Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race

The Self-Transcendence 3100 mile race is the world's longest certified footrace. Fact|date=August 2008

This multiday race is hosted by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team and takes place in Queens, New York in the USA from June-August every year. The course is 3,100 miles (4,989 km) long. Runners negotiate 5649 laps of one extended city block in Jamaica, Queens - 164th Street to Abigail Adams (84th) Avenue to 168th Street to Grand Central Parkway - a distance of only 0.5488 mile (883 m). [Run like fire once more - Chasing perfection at the world's longest footrace [http://harpers.org/archive/2007/08/0081648] ] The runners have 51 days in which to complete the distance - an average of 60.78 miles (97.82 km) every day.

History

The Self-Transcendence 3100 mile was founded by Sri Chinmoy, which grew out of his wish to create an opportunity for runners to discover the limits of their capacities and to try to go beyond them. Hence the name "Self-Transcendence" which is appellated to all the footraces that the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team hosts. Since 1985 when the group first began holding races, the focus on the ultramarathon and multiday races has grown, from the famous Ultra Trio, three races with staggered starts of 700, 1000 and 1300-mile duration that take place in September, and the spring races, which include the Self-Transcendence 6-Day race and the only annual race of its kind, the Self-Transcendence 10-Day race.

In 1996 Sri Chinmoy created this event as a 2,700-mile (4,345 km) race. At the award ceremony that year he declared that the 1997 edition would be extended to 3,100 miles (4,989 km). The race has been run at this distance every year since.

Records

The course record is held by Madhupran Wolfgang Schwerk who broke his own time of 42 days 13:24:03 set in 2002 with a new record of 41 days 08:16:29 in July 2006. The ladies' record is held by Suprabha Beckjord who completed 3100 miles in 49 days 14:30:54 in 1998. Suprabha Beckjord is the only person to have completed every edition of the race.

References

External links

* [http://www.3100.ws 3100 mile race] 3100 mile race website
* [http://harpers.org/archive/2007/08/0081648] - 'Run Like Fire Once More: Chasing perfection at the world's longest footrace'
* [http://www.srichinmoyraces.org/3100/ Sri Chinmoy Races.org] -'Self-Transcendence 3100 mile race'
* [http://www.selftranscendence.org/3100_mile_race Self-Transcendence.org] Self-Transcendence 3100
* [http://multidays.com/the-self-transcendence-3100-mile-race/ Multidays.com] - '3100 miles in New York and other articles'
* [http://www.sopan3100.com/ Sopans 3100 mile race site]
* [http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2005-11-01/bastable-3100milerace/ Columbia News Service] -'In this footrace, the last 3,000 miles are the toughest'
* [http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2239377 ABC News] - ABC Footage 2006