Marathon: A Story, A Question, A Poem- by Sri Chinmoy

The following are three short, illumining and entertaining creations of the hundreds of writings Sri Chinmoy offered about running. His running and his writing, among the many other activities that he mastered, have inspired many people over the years, myself included.

The Sub-Three Marathoner

Today one of the disciples was telling me that he met a very good runner while running in Flushing Meadow Park. This man had told the disciple that he often sees me running and that he thought I was a sub-three-hour marathoner because I was so thin and I looked like I was in such good shape. The disciple was very polite and told the runner that I was hoping to break three and a half hours in the New York Marathon. He didn't tell him my previous bullock-cart marathon times.

-16 October 1979

Question: How can we benefit spiritually from training for and running marathons?

Sri Chinmoy: The marathon is a long journey. Of course, there is also the ultramarathon, but the marathon is unique and it will always remain unparalleled among long-distance runs. Just as the marathon is a long journey on the outer plane, so is spirituality a long, longer, longest journey on the inner plane. Your own spiritual run is birthless and deathless; it is endless.

When you run a marathon, you are trying to accomplish on the physical plane something most difficult and arduous. When you do this, it gives you joy because it reminds you of what you are trying to accomplish on the inner plane. As you are determined to complete the longest journey on the outer plane, the marathon, so are you determined to reach the Goal in your inner journey. The one journey will always remind you of the other. The outer journey will remind you of your inner journey toward God-realisation, and the inner journey will remind you of your outer journey toward God-manifestation.

“The spiritual life is a marathon,

An inner marathon which never ends.

The Supreme is begging

All His seeker-children

To be excellent runners-

To run speedily, like deer-

In this eternal inner journey.”

Sri Chinmoy