When you run fast, please try to feel that your speed itself is a great success. Try to feel that through your success in running, humanity is taking one step forward in its march towards its ever-transcending goal.You are an American. Americans take life as a challenge from the cradle to the grave. When you run, you are challenging yourself and nobody else. When you work very hard in your running and get severe injuries, you should try to have a divine attitude. Try to feel that the constant increase in your capacity to endure pain is of paramount importance. When you increase your capacities, automatically you establish a glowing hope and a soaring promise for your fellow runners all over the world.
RS 13. Gary Fanelli has been dubbed 'the Clown Prince' of road running. He is the first American to win the Umbria, Italy 60-mile, 6-day race (1982) and has won numerous US races as well, including the 1980 Philadelphia 10k, in which second and third places went to Bill Rodgers and Rod Dixon. Also a respectable half-marathoner (1:03:58) and marathoner (2:14), Gary is more known for his antics of running a marathon dressed up in a suit or other costume. He would often run at the head of a pack of fast runners in a serious competition or set a blistering pace as a rabbit for 10 or 15 miles.↩
