Before the race we never assessed what delivering 210km would mean in terms of positioning, but it was largely irrelevant, this event was about going the distance and learning from the experience. As the sun set, France was looming – and all through the night, the lights were just there before us – though day had dawned before the pilot finally declared the water too shallow for the boat to proceed and bid Karteek to swim ashore alone. My goal was to try and achieve the GB team qualifying distance for the World 24 hr champs next year 210 km (131 miles), but just didn’t expect I could run over 140 miles.”

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He had an excellent experience, and this reenergized his swimming. In 1999 Karteek successfully entered and completed the Lake Zürich 26-km race put on by the Swiss Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team. Finally, in 1997 he had his breakthrough first successful Channel crossing, which he describes as a «long hard swim» that took 11 hours and 57 minutes. (to put this in perspective, he routinely does two back-to-back days of six hours each for his crossings these days) However, unlike most people (such as 99.99% of us), he went down to Dover shortly after and spent only a few weeks swimming in the harbor, perhaps doing one six-hour swim, his longest swim ever up to that time!

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• Burkina Faso’s debt crisis continued until the mid-2000s, when it was finally granted significant debt relief by the IMF and World Bank.
• Now that Sri Chinmoy is no longer with us physically, Karteek still feels an inner urge to continue his Channel swimming; he has completed eleven at the time of writing.
• At this time the rest of the world ceases to exist and its just the runners, counters and helpers and together they create this amazing atmosphere.
• (to put this in perspective, he routinely does two back-to-back days of six hours each for his crossings these days)
• In 1999 Karteek successfully entered and completed the Lake Zürich 26-km race put on by the Swiss Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.
• Most controversially was his response to a teachers strike, when he sacked thousands of teachers, replacing them with an army of citizens teachers who were often completely unqualified.

Tejvan Pettinger of Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team finished 7th, in a time of 1.06. The event was held at Cadwell Motor Park and the Lincolnshire countryside. Sri Chinmoy told him that while patience was needed to do long distance swimming, “you also need to develop speed,” as “speed is determination”. In reminiscing about these phone calls, Karteek remembers that while outwardly at times he might wonder what the point would be in repeating the swim, in each case Sri Chinmoy acted as the “perfect psychologist” as he puts it. Karteek agreed readily and proceeded to do just that, undergoing adverse conditions and having difficult crossings on each occasion.

Previous races

If nothing else, none of our customers need ever feel intimidated by our shop as they know they can all complete a marathon quicker than at least one of the staff! After the first lap my body settled into the running and before I knew it, I was at the 8 mile mark, from then on it was all self transcendence as I was going further than I had run in nearly 4 years. Unfortunatley I couldn’t hear it as I was at the back of 750 runners but I felt his peaceful, meditative presence and as I crossed the start line, I saw his Sankra Casino light flooded smile. When I was finally feeling myself again, I went out one morning full of enthusiasm, over did it and promptly got the first serious running injury of my life!

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• This vibrancy functions to introduce the work in a manner accessible to all; Thomas Sankara was a man of the people, and this series is one for the same.
• So focused were we on keeping John moving that I miscounted the last few laps and we very happy to finish with 219km and a fourth position.
• I have never run a 24 Hour race but I have helped at many over the years and each time the race draws to an end, I feel such happiness and pride in the runners.
• My initial concerns about having lots of time to fill during the 24 hours failed to materialise as we soon got into a rhythm of preparing food, tracking pace, monitoring distance, supporting toilet breaks and satisfying John’s every whim.
• I also had the joy of seeing my sister complete her first marathon (noticeably quicker than me) and my father complete his umpteenth despite an ongoing hip problem.
• The icing on the cake was the fourth place finish, I believe that John secretly hoped for a top 10 finish, but was still more interested in getting the distance.
• With the understanding that a 24 hour race is all about distance over time, they all know, that they can push their mileage up some way, in those last 2 hours.

I made my way to Weston College where other runners congregated to change. When I was young I was highly competitive, and then I made the decision that I was to be one of those runners that ran just to keep fit, to supplement by footballing ambitions. The shots above show the run through the streets and some of the faster runners as well as the race start.
It wasn’t until half way through the third year, after months of treatment from a brilliant cranial osteopath, that I was finally able to start running again. During the second year cycling became possible and walking easier but running was still a complete no-no. My last marathon was the New York in 2000, which I completed in a P.B. On 25th August I completed the Self Transcendence Marathon.
The medical crew too, all too aware of what Geoff has been trying to achieve are monitoring from a distance, but seemed happy he is in good hands. We will still put the time forward for ratification, as we believe it is the first time an 80 year old has run 100 miles in a continuous effort. At the 24hour hooter everyone stops and drops the little marker they have been carrying the last few minutes so the final part lap can be recorded.

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Well my first shocking experience was when after the second helf point turn I noticed that I needed 47 minutes for one quarter of the loop. Three hundred athletes from thirty six countries started together in the warm waters of the jetty. First time in my life, I really trained for a race and I could feel why Sri Chinmoy puts such an emphasis on importance of physical fitness. I read the «Spiritual meaning of the Triathlon» by Sri Chinmoy and a card from my dear friend Alison (Ironman New Zealand finisher) before I went to bed. While Linda was trying to get some bananas for me from the night market, I went to the race info once again – I was feeling OK. The day before the race we had the bus tour on the course, the race briefing, and the bike and gear check-in.

The competition is between the runner and the distance not the individual competitors. I always feel it as soon as I arrive at the track in the evening after work and found myself a little surprised in the first few hours because it wasn’t there. At this time the rest of the world ceases to exist and its just the runners, counters and helpers and together they create this amazing atmosphere. Agnes finished the Langkawi International Ironman Triathlon in a time of 16 hours 28 minutes, the cut-off time was 17 hours. I would never even make it to the start without the help and inspiration of all these people. People with iron bodies, oneness hearts, sweet smiles.
Not far to go now; Boris was preparing himself to get in the water to accompany Angikar the last 500 yards to the small secluded beach we could just see with the aid of a powerful spotlight on the boat. Singing The Invocation on a boat in the English Channel, I could feel Sri Chinmoy’s presence come more to the fore, and Angikar later told us that it had helped him considerably. It is around here that swimmers often tire, and the fatigue of the body and the resistance of the mind start to become strong. During the whole distance he had been swimming at 48 strokes per minute. So when we give energy drinks, etc. to Angikar we have to lower the bottle over the side of the boat on a string, and he must eat or drink while treading water. Then Angikar walked back into the water, dived in, and started his epic journey.
Yes the second half was going to be considerably slower and I could already feel my body protesting, but I was going to complete the race! Each loop is 3 miles; long enough for you to feel you’ve achieved something with each lap, but short enough for you to survive until the medical tent if you get any problems. It gave me so much joy to see my very slow times gradually improve over the weeks and I will never forget the feeling of absolute euphoria and gratitude when I completed my first 4 mile race. Thomas Sankara had great belief in people – not just the people of Burkina Faso or Africa, but people across the world.
The three-loop bike course is fairly flat and is followed by the four lap run course. Despite the huge number of runners, the 4 waved starts and wide course meant that it mostly didn’t feel too congested, apart from at a couple of narrower bottlenecks which even then weren’t too bad. At 10.00 the gun exploded and wet sand under foot I jogged off to see the fast, serious runners sprint like gazelles across the beach. Steve thought he heard a distance of 220km being called, but that could not have been, I had tracked all the way and was positive that we had only made 219 and a lap or so, the holy grail of 220km was not achieved!