Lung-gom-pa: legendary lamas who by means of psychic training could rush nonstop across vast distances of rugged landscape, running without end. Description of meeting a lung-gom-pa (by the French mystic-scholar Alexandra David-Neel who, disguised as a beggar woman, gained rare insight into common Tibetan life) in a wilderness where, for ten days, no fellow human being had been sighted: “By that time he had nearly reached up; I could clearly see his perfectly calm impassive face and wide-open eyes with their gaze fixed on some invisible far-distant object situated somewhere high up in space. The man did not run. He seemed to lift himself from the ground, proceeding by leaps. It looked as if he had been endowed with the elasticity of a ball and rebounded each time his feet touched the ground. His steps had the regularity of a pendulum. He wore the usual monastic robe and toga, both rather ragged. His left hand gripped a fold of the toga and was half hidden under the cloth. The right held a phurba (magic dagger). His right arm moved slightly at each step as if leaning on a stick, just as though the phurba, whose pointed extremity was far above the ground, had touched it and were actually a support. My servants dismounted and bowed their heads to the ground as the lama passed before us, but he went his way apparently unaware of our presence.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milarepa

According to the book Magic and Mystery in Tibet by French explorer Alexandra David-Néel, Milarepa boasted of having “crossed in a few days, a distance which, before his training [in ‘black magic’], had taken him more than a month. He ascribes his gift to the clever control of ‘internal air’.” Alexandara comments “that at the house of the lama who taught him black magic there lived a trapa [monk] who was fleeter than a horse” using the same skill.^[1]

This esoteric skill, which is known as Lung-gom-pa (“Wind Meditation”, lung = “wind,^[2] gom-pa = “meditation”^[3]) in Tibet, allows a practitioner to run at an extraordinary rate of speed for days without stopping. This technique could be compared to that practiced by the Kaihigyo Monks of Mt. Hiei in Kyoto, Japan.^[4]

http://www.llewellyn.com/bookstore/article.php?id=371

Treasures of Tibetan Occultism

New Worlds Isse: NW023
By: J.H. Brennan

Imagine what it would be like to discuss magic with Aleister Crowley…to talk philosophy with Plato…to receive spiritual instruction from the Dalai Lama…to levitate at will…to visit any country on earth, or leave the planet altogether…to take on any form you wished, learn any secret you desired, discover strange new worlds and sensual delights.
It sounds like wildest fantasy, yet these powers-and many more-are promised by an astonishing collection of techniques developed in the Himalayan fastness of Tibet before the Chinese invasion of October, 1950. Tibetan mystics and magicians called such procedures the “Practice of the Night,” a form of yoga designed to take control of your sleeping dreams and use them as gateways to other dimensions of reality where literally anything becomes possible-including the highest known forms of spiritual development.

Practice of the Night
A yoga holding out such benefits requires time to learn and discipline to practice, but surprisingly, it is open to virtually anyone prepared to make the necessary effort…and there are even computerized devices available in the United States to ease the way. Although largely unknown to occultists of the industrialized West, the Practice of the Night is an extraordinarily useful complement to the doctrines of astral magic and any work of Wicca involving the use of visualization.
I learned of the Practice of the Night while researching my new book, Occult Tibet, for Llewellyn. It was just one among many collections of techniques that make traditional Tibet a virtual goldmine of information for the Western esoteric practitioner.
Tibetan occultism as a whole has two main roots-the sublime spiritual insights of Tibetan Buddhism and the ancient teachings of Bön shamanism, the aboriginal religion of the country. Together with procedures imported from neighboring India and China, they combine to form an Esoteric Tradition of unparalleled power and authority.

Tibetan Marvels
As I investigated some of the most ancient practical texts of this tradition, I was astonished by the results achieved and delighted at the way Tibetan methods might be absorbed into Western magical practice. Alongside the claims of the texts themselves, European travelers brought back firsthand reports of marvels such as…
• The trance runners capable of carrying messages vast distances without food or rest. These lung-gom-pa, as they were known in Tibet, managed prodigious feats not through athletic training, but from mental disciplines that apparently influenced the weight of their bodies and led, in the advanced stages, to levitation.
• Thought forms visualized so strongly that they could actually be seen by others and sometimes took on a physical reality of their own. A unique use of thought-form technology was aimed at teaching students the fundamental nature of reality through a process analogous to the spirit evocations of Western magic.
• A near-forgotten science of sonics so potent it was reputed to have once been used to build a wall around the whole of Tibet and continued to be used right up to modern times to move vast blocks of stone with far less effort than the mechanized methods familiar to our so-called advanced industrial societies.
• A complete yoga of body heat which permitted-among other things-adepts to survive in the brutal sub-zero temperatures of the high Himalayas while wearing nothing more than a thin cotton robe. Practitioners of tumo, as this yoga was called, were required for their final initiation to dry three blankets soaked in a freezing mountain stream using body heat alone.

Create Your Own Tumo
Interestingly, you can sample the results of tumo for yourself next time the weather turns cold. Instead of turning up the central heating, try visualizing a fire at the level of your navel while embarking on a series of deep, rhythmic breaths. This, you will find, produces a subjective sensation of warmth and, once you get the hang of it, leads eventually to a measurable temperature rise in the extremities.
But this is a trivial technique when set against the full tumo training outlined in Occult Tibet. This takes years to complete and involves precise control of subtle energy flows largely unsuspected in the West. It can lead to ecstatic states and sometimes even mystical experience. In Tibet, occult practice often blended seamlessly into mysticism. In one well-known instance, a black magician eventually transformed himself into as spiritually-advanced a yogi as the country had ever seen.
My own determination to investigate the wellsprings of Himalayan occultism was originally stimulated by an unpleasant encounter with a negative aspect of Tibetan magic. I suspected there might be preserved techniques and insights of use to the Western Esoteric Tradition. The reality turned out to be a great deal richer than I had ever suspected. Before the cultural rape embarked on by the invading Chinese, conditions in Tibet encouraged an occult practice so advanced and so profound as to make the country the veritable magical capital of our planet.
In providing details of the major techniques, Occult Tibet is an attempt to present Tibetan esoteric insights to the West, yet does no more than scratch the surface of a treasure-trove.

PSYCHIC SPORTS

Broadcast: 14/09/2004

Reporter: Mark Simkin

Transcript

SIMKIN: On the outskirts of Japan’s ancient capital, Kyoto stands a sacred mountain. It is here, on Mount Hiei that the marathon monks live, pray and defy death.

The monks pursue enlightenment. What they put themselves through are so utterly extraordinary, it must rate as one of the most incredible and dangerous feats of endurance. These men may be the world’s greatest athletes.

It is 1.00 am and Genshin Fujinami is preparing for what lies ahead. White is the Buddhist colour of death. He wears it as a reminder his journey will take him to the limits of life itself and quite possibly, beyond.

Fujinami’s pilgrimage is more than 80 kilometres long. The monk will traverse the route every day for the next three and a half months. He’ll sleep for just two hours a night, then walk for seventeen hours only stopping to utter a few secret incantations.

An Olympic marathon is 42 kilometres. On each of the next 100 days, Fujinami will cover twice that distance. Unlike a professional athlete though, the forty four year old must traverse treacherous mountain trails, often in complete darkness. There are no high-tech supplements to keep him going, just a daily rice ball and a bowl of noodles.

FUJINAMI: The tough thing is to continue the training for one hundred days. If I was training for a marathon, I’d be able to rest at certain times. Without rest, an athlete cannot advance to the next step.

SIMKIN: The monk is approaching the conclusion of the “Kaihogyo”, seven years of tests and trials. By the end of it, if he survives, he will become a living saint.

Fujinami writes of a need to worship from the bottom of his heart. He once worked as a salary man, an office worker, but couldn’t find fulfilment. Eleven years ago he came to Mt Hiei, cutting his hair and all ties with his family, so he could join the marathon monks.

FUJINAMI: When I was a salary man, my life was passive. I was told to do this and that, and that was all. Since I was a child, I’ve dreamt about doing something where I can think by myself and there are many things in the monk’s world where I have to think for myself.

SIMKIN: The marathons monks are Buddhists from the Tendai sect. Their rules are strict, their lifestyle austere. The order has been conducting the Kaihogyo for more than one thousand years.

FUJINAMI: The purpose of the marathon is not to walk per se. We visit places of worship and we go there on foot. Then we go to another object of worship. It is like a pilgrimage.

SIMKIN: This man knows more about the marathon monks than any outsider. John Stevens is an expert in the art of aikido and an authority in the more gentle art of Buddhism. The professor studied at Mt Hiei and wrote a book about its special inhabitants.

JOHN STEVENS: I think even in, you know Australia the Aborigines have the same sort of practice that they will wander and they can feel where, I have to go to this place, the dreamtime?

SIMKIN: That’s right, “walkabout”.

JOHN STEVENS: Walkabout and this is the Japanese walkabout, the marathon monks.

SIMKIN: In all, Fujinami must spend 1000 days on the road in all seasons, in all conditions. The Kaihogyo allows Fujinami to commune with mother nature and discover his own inner nature. He is one of the slower marathon monks but appearances can be deceiving.

JOHN STEVENS: They walk it seems but if you’re next to them, they are really moving fast. I’ve known there’s been marathon runners who try to train with them, they can’t last than more than a week. They blow out then they poop out. They just have no energy left. They can’t, they can’t follow the course. They can keep up with them, the pace, but they can’t do it you know continuously. A week is the maximum.

SIMKIN; The road to enlightenment is strewn with jagged rocks, poisonous snakes and uneven ground. And yet it is traversed with hand-made straw sandals that offer little protection.

Fujinami goes through at least two, sometimes five pairs a day. His feet are left blistered, bruised and broken but he cannot stop. Under his robes Fujinami carried a rope and knife. If he fails to complete his mountain march, not matter what the reason, he must immediately hang or disembowel himself.

JOHN STEVENS: This is serious. There have been people who have died in practice. Along the roadside there you will see, “this monk died during training”.

FUJINAMI: You must think positively. Thinking positively, I believe I can continue until the end. I cannot allow myself to think “what if?”.

SIMKIN: In year five, the running is interrupted by something even more dangerous and demanding – the Doiri.

It is so secret, so sacred that television cameras are not allowed but this amateur footage provides a remarkable insight into Fujinami’s ordeal. He must go nine days without any food, drink or sleep. Inside the temple, the monk sits and prays.

JOHN STEVENS: There’s two monks always on each side of them guarding them so they don’t fall over, they don’t sleep. They’re very strict about not taking the food or water but the hardest thing seems though to keep your neck straight. Most of them say that. You know keeping erect, see the desire for food and water goes away but staying awake the whole time?

SIMKIN: Fujinami is only allowed to get up once every twenty-four hours when he fetches sacrificial water. On day one, the 200 metre trip to the well took a few minutes. Here, on day nine, the walk takes an agonising hour.

That he can walk at all is a miracle. According to medical theory, Fujinami should be dead. But the monk survives and emerges from his nine day fast weak but triumphant.

FUJINAMI: It became difficult to breathe the air. It was very hard, as if my internal organs were malfunctioning. Mentally I lost the capacity to think. I had expected to be able to meditate and concentrate but I lost the ability to think of anything.

SIMKIN: Different monks deal with the Doiri in different ways. This is the last man to complete the challenge – ten years ago. Gyosho Uehara is now a senior monk on Mt Hiei. He says that as the men come face to face with death, some develop a remarkable awareness of life, special powers of perception.

GYOSHO UEHARA: The Doiri is not about controlling worldly desires but denying them. This is why some marathon monks are able to hear the sound of ash falling from an incense stick or smell food being prepared at the foot of the mountain. It is as if they are visiting the world of the dead.

SIMKIN: In the final year of the Kaihogyo, as the Cherry Blossoms begin to bloom, the running monk exchanges the solitude of the mountain for the bustle of urban Kyoto. The new route takes him past geisha houses and love hotels, to the old part of town.

Fujinami visits the city’s ancient temples and shrines, stopping briefly at each. During this part of the challenge, some of the devoted walk with him. This man’s been helping the marathon monks for half a century.

PARISHIONER: I serve them because I believe they are living Gods of fire. In the old days it was an unsafe society and the parishioners wore swords. Their main duty was to guard the monk from ruffians. Now, our main duty is to control the traffic.

SIMKIN: There are other duties too. Providing food, money and a more physical kind of support, one of them pushes Fujinami along. Believers who cannot walk line the streets, begging for a blessing.

FUJINAMI; The Kaihogyo is not about the individual. It is something that is handed over, passed down from generation to generation, through oral tradition. Everything including the clothes is the same as it always was. The individual is not significant.

SIMKIN: Once a year, the marathon monks and their attendants venture deep into the mountains for a special retreat. It’s very different to the restrained, aesthetic world the men usually inhabit. The founder of the sect discovered God by jumping into a waterfall. His followers imitate the leap of faith. This is a select gathering. The Kaihogyo is so gruelling only 46 men have completed it in the last four centuries.

Of those who did and are still alive, Yusai Sakai is the undisputed champion, a national treasure and media superstar. These days he spends much of his time signing the many books that have been written about him.

During World War II, Sakai worked for Unit 731, the biological warfare unit that killed vast numbers of Chinese. When the war was lost, Sakai’s family started a noodle shop. It burnt down. He married a cousin, she committed suicide. Depressed and aimless, Sakai joined the marathon monks and began to run. He raced through one seven year challenge then, though aged in his fifties, began a second.

YUSAI SAKAI: Because I was lazy and had a good-for-nothing life, there was nothing else for me to do. Furthermore, when I was a child at school, I flunked my exams again and again. I completed the pilgrimage once but because I’d needed to do everything else in my life twice, I thought I’d better walk twice if I really wanted to achieve something.

SIMKIN: Looking at him now, it’s hard to believe how close this living God came to death. Sakai was attacked by a wild boar. His foot infected, the pain excruciating, the monk remembered that failure to complete the course requires suicide. He ensured that he would die if he passed out.

YUSAI SAKAI: After I lanced the wound, I propped the knife under my stomach like this. But fate intervened did it not? I do not know how or why but I survived.

SIMKIN: At age 61, Sakai completed his 2000th day on the road. Soon after, he was back on the track, revealing the mountain’s secrets to a new monk. The novice’s name was Genshin Fujinami, the man now undertaking a Kaihogyo of his own. Sakai is his master, responsible for guiding him through the seven year challenge.

YUSAI SAKAI: The message I wish to convey is please live each day as if it is your entire life. If you start something today, finish it today. Tomorrow is another world. Live life positively.

SIMKIN: It’s a message his disciple has taken to heart. Today, 1000 days and more than 46,000 kilometres after he began, the end is in sight. Fujinami has travelled far enough to have circled the globe. It’s an historic occasion. The journalists and disciples have come from across the country to witness it. The believers receive a final blessing and then, almost anti-climatically, it is all over.

FUJINAMI: I feel that I have accomplished a job. That is all. I do now know whether I should call it “enlightenment” or not but the training has taught me that everyone and everything is equal. Everything that is alive is equal. A human being is not special. There are no special things.

SIMKIN: The celebrations are held in Kyoto at the ancient Imperial Palace. Eight hundred people, including Fujinami’s master, Sakai, and the head monk, Uehara have come to pay their respects. Fujinami is now a national celebrity, an inspiration to Japanese workers.

JOHN STEVENS: The inspiration that if you train, no matter what it is, you can accomplish this and the whole idea is to bring out your inner nature, your Buddha nature. It’s realising your potential.

SIMKIN: Fujinami is a powerful symbol, embodying the determination and discipline that turned a war-ravaged nation into an industrial superpower.

PARISHIONER: The marathon monks who risk their lives by undergoing their training, sweep away our feelings of laziness. When I think about them, I am inspired.

SIMKIN: But fewer and fewer people are inspired enough to join or support the marathon monks. Fujinami believes young, modern Japanese have little interest in religion, sacrifice and tradition.

FUJINAMI: Japanese culture is gradually dying. I deeply regret the way Japanese people are embracing anything new and are not making much of the old things.

SIMKIN: And so, amid the celebrations, there are hints of uncertainty. The monks have a wonderful history but they wonder and worry about their place in Japan’s future. Who will be next to walk in Fujinami’s shoes, to follow in his footsteps.

http://www.millennium-tv.com/Monks.htm

http://www.runpunxsyrun.org/marathonmonks.html

Japan’s athlete monks run up to two marathons a day for 100 days on their path of enlightenment

James Davis
Sunday April 22, 2001
The London Observer

Some of the world’s best athletes will give a very good run for their money in today’s London Marathon, others will just pick up their appearance fee and potter round without threatening to win. The world’s top distance runners are well rewarded – the best earn one million dollars a year – and they reckon to run only two or three marathons a year.

What a comparison that is to a group of men who can claim – though they never do – to be the greatest, toughest, most committed athletes in the world. They run for no other reward than spiritual enlightenment, hoping to help themselves along the path of Buddha towards a personal awakening. They are the so-called ‘marathon monks’ of Mount Hiei, Japan.

The monks, known as Kaihigyo, are spiritual athletes from the Tendai Sect of Buddhism, based at Mount Hiei, which overlooks the ancient capital city of Kyoto.

The ultimate achievement is the completion of the 1,000-day challenge, which must surely be the most demanding physical and mental challenge in the world. Forget ultra-marathons and so-called iron-man events, this endurance challenge surpasses all others.

Only 46 men have completed the 1,000-day challenge since 1885. It takes seven years to complete, as the monks must undergo other Buddhist training in meditation and calligraphy, and perform general duties within the temple.

The first 300 days are basic training, during which the monks run 40km per day for 100 consecutive days. In the fourth and fifth years they run 40km each day for 200 consecutive days. That’s more or less a full marathon every day for more than six months.

The final two years of the 1000-day challenge are even more daunting. In the sixth year they run 60km each day for 100 consecutive days and in the seventh year they run 84km each day for 100 consecutive days. This is the equivalent of running two Olympic marathons back-to-back every day for 100 days.

Author John Stevens, in his book, The Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei describes the running style which dates back over a thousand years. ‘Eyes focused about 100 feet ahead while moving in a steady rhythm, keeping the head level, the shoulders relaxed, the back straight, and the nose aligned with the navel.’

What makes all these distances even more amazing is the manner and the conditions in which the monks run. These runs are usually begun at night and are over mountain paths that are uneven and poorly marked. During the winter months the low temperatures and snow are a great hindrance to the runners. These monks do not wear the latest in footwear and clothing, but run in straw sandals, an all-white outfit and a straw hat. They also run on a diet of vegetables, tofu and miso soup, which modern athletes and nutritionists would deem to be unsuitable for endurance events.

Not only do they wear clothes and shoes unsuited to running, but they have to carry books with directions and mantras to chant, food to offer along the way, candles for illumination, as well as a sheathed knife and a rope, known as the ‘cord of death’. These remind the monk of his duty to take his life if he fails, by hanging or self-disembowelment. The course is littered with unmarked graves, marking the spot where monks have taken their own lives. However, there have been no cases of monks’ suicides since the nineteenth century.

During theses long runs the monks must make stops at temples of worship that can number up to 260. This means that the 86km run can take up to 20 hours to complete leaving the monk with very little time for recovery or rest, but as an old saying goes: ‘Ten minutes’ sleep for a marathon monk is worth five hours of ordinary rest.’ They also learn to rest sections of their body while running, such as their arms or shoulders.

And then there is the doiri, where the monk faces seven days without food, water or sleep or rest. During this time the monk will spend his entire day reciting Buddhist chants and mantras – perhaps up to 100,000 each day. The only time the monk will leave the temple is at 2am to walk the 200m to a well and return with water to make an offering. He is not allowed to drink any himself and the 200m walk can take up to two hours in the final days of the fast. During his time spent meditating there are two monks who are in constant attention to ensure that he does not fall asleep.

For several weeks before doiri, the monk will reduce his food intake so his body can cope with the fast. The first day is no problem, but there is some nausea on the second and third days. By the fourth and fifth days the hunger pangs have disappeared, but the monk has become so dehydrated that there is no saliva in his mouth and he will begin to taste blood.

The purpose of doiri is to bring the monk face-to-face with death. During this fast, the monks develop extraordinary powers of sense. They talk of being able to hear the ashes of incense sticks fall to the ground and, perhaps unsurprisingly, of the ability to smell food being prepared miles away.

Physiologists, who have examined the monks after conclusion of the rite, find many of the symptoms of a ‘dead person’. Monks talk of experiencing a feeling of transparency where everything good, bad and neutral leaves their body and existence in itself is revealed in crystal clarity. Relatives of those who undergo this rite of passage talk of the difference that the seven days makes to those who undergo it. One remarked, ‘I always dismissed Buddhism as superstitious nonsense until I saw my brother step out of Myo-o-do [the name of the temple] after doiri. He was really a living Buddha.’

When the Japanese Emperor maintained his court in Kyoto, the monks were afforded a special thanksgiving service in the Imperial Palace after completing their 1,000-day term and the ‘marathon monks’ were the only people who were allowed to wear footwear in the presence of the Emperor.

Even today thousands will turn out to watch a monk nearing completion of a 1,000-day term, as he runs the old course that now passes through Kyoto’s shopping streets and the entertainment district, complete with its bars, restaurants and strip joints. Many turn up hoping to be blessed by these special monks whom they believe have powers to heal.

Japan has the largest number of marathon runners per capita in the world. From the Arctic northern island of Hokkaido to the balmy tropical islands of Okinawa in the Pacific, each and every town will organise a number of long-distance runs and each school will have a strong running club.

There is even a corporate-sponsored running league, whose teams are even allowed to have one foreigner in their team. Jeff Schiebler, a Canadian Olympic runner, is the only non-African foreigner who competes. He described what it is like to run in Japan. ‘It is totally different from anything in North America. They have multimillion-dollar contracts, team chefs, great training facilities. That kind of thing makes Japan a power in long-distance running. They go mad for road races. Kids there grow up wanting to be the next marathon champ.’

Japan’s love of marathon running was epitomised with the incredible outpouring of emotion that followed Naoko Takahashi’s victory in the women’s Olympic marathon in Sydney last year. The race and the prize-giving attracted a massive 84 per cent TV rating as the fresh-faced girl from the mountains of Gifu became the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic gold medal.

She became an overnight superstar and her face was splashed across newspapers, magazines and on talk shows. She even received The People’s Honour (only the third woman ever to do so) from the then prime minister Yoshiro Mori, who said: ‘You have given inspiration and encouragement to youngsters as well as a whole people by crossing the finish line with a refreshing smile.’

Very few runners will cross the finish line in London today with a ‘refreshing smile’ after 26 hard miles. Grimaces of exhaustion and relief will be a more common sight. However, after looking back at the 26 miles and a bit, there will be a feeling of great personal pride and achievement in their performance. Many will have achieved personal best times and others will have raised hundreds of pounds for charity. But will many of them be able to say they have gained something spiritually, as with the ‘marathon monks’ of Japan?

http://www.multidays.com/html/articles/marathonmonks.htm

http://www.trailrunnermag.com/features/feature%2019.html

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_44_41/ai_n15979361

Run for Peace

Delhi to Jaipur Ultramarathon (270 km at a stretch)

7^th – 8^th November 2001

Fulfillment in life comes from dreaming the impossible dream.

- Sri Chinmoy

It was November 7, 2001. The first Indian ultramarathon of its kind was to start from the Yojana Bhavan, Parliament Street, New Delhi at 1000 hours. The time was ripe but unfortunately I was stuck about 17 km away from the site due to traffic congestion. The worrisome minutes, however, passed and at 1040 hours my jeep reached Yojana Bhavan. I took it as my first reward to see that such a large number of well-wishers were anxiously waiting for me. It was a spectacular and historic scene for me. The people who have served Planning Commission for 35 years felt that they had never witnessed such a large crowd gathered in the compound of YB and there was no room in it. Why have these people gathered, why such a crowd of audience? For me only ! It, as such, worked as a phillip to my determination to scale down the distance of 270 km to reach the Pink City of Jaipur. I was going to run an extremely endurance run which was quite impossible for them even to think of it. Ultramarathon is a quite strange and perplexing word for the people. As it was getting already late, there left no time for meditation that was quite essential before starting my race. In a hurry after taking two glasses of water I just took a few minutes to be in my costume before arriving at the starting poing thickened well by my enthusiastic well-wishers to see me off for the marathon. Planning Commission termed my endeavour as a Peace Run at the juncture when the entire world was reeling under the shocking incidents of extremism. It was the first of its kind in the country after all; thus a historic one. This is what Mr. Sompal, Hon’ble Member, Planning Commission told and encouraged me for the venture I programmed for. I could see blessings, greetings and astonishment in everybody’s eyes. The people who had seen me practicing had no doubt about my performance and skill yet they were whispering that I had set a very big target at the beginning. But I had full trust in God who motivated me to perform such arduous task and He would fulfill it. At starting platform Mrs. Firoza Mehrotra, Adviser (Admn.), Planning Commission was also present and encouraged me. Amidst the applauding support from those gathered around, Mr. Sompal garlanded me and hugged me before flagging off my journey which was to terminate after 33 hours at Joravar Singh Gate in the Pink City.

At 1100 Shri Sompal flagged me off and kissed me like his own child and it was quite enthusiastic. I started my ambitious journey with taking a round of the building of Yojana Bhavan, by that time all the people gathered on the Parliament Street. Every one wanted to shake hand with me and to pat. Some people ran with me for a while. I set the target of 33 hours for the people but it was 32 hours for myself and I took off accordingly. Whether was hot with 33⁰ C. I was taking 200 ml water after every 15 minutes. I ran first 35 km at a speed of 11 km/hr. S/Shri Ravjit Singh, US, KMS Khalsa, SO, Satnam Singh, Karnail Singh, Narendra Gambhir, Rajan, Deepak, Jitender, and some other people of office went with me upto Delhi-Haryana border.

After 45 km the road was gaining height and circling anti clockwise like a velodrum which made my left leg remained on the upper side and the right leg on the down side and it caused pain in my outer side of the left knee. I took first break after 60 km where I changed my shoes. Blisters appeared on my right toe and both the little fingers. I put duct tape. At night about 10.00 PM I had covered 90 km and took almonds with 50 gm of butter. Crew member Dr. Anand gave me an injection “Voveran” for relieving me of my shooting pain. I wrapped my leg in the blanket and lay in the van for 20 minutes. It was very cool breeze and the temperature had gone to a minimum of 11⁰C. I wore my track suit and started running. I covered 100 km up to 11.30 PM in 12.30 hrs. Now 170 km were left which was still a big task ahead.

At night almost the road are empty and calm but the experience of highway was totally opposite and the loaded trucks were being driven very rash. Once our rear escort jeep had a miraculous escape and the driver started driving it on the verge of the road. Due to continuous pain, it seemed quite impossible for me to stick to my target of 32 hours. It was getting colder and I was shivering with cold. Crew members Hari Mohan Sharma and V.K. Garg encouraged me and Mr. Sharma joined me for few kilometers. Due to jerk in knee, I had to run in the form of brisk walking which resulted into deterioration of my speed and I could cover only 20 km in next 4.30 hours. I crossed Shahjahanpur Check Post, 120 km in 16.30 hours. It was Haryana-Rajasthan border.

Now 150 km remained to be covered in 16.30 hours. To cover this gap, I was to accelerate my speed otherwise it would be a failure to achieve my goal. In the last one year, I told every known of mine about this Ultramarathon race so that a sense of responsibility is always remembered by me. Besides, it was the question of reputation of my office which was kind enough to sponsor my race. Above all, Shri G.P. Grover, Dy. Secy. initiated this run to make it successful as if his own son was performing it He had great expectations from me and had a belief in my will, and I could not disappoint him. But for the precious and valuable suggestions given by my overseas guides and friends, regardless priority, Phil Essam, Yiannis Kouros, Richard, Mark Williams, Colin Gown, Francesca Anderson, and some others, it was quite impossible and Herculean’s task for me to successfully undergo this wild goose chase. They all said, “Believe in yourself and don’t give up” Keeping the fact in mind that my father and my sister along with officials of P.E.O., Jaipur and high dignitaries, gentry of the Pink City and others were waiting for me at the finishing point, I restored the energy and made sprint covering 75 km in 8.15 hours, thus enabling myself to cover a distance of 195 km in 23.45 hours.

10.45 AM of November 8. The weather was sunny and started getting hot gradually. I refreshed myself and got my shoes changed and a massage by Kuldeep and Ashwini.

No doubt my body told upon me and I was completely exhausted and weariness overpowered me. My team mates encourage me and I also stored all my confidence and energy. I recolleceted our forefathers, ancestors and our learned Gurus, a new fervor of energy instilled on me and overpowered my thoughts to reach the orientation peak and overcome all the obstacles and difficulties in the way. Except pain in my knee, I was physically and mentally totally alert and I’d crossed 195 kms in 23.45 hours. Still a distance of 75kms was left to be completed in 9 hours. The goal seemed nearer now and a thrill of resurrection zingled in my every tinge.

Due to desert area, it started hot soon and I was accustomed to run in hot season. I reached Mahoharpur Toll Plaza at 1.50 PM. It was 225 kms in 26 hours and 50 minutes. At this toll, Rs. 40/- is paid for every vehicle. But the toll incharge Mr. Narpat Singh allowed our escort vans to go through VIP channel as the motto of the run was for Peace and sponsored by Planning Commission, Govt. of India.

At 3.00 PM, I reached Chandwajee Police Station. Now Jaipur is 35 km ahead and still I had 5 hours. At this spot Jitender, Dinesh and Mr. Surendra Nagi of my office reached by their car. They could not stop themselves to see their friend at the finishing point at Jaipur. I felt a sense of renewal in my strength and energy to see them. Now I started brisk walk due to the fear if I run at a faster speed now, my knee may not swollen again and may still create problem to reach the finishing point. K.K. Sharma (Delhi State’s veteran best athlete for two years) accompanied me in my mission I wanted to complete my race within the stipulated period of 33 hours but my knee was not allowing putting excess strain over my legs.

20 kms before the finishing point, Paramjit Sharma, Rajeev Sharma, Jainender and Chander of my office reached by their car. I decided to have last respite and my energy again renewed. Ashok, Ashwini, Arvind (all my brothers), Kuldeep and Doctor also gave a massage to my legs. All of them helped me in all the way. Ashwini, my youngest brother (age 23) ran bare foot with me many kilometers with me throughout the journey. It shows the blood relation and affection. My elder brother, Ashok, who had no indication to go with me could not deprive himself and witnessing this great unique Marathon. After getting massage, I changed my dress and once again started to run. But my knee was again wanted not to cooperate with me.

I started walking at a speed of 8 minutes / km. Yet now, I have successfully completed 255 km. Still 15 km are left for the completion of this exclusive ultramarathon. I’ve taken a time of 31 hrs and 40 minutes. My target of 33 hrs now seemed impossible. I started panting and my heart started throbbing, as it was a regular steep hike. People from Jaipur on their bikes and scooters came to us and followed us. Steep hike starts from here. I did not care and suppressed my feelings of knee-ache, sped up. Mr. Kanhiya Lal Sharma also started running with me. He is Under Secretary in the Ministry of Foods & Public Distribution and Best Athlete (Veterans) of Delhi State for last two years. He encouraged me as an elder brother in every way from the birth of idea of Delhi to Jaipur run. Now, fifty minutes were left in 33 hours and a distance of 11 km. Here Dinesh conveyed me the message of good luck from Ravi Srinivasan of my office which was very much inspiring. Police Escort van started before 4 km from finishing point. Local people also started running with me. Except drivers, photographers & doctor all the crew members were also deriving pleasure in running with me. Finally, at 8.10 PM I entered Joravar Singh Gate. The distance of 270 km was completed in 33 hours and 1- minutes. It will prove a milestone in Ultrarunning in India. Almighty, omnipresent and omniscient God helped me in achieving this goal.

At finish point, Mr. Bhanwal Lal Meghwal, Hon’ble Minister for Youth & Sports, Govt. of Rajashtan welcomed me by garlanding and announced an Award of Rs. 5100/-. My younger sister Anju sweared my forehead with kumkum. The SDM, Jaipur City, Mr. Om Prakash, Head of P.E.O., Jaipur, Mr. Sharma, Supdt., P.E.O., Jaipur with their Staff and other Government officials extended a warm welcome to me. Mr. G.P. Grover, Dy. Secretary (Planning Commission) reached at finish point also and it was an unexplainable feeling for me. My father, who is a Principal in Central School, Jaipur was accompanied by the students. They had my autographs (a strange feeling and experience to me). They wanted to know about some clue for reason of this kind of feat, I told them they should have an ambition. If you are ambitious and honest in your mission, success will be always yours.

I am grateful to all who contributed in this mission in any form. If I have to name, then main motivation came from, regardless priority, my mother & father, Zola (both – Zola Budd and Zola Bhardwaj) & Sofia Bhardwaj (my daughters, I always feel disappointed when see no name of India in world-class athletics so when my elder daughter came to this beautiful earth, I set a goal for her to become Olympic gold medallist and to inspire her named after great Zola of South Africa. And chose myself only as an ideal before her and undertook ultramarathon), Al Howie (Trans-Canada runner, only after reading about his feat the bug of ultrarunning entered in my mind ), Yiannis Kouros, Vlastik, Matt Mahoney, Philip Essam, John Twartz, Francesca Conte, Richard Tout, Cliff Young, Colin Gowan, Dick Tout , Rod Dalitz, Sandra Barwick, Ultrarunning & Ultramag, Meenu (my colleague), Sunil & Joginder of K.L. Sharma’s office and many other unnamed. I should also give credit to my colleague Sharad Pant and my boss T.P. Biswas who always motivated me and very liberal to me.

A very big part of credit goes to my wife Sangeeta who is serving as a teacher in Central School, Rewari and lives there alone. I could not visit her for weeks and if went, almost stayed outside the house for running. She never let me down and always encouraged me. I have only one word for her, matchless.

Total intakes during the race: Water : 10 ltrs., Fruit juice : 10 ltrs, Butter: 50 gm, Almond : 250 gm, salt : 5 gms, Honey : 200 gm. 1 small piece of bread. 1 tablet = ibuprofen, 1 injection of Voveran

Bodyweight before the race = 63 kg ; after the race = 61 kg.

Used no walkman.

-Arun Kumar Bhardwaj

zolabharadwaj@yahoo.com

sofiabhardwaj@yahoo.com

My Six Days in Colac

The fullness in life lies in dreaming and manifesting the impossible dream. - Sri Chinmoy

Australian Six Days Race began at 1.00 PM on 17^th Nov. 2002 in Colac. It was an oval track of 400 m. at Colac Memorial Square. It is one amongst only four Six Day Races in the world. It was without any prize money, or incentive or whatsoever. It is to test that how much a person can pull on his strength, physical as well as mental. Ultramarathon – a sport that lacks any glamour or hype, but what ultrarunners possess is courage that defies common sense, mind power that defies science, and an iron will that is the envy of many. They shun conventional wisdom and physical limits.

Among the 26 participants, I was the youngest and that too without having any experience of such long multiday races. I was quiet novice barring few performances. I was the only runner from India and the others were from Australia, Canada, Hungary, Japan and New Zealand. One rule of the race was “No Crew, No Start”. So Mr. Phil Essam (a humane personality) crewed me for first 12 hours. After that he went back to Royal Australian Air Force base, Point Cook and deputed Mr. Warren with me for next 12 hours. Warren is a member of Australian National 100 Km Team. Being unable to withstand the biting chill at night, I had to remain outside the track for four hours. When I got up my whole body was aching and I almost started walking. Here I faced a strange thing (about which I heard very much) anything I want to eat it give a feeling of vomiting. Due to intense exertion and fatigue coupled with hunger, I had to slow down my speed and could cover 93.2 km in first 24 hours. At noon Warren went and Hemant , Baldev Singh and Choudhary came from Melbourne to see me. It was sense of relief to see them. Hemant is son of my colleague Mr. S.S. Rawat and had gone Australia for higher studies, Baldev is a taxi driver and married to an Aussie girl and Chaudhary had also gone there for higher education,

I discussed them it was quite hard without handler besides the cold was unbearable. After wearing 8 layers of uppers, two trousers and 2 woolen caps (one did not suffice), I still felt cold. I ask them to bring some rice, vegetable and something that could fill my belly. They brought vegetarian pizza and curd. They brought some fruits, chocolates and chips also (but I could not use them). The main rules of the race were that one has to cover at least 65 km in every single day and one cannot remain out of track for 6 hours at a stretch otherwise it would lead to elimination. Now we centered on only aim of completing the race and to escape from “Did Not Finish” (now I realize that it was my feeling of insecurity developed from absence of crew). After some time these three fellows went back. It was one of the toughest 6 Days Race in the world with 8 of top 20 of world’s best multiday runners and I am alone there from one billion Indians. I had the greatest responsibility of finishing the race. The main problem with me was of food. Whenever I had to stop for eating, my legs got stiff and it took a long time to renew the flow. The time in stopping & eating made me feel that race will be quite impossible to finish if it goes like this. So I stopped only when the hunger clawed on me. Though it covered some kilometers but it pained my legs, and particularly hips, due to continuous hunger and fatigue. I was continuously getting fax messages from my coach Mr. Phil, which gave me a source of inspiration. At night, before I could fall on to the track I went to the tent for relaxing myself. Pain and hunger made me asleep but without crew I rested more than 4 hours, against my wish. Though I was to take rest for four hours only, I continued to sleep for quarter to six hours. I perceived in my dream talking Mr. Bill Sutcliff, the President of the Race if Arun (myself) goes on sleeping for 15 minutes more, he would be eliminated from the race. Actually he was talking this to Michi outside my tent and I was lucky enough to wake up in time and thus saved myself from elimination. It was 2.00 am. I came out of the tent and Mr. Bill remarked “good”. I started shuffling. I felt my nose was bleeding. Shooting pain and extraordinary chill made me nightmare. The second day I covered 77 km.

Third day started at 1.00 PM, Nov. 19. I ran together with Mrs. Elvira Janosi, a top class experienced multiday runner. Her husband was a crew for her (and her coach also). She said to me, “You can do it” and “after four days you’ll feel happy”. Someone had rightly said that you can repay a debt but can’t repay the kindly words and her kind words gave me solace.

On that day I ate a little (which was my compulsion) resulting swelling in my legs and locking up the ankles. Mr. Phil came to know about my deteriorating health, he assured me of meeting on Wednesday in person. My problem was that I had to take soup from the hospitality tent which meant relaxing and then jam packing of my legs. On Wednesday Bill Sutcliff brought me some rice and some veg. Up to the end of third day I covered 255 km. Race Commentator Mr. Tony Rafferty was continuously giving me fax messages received from Phil. Some of my friends in Planning Commission also sent some emails to encourage. Now I was running with only one strategy, put one step after one. I started covering each lap with each alphabet of the names of my family members and in this way I distracted my attention and could some how prolonged my race. My condition worsened and the pain started from hip passing through my knees that stopped at my left ankle resulting in non-bending of it. The pangs and suffering of loneliness made me more miserable & I could not stop willy-nilly as to stop to relax may mean stoppage of my race. At 7.00 PM Mr. Phil came with his wife Belinda and daughter Laura. On seeing my condition he took me to Dr. Raymond Carroll, who is one of the best experienced physiotherapists in Australia and served in many Westfield Sydney to Melbourne ultramarathons. On examining, he opined that this symptom resembles and lead liver damage and I had to take something (like herbal soup) compulsorily to escape. He and his assistants gave me a good massage to fix the problem. Luckily a lady named Mary came for evening walk accompanied by a girl named Indira, originally from Kerala, India. Mary had been there in Colac for 31 years. Lady crew (I just not remembering her name) of Julie Shrag from Queensland inform her that an Indian boy is also running whose condition is very serious got weak and eating nothing. She had a talk with Mr. Phil and took me to her home and served with some rice, veg and delicious rayata. Phil had to go back at night. I saw pain and despair in his eyes and he gave me a hint to leave aside 500 km or Indian Record (478 km) but exhorted enthusiastically to complete the race. Belinda embraced me. They left.

Next morning I received a cassette from Mr. Pat Farmer, Member of Australian Parliament via Colin Gowan which is a documentary of Pat’s famous run around Australia “For The Centenary of Federation” in 1999 in which he ran 14,986 km in 195 days. During my stay with Colin, we visited Australian Parliament House in Canberra to meet him but due to the busy session we could not have a chance. Colin talked with his secretary about me and was assured that Mr. Pat will be informed. And, very unexpectedly, I was in receipt of this cassette. It was a nice feeling. This kind of generosity is the thing I found exceptionally common in all ultrarunners and also one reason why I love ultrarunning.

The 4^th and 5^th days were like the worst period of my life. Countless tears dropped off from my eyes. At night (I can not remember on which date) Tom Andrews showed me the growing moon over the trees and it was the most beautiful moon I had ever seen. I cannot forget that scenery forever. I had covered 327 km in four days. The pain was unbearable, unmatchable. It was something like pricking of my each and every nerve. I was mentally alert lest I should collapse of inattentiveness. I found a way to seek some strength from the fact that at the time of third delivery I accompanied my wife, Sangeeta, to hospital who bore calmly the delivery pain. We have heard that no pain is greater than this pain. So if a mother can cope, then why not we. I determined not to be tracked off myself , let others lift me out of track if any mishappening. If I forsake this race before finish line, it will be a treachery to more than one billion people whom I was representing, it will be disloyalty to my friends who had reposed boundless faith on me, it would be a disregard to my family and it would be an insulting & shame to my daughters, to whom I always sang stories of bravery & persistence. And to my apprentices. I choose Ultra to make them learn that impossible is not more than a word that exists in the confines of our minds. I thought people (mainly my Department’s) would pounce why he (Arun) went to strive wild goose chase when I did not have even capability to complete the race!

The fifth day dawned with good omen. Feeling refreshed, I started for my race with full spurt. Hardly had I completed an hour of my race and stopped to relax when it pained and could not budge even an inch. I could hardly cross one km in one hour. Only 44 hours left now and once again I found myself in the ocean of turbulence, as hardships never come alone. I was suffering of physical pain as well as the pain of loneliness. To relieve me of this situation, I took my walkman and started to listen my favourite music of ENIGMA MCMXC a.D. ‘The Limited Edition’. This is the cassette, which my daughter Zola likes while have to sleep in my lap, and so it became emotional and I found a great co-relation between tears and pain. With the dropping of every pearl from my eyes, it lessened my lacerating pain. What an entice of ultrarunning ! even tears are helpful.

40 hours remained. For the last time I went to information center to check the e-mails with the hope that a word of encouragement would be like to catch a straw while drowning. I got the messages from my bosom friends Colin Gowan and my coach Phil Essam. To my consternation I received hardly any message at this time of dire need from Planning Commission. Though the colleagues were whole heartedly backing me through the harmonious, cordial and inexplicable and inaudible voice of their heart. Through the results of the Race website, every four hourly, the Phone No and Fax No. were displayed of the Race venue. All my efforts to go to information center proved futile and I felt very disappointed. With extreme pain, I left an e-mail for them ending with “why don’t you send some lines, please send”, and went back to track again. Legs were so stiffed and extremely pained that if I had a rest at night and would think of starting in morning, I suspected whether I could be able to achieve the minimum 65 km to escape from elimination. I continued slowly, but steadily.

After some time, Jevvan McPhee came to me and offered himself to assist me. In this race God helped me in many shapes and Jevvan proved to be one. He is one of the top ultra runners of Australia but was unfortunately disqualified on the very third day of the Race because of being out of the track for more than 6 hours at a stretch. He also faced the same problem like me “no crew with him”. Though I always desired to ask him for some help if he could but I hesitated all the time. The same was the vision of McPhee, a coy and he also could not ask any one to get him up if he continues to sleep beyond six hours who ultimately fell a victim of the rule which debars an athlete who sleeps for more than six hours at a stretch. I assured him to complete the Race for him also. Time and again, he vigorously massaged my legs with painkiller gels. He himself put-off and put-on my shoes and socks and served me with soup, Milo, hot chocolate etc. It all alleviated my sufferings to some extent. After covering 38 km at that night, I relaxed and slept calmly and comfortably (for the first time) in his caravan under his vigil surveillance and as promised he got me up after exact 4 hours at 5.15 AM. After wards he went for a rest. Despite his adverse condition (his body was also very sore) he helped me to cover 65 km to avoid disqualification. It was a sunny day and with the rays of the Sun my faint body became blossomed and a bit active. This time Julie’s crew (I still not recollecting her name) also started to assist me. She regularly supplied juice, water, biscuits, ice creams etc. which were of profuse and immense vitality and strength to me. By the end of the 5^th day at 1 PM I had completed 74 km for fifth day and Jevvan McPhee astonished at my unexpected marvel performance. 402 km were completed in five days.

Now the last 24 hours were left to complete the destined Race. Although still a hard task ahead to accomplish but I started to see the light on the other end of the tunnel (Phil said it on second day but I took five days for it). As the Sun today again rose with every hope and inspiration to me eroding my languor and lugubrious state of mind. McPhee supplied a baked potato with some yogurt on it and we decided to first take a good massage and then start nonstop for the whole remaining time.

I set my heart upon hitting a target of at least 500 km. 65 km were inevitable to avoid debar from the Race and 77 km were necessary to surmount the Indian National Record for Six Days made by Thirtha Kumar Phani in 1987 and 98 km were required for 500 km (to be first Indian to cover 500 km in six days period). Because of McPhee’s continuous assistance I covered 32 km up to midnight. I was determined to complete the remaining period without any sleep or stoppage but I found that Jevvan has gone away (actually he was also doing a hard job even after his miserable condition, he was in some fever also, and he had to take rest). His leaving proved me very doleful and bitter and I could not move even an inch without continuous hot feeding. I was forced to take some rest and lay down in my tent and slept.

When I awoke it was 4.30 AM , only crucial 8.30 hours left now and 85 laps were must to surpass Indian Record. It was not difficult but not so easy also. I started slowly but surely, 10 laps per hour were necessary. Julie’s crew started serving me with eatables. She was much concerned for me from the starting. Then Mr. Miskin came to me (as ill-luck he had, he could not complete his race due to blistering) and asked what I wanted. I with lump in my throat and tears in my eyes told him that either way, 85 laps are essential to complete and asked for pain killer tablets. He gave me Panadol tablets and after 2-3 laps it worked. Jevvan had also came. I started to walk and talk with Brock Mckinlay (his wife was crewing for him who is also an ultrarunner) and two hours passed easily. His company diverted my mind from my body pain and my speed was accelerated up to 12 laps per hour. At 142 hours (approx.) the Indian Record of 478 km was equalized. Then I went to toilets and started to wear-off one layer of clothes per lap. Jevvan was amazed to see 8 layers. Now I was in shorts and single for the second time in the Race. The sun was above the head and it was a great warm day. I am used to run in hot weather. I accelerated my speed but it was momentary and my left knee ensued persistent intolerable pain, of which I had the premonition. For this time, I was with my Ram Ban (sure shot) which can never fail. I cherished the sweet memories of my loving children Yiannis, Sofia and Zola. I reiterated each alphabet of their names to cover every lap. It could never happen to jump a letter of the word or incomplete the word of my affectionate children. In the very last finishing hour I covered 10 km, which was the best performance of my any single hour in whole six days. Firstly I thought I covered 490 km, but it was 492.1 and I was ranked 15^th. It is the new Indian National Record , the first ever Indian to cover 300 miles in six days.

My strength

My weakness

(i) Inexperience: I had no experience of multiday footrace. In each sport a person always gets the lessons first and after making much deliberations and giving vent, a person gets the experience. But in Ultrarunning the scenario is otherwise. Here a person has the experience, the torments, hardships and intricacies, then only he learns a lesson from it. Unfortunately, in India such type of adventure or sporting events are neither held nor supported. Lack of experience tolled upon my performance beyond redemption. In preparation before the race I could only imagine a picture of the race, its probable hardships etc. and up to an extent I succeeded with my tactics. But on the other hand a utopian can only perceive the bottlenecks of paramount importance, but until and unless these are overcome, they come across as a stumbling blocks. No doubt the dreamers of the dream are the real makers of this universe but the dream should be practicable and the right infrastructure and paraphernalia be made available to realize it.

(ii) Weather : I could not withstand the biting chill and the freezing atmosphere. One of the reasons may be that I was losing strength and energy which was not being renewed due to less intake and resulting with low resistance power. The others were running in single pairs whereas I was running in eight layers of clothes and still the shivering was not getting rid of me. Running with eight layers in itself is quite ridiculous and embarrassing. The temperature varied around 3⁰ Centigrade which in Delhi hardly goes during the peak winter.

(iii) No handler: It was the worst and biggest weakness which stood in my way as a hurdle and cliff in my way, I was handicap without handler. It was quite arduous and unwilling to put off the shoes, socks, and to take eatables etc. I could not perform these necessary activities freely but did only when it was extreme, it also impairs the efficacy and strength. I personally felt the presence of a handler is indispensable. I would have definitely come up with better results had there been someone to render me his services in those pigmy affair. The 13^th finisher was only 10 km ahead of me. Without handler all the strenuous and odd jobs were to be done by myself which exaggerated my sufferings untold and unlimited or I can say that every little jobs (like lacing the shoes) became a very hard work. Hell with it! Without handler I could consume only one days of my usual diet through out all six days, which had also told upon my health an performance irretrievable.

I am indebted to Planning Commission who extended all help, morally, ethically and monetarily to perform this colossal task. Though I would specially name Mr. Rajan Katoch, Jt. Secy. and Mr. G.P. Grover, Dy. Secy. who whole heartedly persistently forwarded my case to make it possible and Mr. K.C. Pant, Dy. Chairman for his kind permission to enable to participate in this esteemed race.

I extended my gratitude to my parents, my loving wife and kids who prompted me to devote my most of the time in preparation.

I am grateful to Mr. Colin John Gowan who has bestowed so much faith and strength during a-week stay with him in Sydney. The departing words of Colin’s wife Penny “Don’t be nervous” are still delighting in my mind and echoing in my heart and, thus, igniting a source of energy. To the previous guiding messages from George Audley, Tom Andrews, Andrew Lovy and Mihaly Molnar during my preparation for this race. To Jennifer Suzzane (crew with Andrew Lovy from USA), Michi (crew with Akihiro from Japan), Tom Andrews (USA). Very much to David Jones (Aus) who always continued to ask me for a smile and laughed every time I smile. I am very thankful to the race commentator Tony Rafferty (a veteran with many ultra marathon world records in his profile) who put strength and imposed responsibility on me by announcing time and again “he is the only Ultrarunner from a country of one billion people”. It aimed me to complete the race besides renewing my energy. My thanks go to my friends who sent me e-mails that were like oasis in the desert of loneliness.

I am proud of my family in which I got the atmosphere and I have become one among the billion. And afterall, I am indeed grateful to all Ultra Marathon Runners because of whom Ultrarunning is.

At the end I want to write down some of my favourite quotes:

1. Enjoy your pain, you’ve earned it. – Anonymous

2. The only way to define your limits is by going beyond them. – Anonymous

3. It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer or deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

- Theodor Roosevelt, Sorbonne, Paris, April 23,1910.

- Arun Kumar Bhardwaj (with many thanks to Ms. Harita Gaur, a student of Bhagini Nivedita College,Delhi for her immense help in preparing this Report).