"Each step forward has a sacred meaning of its own"   Sri Chinmoy

2 Mile Race - Jamaica High School block - New York - August 25, 2024

The race I have run more times than any other came around on 24 August, just 3 days after my 1-miler at Sports Day and 2 days before the year's big hallenge - the Self-Transcendence 47 Miler. I always want to do well at the 2 milers, both in New York and the Christmas Trip and Joy-Day gatherings, but at Celebrations you are often running fatigued and in tough conditions so there has to be that element of surrender. It's a case of do the best you can with the energy you have.

At the start Anugata read out the Race Prayer, one about sprinting along the path of sunshine-bliss, which lifted everyone. He also announced that there would be awards for the top seven, which instantly aroused my competitive instinct. To get top 7 at Celebrations would be a good result. I had an advantage over many of the runners warming up on Gothic Drive that morning in that I hadn't run the marathon in Rockland the day before, but it was a fairly big field in the race and I knew several runners would beat me easily even with the full 26.2 miles still in their legs from the day before.

I lined up near the front, just behind Roger and close to Prachar (both of those being fast starters) then after the silence when we hear the Go! I went for it. Around the bend and over the rise I felt pretty good - it was hot and humid and I was sweating just from my warmup but it was OK. As we came down towards the left hander, where Utpal always used to stand and shout split times, I counted off the runners taking the turn ahead of me and worked out I was in 9th place. So, I set myself the target of reeling in 2 or 3 to try and get up to 6th, that way I could fade later and lose a place and still be in the fruit.

As we approached the finish line (which you pass twice in this race before you actually finish) I opted for the road instead of the sidewalk, following Budjargaal Byambaa who had done the same. The Mongolian multi-dayer was a couple of places ahead of me, but Todor and Carlos in between had stuck to the pavement and I'd lost them from view behind the line of parked cars down 84th Avenue. When I came back on to the sidewalk behind Budjargaal I had edged ahead of them both and was now in what I guessed to be seventh place.

Up the hill I still felt good, down past the corner of Goose Pond with the brilliant morning sunshine crazily strobing between the railings of Jamaica High school, I felt the familiar sensations of being up in the max effort zone with more than half the race still ahead. My watch was pinging up half-mile times - the first a 3.08 and the second a 3.04 which came up as I chased the faster runners down past Uptal's corner and then past the clock and the gaggle of helpers and onlookers gathered around it. The runners up ahead were stretching out their lead and I was struggling hard to pull them back, that game of widening/narrowing gap continuing as I drifted into more rapid breathing, staying on the limit of my ability and hoping it would be enough to get me the 12:30 I was chasing and hopefully a place too.

The second mile was - well, like you'd expect the second mile to be. Budjargaal proved to fast for me to reel in, but his steady pace was what helped me push myself and stay on course to hit my target. The guys behind were never within earshot - there was no approach of exhausted, breathless gasping or heavy footfalls behind me. Eventually the final rise along 168th street came, the runner ahead accelarating while I had nothing left to give, just short strides up and over then down on to 84th for a surge to the finish and a final time of 12:26. That earned me 7th, which I was pleased with (having set myself a goal and then run hard to achieve it).

Ahead of me lay a couple of days of staying loose and trying to avoid getting ill or overtired, so I could arrive in one piece at the start of the 47. That would be my first road-ultra (run in reverse on the same course as the 2-miler) in 19 years.

 
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