At precisely 6:00am Eastern Daylight Time in New York on Sunday June 16, 12 runners moved away from the starting line on a journey of millions of steps, thousands of mood swings and dozens of dreams dancing in their minds and hearts. The world’s longest footrace that occurs annually in a quiet Queens neighborhood, the Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile race began its 52 day sojourn around a .5488 of a mile(883 meters) sidewalk course. The event started in 1997 by Guru Sri Chinmoy(1931-2007) attracts the finest super-long distance specialist to attempt a baffling 18 hours a day of running(there is a 6-hour curfew at midnight).
Runners must maintain an average of nearly 60 miles per day in order to finish within the time limit.
Vasu Duzhiy from Russia reached 79.02 miles just before midnight to garner Day 1 honors. He was closely followed by veterans Pranjal Milovnik(Slovakia) with 76 miles, and Atmavir Spacil(Czech Republic) with 75 miles. Nidhruvi Zimmerman from Austria led her compatriot Surasa Mairer by 1 lap(69.14 miles to 68.6) to pace the large women’s field(3 runners). All the runners reached over 62 miles on the first day, so hope is blooming early. Stay tuned. Happy Father’s Day!!!