Sharani

Suprabha's Running Feet – Photo by Sharani

Last night I watched a fantastically inspiring documentary about one of my all-time heroes, a record-breaking multi-day runner named Suprabha Beckjord. A gift shop owner from Washington, DC, she has run in the Self-Transcendence 3100 mile race every summer for the last 12 years and is:

• *the only person to finish the race every year it has been held.
• *the only woman to ever compete in the race.
• *the only American to run the race in a field of 14 people from around the world last year in 2008.

This monumental race held over a 51 day period in Queens, New York is the longest certified road race in the world and is hosted by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.

The Spirit of a Runner is a documentary about Suprabha’s ultra-running career – especially her years of participation in the 3100. The film also offers a window into the race itself and the inspiration from the Marathon Team’s founder Sri Chinmoy.

This film by Jessie Beers-Altman, a student at the Boston University College of Communication, won third prize in one of the divisions of the Redstone Film Festival in 2009. Here is a trailer to the film on YouTube:

I was so inspired by this film that it brought me to tears while watching it. The next morning I woke up full of enthusiasm for life in general and for being a part of the Sri Chinmoy Centre in particular. It translated into a marathon-length (for me!) session of meditation where our centre gathers in Queens, New York. I meditated at home starting at 5 am then continued at the outdoor meditation area we call Aspiration-Ground from 6 to 9 am. The meditative morning brought a harvest of joy, gratitude and peace. Now some might say why didn’t the film inspire me to get up early and go running instead of to sit and meditate? I can only answer – good point! Maybe tomorrow it will energize my athletic activities instead of my meditation.

Related: Photos I took of Suprabha on the race course during the 2007 3100 Mile Race.

Last Tuesday, I headed out of the house to take a quick stroll before finishing up preparations to leave for work. I did not have much time left before leaving for my 12 noon starting shift. I really wanted to take some exercise regardless and headed out the door in the opposite direction of my usual routes in the neighborhood.

That cramped schedule ended up leading to a delightful discovery. I walked towards Veteran’s Memorial Parkway, a roadway alongside a bike path, a short distance from my house. Since cars go zooming by on the Parkway, I don’t typically think of walking towards and beyond that road.

Today, however, I found myself coming out to the parkway from a street that showed a little park with picnic tables, grills, etc. directly on the other side. I glanced at my watch and decided that I had enough time to go exploring.

A little brook with a wooden bridge over it beckoned and a small pond past that had an abundance of frogs inside it. Just past the pond, a trail led into some woods and off I went. I wondered if this woods eventually led to the East Bay Bike Path since I sometimes walked in the woods adjacent to that path.

I came upon another little stream with a log over it for crossing and just then a woman and her two cute dogs came from that direction. I asked her about this woods and she said she thought it was Squantum Woods State Park along with some of the Exxon Mobil woods land that they have near where the ships unload oil.

Satisfied to know what I had discovered, I turned back for home and a mere fifteen minutes later was back at my house to shower and dress for work.

I marveled to find somewhere new to explore so close to my house, in a short window of time carved out before going in on a late shift day of work. I also felt a little embarrassed that I have lived here for 10 1/2 years and never noticed Squantum Woods before. It served as an important reminder that beauty and divinity are often right under our nose. We only have to open our hearts to see it and remember that with a spirit of intention we can always carve out time for what we value.

Here is a poem I wrote recently for Panorama, an anthology of poetry written by students of Sri Chinmoy. Its theme resonates with my experience of carving out time to walk that morning and find something new.

Divinecarving

Carve out time
from the Sun’s
fleeting face.
Carve your place
at the table
of grace.
Carve a map
your spiritual
life can trace.
Carve
G
O
D
in your heart’s
deep embrace.

-Sharani

I went back to Squantum Woods with a camera on my next day off of work a few days later. I measured that it is a mere half mile from my house and I did follow it out to the bike path. It comes out near the Squantum Association Private Club and offers a view from the opposite side of a small cove that I have photographed a gazillion times from the opposite side. Here is a slideshow of a few of the photos I took at Squantum Woods: