Queens Tribune

Runners participating in the Self-Transcendence Multiday Races have set up camp at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Portable toilets and showers, a working kitchen and a smattering of tents now line the periphery of the park’s one-mile loop.

One white tent, positioned at the start of the course, remains empty. It belonged to Sri Chinmoy, the Indian spiritual leader whose Marathon Team is sponsoring the races. Chinmoy died last October.

“Many of us are feeling his presence,” runner Dipali Cunningham said. Cunningham, 49, holds the women’s world record for six-day races; in 2001 she clocked in 510 miles.
“The body has to rest at certain times, but it can also do extraordinary things,” Cunningham said, her Australian accent complimenting her sunburnt complexion.

Eighty-four runners from 16 countries are participating in this year’s Sri Chinmoy six and ten day self-transcendence races. Chinmoy, a man who authored 1,500 books, played over 770 musical concerts, composed over 20,000 devotional songs and completed 16,000,000 drawings and sketches, mostly of birds, was also an avid runner.

“Always there should be a goal,” Chinmoy taught. “Having a goal does not mean that we have to try to defeat the world’s top runners. Far from it! Our goal should be our own progress, and progress itself is the most illuminating experience.”

Last Thursday, a few days before embarking on her 11th six-day race, Cunningham arrived at the campsite.
“You’re always trying to go beyond what you’ve done before,” Cunningham said. “Once you cross that line you get a trophy and a t-shirt. You don’t get a million dollars. But you get a million dollars in your heart-this incredible feeling of achievement and it’s worth every step.”

With her tent in place, not too far from the showers, Cunningham found her German friend, Tirtha, who was running a multiday race for the first time.

“As much as you want to fly the first few hours, just hold back,” Cunningham told her friend, adding that she had tried without success to convince Tirtha to try the six day race instead.

“She has to do what she has to do – that’s very important,” Cunningham said, adding, “I’ve always stuck to the six-day course. I have the world record. I’m happy with my six-day.”
Cunningham attributes her success, in part, to her helper Maheeshi from Slovakia. Each runner is assigned a helper who provides drinks, vitamins and pep talks.

“She’d say the right thing to me,” Cunningham said, gesturing toward Maheeshi. “The helper has the magic in them.”

But Maheeshi has started serving as “helper” to her own sister, Kaneenika.

“She learned my schedule through Maheeshi,” Cunningham said. “It’s a big family out here. It’s competitive, but it’s a competitive oneness.”

Cunningham ran 105 miles her first day on the course. As of press time, she was winning the six-day race.