"Each step forward has a sacred meaning of its own" Sri Chinmoy
Sri Chinmoy Sports Day - 1 Mile Race - St John's University - Queens, New York
Sport's Day 2023 was a great experience and I was able to claim silver in the 50+ men's 1 Mile Race. This year, I came back with the aim of defending that position, knowing that Granantan was still a class way above me in my category and Pushkar (also significantly faster) might take part too. Anyway, the competition side is just for motivation and fun, what matters most is self-transcendence and with virtually no speed sessions or short races in the weeks leading up to this 2024 edition of Sports Day, I set my sights on nothing more ambitious than going sub-6 for the mile. On the day I cycled to the track at St John's, enjoyed watching the 400s and shot put, then started to prepare with a long and gentle warmup and some stretching. Before the 1-Mile came the 800m Race Walk and Pushkar won that easily, but he then decided not to line up for the mile as well. After all, he had the 3100 coming up and probably didn't want to risk it.
When we finally did line up for the Mile, it was quite a big field and quite a range of ages and speeds. Abinabha, still recovering from an accident and hip surgery, told me he was aiming for 5.45-5.50 so I decided to start behind him and see how things went. Pratul, as you can see in the photo, was racing in bare feet. Others had carbon-plate supershoes.
Early on I found myself running behind the determined pairing of Nirbhasa and Cliff, who would later go on to contest the 47 and take the top two places. In the Mile they were stronger than I was, but still within sight for most of the race. Granantan and Jwalanta were behind me along with the barefoot Pratul. 50+ runners had yellow numbers so you could see who was in the senior race. The pace was pretty tough and after 2 laps I saw the half mile time flash up on my watch at 2:58.
The third lap was pure survival - I was running at max speed and racing all-out, feeling mentally clear and with everything inwardly calm while outwardly it was all frenetic motion. Granantan eased past me in the last 100m on the straight and while I surged as much as I could, I simply couldn't stay with his pace. We finished with Granantan first, me second, Jwalanta narrowly edging out Pratul for third. We were starting to lap other runners as we came over the line as you can see. The final time was 5.54 for me, so I managed to hit both targets - sub-6 and silver medal.
That was a pleasing and fun race, something I need to enjoy while I can as next year there will be more - younger and faster - moving into my category and the medals will soon be out of reach. On the other hand, I can set myself the goal of maintaining my speed as each year passes. Or I could stop doing longer runs and train specifically for the mile? Who knows what life-circumstances will dictate, but the great thing is I am still able to run and enjoy races as I have done for 30+ years now since my first ever event back in Paris (which I think was in early '94).
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