Featured stories from around the world

Unfortunately, we have not been able to hold our Portishead Triathlon as usual. However Garga, our race organiser has put together this guide to how to train while staying withing guidelines.

Training tips 2021 (pdf)

The 2020 edition of the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence Race was held in Salzburg, Austria with five runners attempting to complete the 3,100 miles (nearly 5,000km). Usually, the race is held in New York, US, but due to Covid could not occur this year. Undaunted by the challenges of organising this epic race at short notice, a team of volunteers put on an excellent race around a scenic 1km loop in Salzburg. Although the race numbers were limited to five runners, the event required the dedicated support of helpers, cooks, counters and marshalls to ensure the safe running of this event. Event organiser Priyavadin Reisecker, who runs The Heart of Joy cafe in Salzburg, ensured that the race was able to offer this unique event in the new location. The organisers and runners also had to deal with one of the wettest autumns on record and frequent rain - which made the race more challenging for the 16 hour days.

The standout performance of the race was the remarkable achievements of race debutant Andrea Marcato (38) from Italy. His time of 43 days, 12 hours, 7 minutes is a record for a first-time entrant and the fifth fastest finish of all time. He also set multiple Italian distance records during his run and is now ranked fifth worldwide. After finishing he said:

“I am really happy that I basically covered all the distances, which are available in the world. So I am really happy and satisfied now. The feeling of deep satisfaction, inner peace and joy, which I perceived for a whole month after finishing 10-day races motivated me to run the world's longest certified road race. A feeling which I did not get after 24-hour races.”

A report of his final day is available here, and some of Marcato's statistics can be seen in this summary here.

In second place, was Austrian Ushika Muckenhumer (52)  who lives serendipitously close to the course. He finished with a personal best time of 49 days, 14 hours, 13 minutes and was ably encouraged by his family and friends. During the race, he also received the particular support of the Austrian President who sent the runners a message of good wishes for their feats of self-transcendence.

“I can't even imagine what it is like to run constantly through 52 days. Yes, I like to go hiking for a few hours. But running 52 days, 118 marathons - unbelievable! What a breathtaking endurance performance. You are assured of my respect. I wish all participating athletes, especially the Salzburg local hero Hubert Muckenhumer, all the best, lots of success and the necessary perseverance for the next extremely challenging days of running ” (link)

In third place was Nirbhasa Magee from Ireland. It was Magee's fourth finish out of four entries to the race - a great record made more remarkable for his period of illness during the race which left him with an understandable feeling of exhaustion. However, battling through tiredness, he walked for several days and was able to finish on the last day after accumulating a buffer in the earlier part of the race.

Ananda-Lahari Zuscin, 45, from Slovakia could not finish within the allotted time, but cheerfully raced for 51 days to accumulate 2799.6 miles. Zuskin has finished the race on six occasions and is one of the most frequent entrants, impressing watchers with his cheerfulness and determination, no matter how fast he is able to run.

Milan Javornicky, 46, from the Czech Republic was another first-time entrant and he achieved his own feat of self-transcendence, overcoming painful shin splints to manage 2,713.9 miles. Despite his obvious discomfort for much of the race, he was determined to keep going and run as best he could.

All five runners in their own different ways lived up to the ideal of self-transcendence, which Sri Chinmoy has made the heart of the race.

    “I do not have any set goal; my goal is self-transcendence. I always try to transcend myself. I do not compete with the rest of the world. I compete only with myself, and I try to become a better human being. This is my ultimate goal.”

– Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy, a spiritual teacher himself was a notable athlete, running several marathons and ultra-marathons. He founded the 3100 Mile Race in 1996 as the ultimate test for runners to challenger their own physical, mental and spiritual limits. In particular, speaking at the first awards ceremony on 2 August 1997, Sri Chinmoy envisaged the wider impact of this special race to spread goodwill and peaceful energy.

 "This 3,100 miles is an unprecedented journey in our world-peace-manifestation-dream. World-peace can come into existence only when we are inundated with patience and perseverance. Infinite patience we need in our inner life and perseverance we need in our outer life.

    These 3,100 miles remind us of one divine and supreme reality: we can and we must do everything at our command to transform the world of lethargy and unwillingness to be dynamic. Unwillingness we do not leave behind us. Therefore happiness remains always a far cry. Willingness to give, willingness to achieve, willingness to grow and glow should be the message of our souls. With our souls' blessings we can and will fulfil our earthly life." - Sri Chinmoy

Local support

The race also captured the imagination of many locals who got used to seeing the runners and helpers out on the course. Many remarked on how they were inspired by the runners and how the race had a noticeable impact on the atmosphere of the park

 "I've been noticing the tent for days, but I thought it was just one of the many charity events. Now I know the data, facts and background. You need time to really understand it. These five men make the impossible possible. We come here every day now." Race coverage local press

Local Kindergarten teacher Präauer was reported in the local press as saying:

"Since the beginning of the race there has been a subtle and even more clear change in the living space in our area. The peaceful coexistence becomes visible every day. Total strangers talk to each other, look at each other, are interested....There is a new openness for many who enter and use this park: walkers, runners, cyclists, children and again more children, dogs, people of many nationalities and in between the athletes who meditatively and actively dedicate their life to peace. I am happy with everyone who experiences this. And I am happy for the many children who are watching enthusiastically and are given new role models." Article on the race

The event has been covered in several papers across Europe including

• Italian wins 5,000 km race
• TV Clip
• Translation of Austrian TV Report
• 3100 Mile race video by Run and Become
• Irishman on verge of completing 3,100 miles at Independent.ie
• Podcast with Nirbhasa Magee

Further reading

• 3100 Mile race homepage
• All media links

• Main gallery of race photos
• Bijoy's photos
• Vaibhava's photos.

It was mostly cloudy all day, at night the rain came. Andrea the Great finished before the rain started. 

On this special day, the excitement began to grow throughout the day in anticipation of Andrea's glorious finish. An archway of balloons was constructed on the finish line. A victory cake had been prepared for the occasion. At the end of his penultimate lap, Andrea was given an Italian flag and a 3100-mile race flag to carry in each hand around the final lap. He was also adorned with a cape in the Green, White and Red colours of his national flag. He flew around the course in the dark and everyone waited for him to emerge along the final straightaway. As the flying and fearless hero finally came into sight, a great cheer went up from the spectators, who had formed a socially distanced wave to bring him to the finish line. Fireworks were lit and rose petals thrown. Conches were blown and bells were rung.

After 43 day and 12 hours, Andrea completed his heroic endeavour, brimming with joy and energy. He took a seat and his fellow countryman, Nivedak Corradini, placed the victory laurel on his head. He sat like a Roman emperor, basking in the delight. He finished the 3100 miles in 43 days, 12 hours, 7 minutes and 26 seconds. New record for the best first timer!!! He is the 5th person who finished the 3100-Mile Race under 44 days. And averaged over 71 miles per day. 

Photo: Bijoy's - photos of finish.

He ran the second half of the race faster than the first. The little ceremony was done with a few of Sri Chinmoy’s songs, a short speech from our race director Smarana (he himself has run the 3100 ten times) and then from Andrea.

A huge cake was given on Andrea’s lap. He was sitting on the side of the scoreboard. Afterwards he went for another ten laps to finish 5000km. After completing the 5000km landmark he did one final ‘Gratitude-Lap’. Impressive!

Andrea mentioned that the last three days felt for him longer than the whole race before. 

What I saw in him was a sportsman on the peak of his physical fitness. Also mentally and emotionally very strong being over 20 years a spiritual son of Sri Chinmoy. Andrea is a man full of determination and at the same time full of sweetest heart-power. 

Ushika brought it up to 101,2 km, which brought him the honour of the winner of the day because Andrea finished 6 hours before the day ended. If Ushika keeps going like this he will finish Sunday night. Milan achieved 91,8 km. He is having a good teamwork with Diogo his handler from Portugal. Thank you Diogo! Plus quite a few friends from Czech Republic were visiting this weekend. 

Nirbhasa had little energy this day. But still he could manage to bring it up to 93,9 km, which gave him the 2nd place for the day. His brother Sadanand is a great helper! Thank you Sadanand!

Ananda-Lahari is still walking, doing the same mileage as yesterday 80,3 km. He finished the day at 11:46 pm. Yesterday during the day he met me at the course and said it is a real Victory, isn’t it? Of course meaning the whole race…. 

Priyavadin

 

Andrea Marcato, 38, from Italy won the pandemic version of the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race, that was held in Salzburg, Austria. The athletic Mr Marcato, who currently lives in Zurich, became the fastest first-time runner to finish the longest multi-day race on the calendar, completing 3100 miles in 43 days+12:07:26. He averaged 114.480 km/ 71.268 miles per day. Out of the 49 people in the world who have completed the 3100 mile race, he is now ranked fifth fastest. To give some insight into his physical prowess, Andrea ran his first 1000 miles in 14:05:20:20- an Italian national record. His second 1000 miles improved to 14:01:56:27. His third was the best of the three- 13:23:14:10. Self-transcendence was the order of the race for Mr Marcato.

He and four other men have been running up to 18 hours a day since September 13th. The four other competitors have another eight days to reach the 3100-mile goal. The venue was only secured, and permission obtained for the race to take place not even two weeks before the start.

The 3100 Mile Race was the gift vision of Sri Chinmoy (1931-2007), a spiritual master of the highest order, originally from South India, whose Marathon Team, founded in 1977, has been putting on multi-day events in New York since 1985. The first 3100 Mile Race was held in 1997. All the previous versions have been on a 883.2 meter course in Jamaica, NY. Because of cancellation due to covid-19, the Salzburg effort was a boon to this group of starters. A beautiful, accessible park with spectacular vistas may have helped the happy Mr Marcato climb to new heights in the running world. The smiling helpers, encouraging at all hours of the day and night, were also a major factor. Thank you Salzburg and Austria, you have made the 3100 family very proud and humble at the same time.

Hometown stat:

Ushika Muckenhumer- 2700 miles- 43:07:29:30

Go runners…. Always

Sahishnu

Related

• Media article on Race - Salzburg.orf

As the Sri Chinmoy 3100 Mile Self-Transcendence Race enters its fourth week, the five intrepid runners are digging deep into their physical, mental and spiritual reserves as they accumulate seemingly impossible volumes of mileage. The current President of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, recently sent a letter to the runners offering his personal encouragement for this uniquely challenging and inspiring event.

Translation of letter

Dear participants to the 3100 mile race in Salzburg!

I simply cannot imagine how it is to run 52 days. I enjoy hiking myself. But to run for 52 days, 118 marathons – incredible! What an incredible feat of endurance! You deserve my respect.

I wish all the participants, and especially the local hero Hubert Muckenhumer, all the best, success and the necessary endurance for the rest of the race.

My best greetings,
Alexander Van der Bellen
(President of Austria)

 

After 21 days of running, first-time entrant, Andrea Marcato (Italy) is heading the field with a very impressive total of 2376.2 miles. Andrea is getting close to passing the halfway mark.

The race has received media coverage from both local and national press.

• Video at EFE
• Video at SN.at
• Salzburger Nachrichten
• 5000 km Lauf (Deutsch)

Other links

• Videos by Bipin
• Photo Gallery

On 13 September 2020, the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race began in Salzburg Austria, with five intrepid runners taking to the start line. Over the next 52 days, the runners will endeavour to complete the epic challenge of running 3,100 miles (just shy of 5,000km) which means they must maintain an average of 60 miles a day.

For the past 23 years, the race has been run in Jamaica, Queens, New York. However, it was clearly not possible to run the race this year in New York as usual. But many runners and race supporters were keen to maintain this special annual race, and so finally (after exploring courses in the Czech Republic and Slovakia) a venue has been found in Salzburg, Austria. The race field has been limited to five runners and will strictly adhere to local health standards to ensure the safety of runners and helpers.

The race was founded by spiritual teacher and ultra-runner pioneer Sri Chinmoy, who saw distance running as a vehicle to enable runners to bring to the fore their physical, mental and spiritual capacities to complete this unique challenge. This year will mark the 24th edition of the race.

    “We have to believe in a higher Power.
    Only by believing in a higher Power
    Can we go beyond and beyond
    Our limited, human capacity.”

    – Sri Chinmoy

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In this year's race, these are the five runners who will be taking to the start line.

• Nirbhasa Magee, 41 (IRL), living in Reykjavik, Iceland - 3 finishes, ranked 22nd
• Ananda-Lahari Zuscin, 45, Kosice Slovakia - 6 finishes, ranked 25th
• Ushika Muckenhumer, 52, Salzburg, Austria - 1 finish, ranked 30th
• Andrea Marcato, 38 (ITA), living in Zurich, Switzerland - first-time runner, two times over 1000km in 10 day race
• Milan Javornicky, 46, Celakocice, CZE  - first-time runner, 569 miles in ten-day race

Over the next two months, you will be able to follow the race through photos, videos and race reports. Definitely we welcome visitors trackside, so if you are in the area (or if it's safe to travel) please come and stop by! We hope you will be inspired by the efforts and inspiration of the runners in this race. Race Director Rupantar Larosso who lives in NY, US said on the eve of the race "It is great the race is going ahead and I wish all the runners and supporters the best of  luck"

 

Abhejali Bernardová (43), from the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in the Czech Republic, is the 10th person in history to complete the Oceans Seven series of open water swims. In a recent interview with Steven Munatones on the World Open Water Swimmming Association website, shares highlights of her incredible Oceans Seven ultramarathon swimming journey, which began in 2011 when she swam the English Channel. She also talks about her journey from a competitive swimmer to one of a prolific marathon swimmer who travels the world and loves to inspire others to develop their own true potential.

Abhejali is ranked as one of the World’s 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women, having completed swims in the English Channel, North Channel, Tsugaru Channel, Catalina Channel, Molokai Channel, Cook Strait, Strait of Gibraltar, International Self-Transcendence Sri Chinmoy Marathon-Swim Rapperswil-Zurich, Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, and Robben Island in South Africa. She also founded the 6 hour indoor swimming challenge in Zlin, which has become a hugely popular event for relays and solo-swimmers, organized by the Czech Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.

Here a summary of her Oceans Seven Journey in pictures:

The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team has been involved in open water swimming since the 1980's. In 1985 the first two members of our team swam the English Channel under the CSA (Channel Swimming Association), and since then members of the Marathon Team have completed the crossing almost 50 times, the second-most of any team.

• Article on World Open Water Swimming Association website

This week, the Irish Examiner featured an interview with Nirbhasa Magee. Nirbhasa, from Ireland and currently living in Iceland, is a three-time finisher of Sri Chinmoy 3100-Mile Self Transcendence Race. Nirbhasa first completed the race in 2015, and last year (2019) he finished in second place with a personal best of 48 days+09:04:57. The article by Cathal Dennehy examines the inspiration and motivations which help Magee accomplish this Herculean effort.

Read the full article

 

In the interview, Nirbhasa explains how he copes with the intimidating distance of 3,100 miles.

“It was always very important to never think of the whole thing. Sometimes all you want is to get to the next break, then hopefully once you lay down a bit it’s a different race. You need a very good inner feeling for how far you can push it. It becomes a spiritual exercise. You have to run for the right reasons; if you run for ego or vanity, it’s reflected in the decisions you make and the outcomes of those decisions: injuries, heat exhaustion.”

For nearly two months of the year, Nirbhasa is running around one small half-mile loop in Jamaica, Queens, New York. Whilst this may seem very challenging from an outer perspective, Magee reveals how the complete immersion in the race, and the atmosphere of self-giving that surrounds it, gives him a profoundly different outlook on life when the race is over.

"If I have issues or something that keeps annoying me in normal life, when I finish the race that isn’t even a thing anymore. You do these races and realise there are very few real problems in my life. You get this real perspective that comes from inner peace.” 

Harita Davies is one of only eight women to complete the Sri Chinmoy 3100 Mile Self-Transcendence race with two finishes and a best time of 51 days+09:35:20 (in 2019). In a new podcast produced by Nathan Gardner at "We can remake the world" Davies gives an hour-long interview talking about meditation, peace, self-transcendence and the experience of completing the world's longest race. During the interview, Harita gives insights into how meditation can help tap into a deeper part of one's being - an essential aspect in a race as gruelling and challenging as the 3100 Mile Race. She also talks with Nathan about the work of Sri Chinmoy in promoting peace, meditation and running activities. Harita also talks about the support and inspiration she gained from people around the world whilst running the 2019 race as the only woman in the field.

"I feel our state of mind and consciousness can have a direct impact on the world, and through the practise of meditation we can develop a greater awareness of how we can affect the world in a positive way."

- Harita Davies from Podcast.

Nathan Gardner also interviewed another great female 3100 Mile Runner Yolanda Holder.

Listen now

• Choosing Peace: Harita Davies
• Podcast at Sound Cloud
• Know your goal: never give up  - Podcast with Yolanda Holder

In March, 3100: Run and Become, premiered in Canberra, Australia, and included a live Skype interview with the director, Sanjay Rawal, from New York. The Sydney Morning Herald had this to say about the film:

"It's a race that goes so long that runners often stop for a haircut along the way. They eat all the ice cream, cookies and chips they can manage yet still lose up to 15 kilograms. And they run laps around a New York city block for almost 5000 kilometres. In the world of extreme sports, the "3100" has to be one of the most extreme." For the complete story...

Another article about the film just appeared in the Guardian, and interviews Rawal and 15-time finisher of the race, Asprihanal Aalto from Finland.

Watching it now – as the world’s major cities including New York are in shutdown – feels jarring, a reminder of the freedoms we have lost: to be outside in bustling streets, where people move with purpose; to run and to breathe without fear. More...

Since its initial release last year in the US, the documentary film 3100: Run and Become has been gradually rolled out across the globe. The film travels the world to celebrate the importance of running to the human soul, with a particular emphasis on our very own Sri Chinmoy Self-Trancendence 3100-Mile Race. Now the film has reached new Zealand and Australia, with premiere screenings in February and March.

New Zealand schedule

• 11 February Rialto Cinemas, Auckland • tickets »
• 13-14 February Lumiere Cinemas, Christchurch • tickets »
• 17 February Penthouse Cinemas, Wellington • tickets »

While previewing the film, Stuff (New Zealand's biggest news website) interviewed Harita Davies (pictured above) from Christchurch, who completed the race in 2017 and 2019:

"What am I doing? It's crazy! That was the thought of New Zealander Harita Davies as she stepped up to the start line of the world's longest running race....The New-York based Cantabrian was the first New Zealand female to run the 3100. She's now done it twice." For the complete article...

For those of you looking to tackle an ultra race and see a bit of the world at the same time, here's our 2020 calendar of ultradistance races, featuring races from places as far and wide as Kazakhstan, Mongolia and New Zealand. Of course, our perennial favourites are still there, including the Ten and Six Day race and the 3100 Mile Race (both in New York) but maybe this year some people might be up for something new - for example, how about ringing in the New Year in 2021 by running the 24 hour race in Smolensk, Russia which starts on 31 December and ends on 1 January?

We here at the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team definitely believe that sport is something beyond mere competition and beating the other guy into the dust - it can actually be a key part of one's self-discovery and finding true meaning in life. It is something our race founder and spiritual Teacher, Sri Chinmoy, advocated for many years, and we must admit we do find it kind of nice when we see people appreciating that philosophy in various places! Here are some such instances in recent months:

1. Rise of the Ultrarunners

Dean Karnazes called this book the the definitive book on ultra running today, and it made quite a few sports-books-of-the-year shortlists in 2019.  The author, Adharanand Finn, previously wrote a nice article in the Guardian about our 24 hour race in London, and then as part of his research into this book came back the next year to do the race himself. 

“This race holds a bizarre fascination for me. I love the way it merges the mundane with the epic, people attempting mind-boggling feats not out in the Himalayas or the depths of the jungle, but on a running track in Tooting in south London. It shows that you don’t have to go to the far corners of the Earth to find adventure, enlightenment, craziness, or whatever it is we’re all seeking, but that it exists everywhere if you just open your eyes.” (quote from the book)

His story of the race takes up a whole chapter (chapter 11, if you're interested) and is not only an amazing story of his own reaching the point where he considers quitting, but then breaks through into a whole other level of experience, but is also an extremely touching tribute to the many ordinary extraordinary people who also did the race with him, some of them in their seventies. The book tracks his running journey through many other ultradistance races, and at the same time opens a window for the uninitiated into the whole weird and wonderful world of ultrarunning itself. The book can be purchased on Amazon here...

2. Runner's tribe

In his January 10, 2020 column in Runnerstribe.com, Matt Fitzgerald (author of books such as The Endurance Diet and 80/20 Running) explores famous marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge's philosophy on running:

"There’s nothing unique about Kipchoge in this regard. Endurance racing is a spiritual experience for many athletes. Indeed, it’s almost impossible for a spiritually sensitive person to experience endurance racing non-spiritually, which is why spiritual leaders including Sri Chinmoy, an Indian-born advocate of meditation and running influential in the U.S. in the late 20th century, have promoted it even to nonathletes. “The inner running and the outer running complement each other,” Chinmoy wrote. “For outer running, we need discipline. Without a life of discipline, we cannot succeed in any walk of life. So when we do outer running, it reminds us of the inner running.” For the complete article...

 

Impossibility Challenger was an event founded in 1982 by Sri Chinmoy with the idea to give people the chance to transcend their limitations and make an effort to set a new world record or personal best. The event is organised by members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre and, in the past few decades, has been held in several cities around the world The unique event attracts a diverse range of participants who are keen to test themselves in the friendly and welcoming atmosphere of 'Impossibility Challenger'.

This years edition was held in Den Haag, Netherlands, and attracted a range of record breakers from quickest time to solve a Rubik's cube and tests of memory - to physical challenges such as the fastest running whilst skipping.

Video of the event

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Sri Chinmoy encouraged this event because he felt that the personal effort and discipline of trying to better oneself could give a more meaningful understanding of our latent capacities and this effort to reach new achievements would give a genuine sense of happiness. Sri Chinmoy often described this effort of challenging ourself as a philosophy of 'self-transcendence'.

Either forget impossibility’s challenge
Or challenge impossibility’s pride
To become truly happy.

- Sri Chinmoy

At this year's event, one of the participants was Ashrita Furman, who holds the Guinness World Record for having the most world records. In a record-breaking career, since 1979, he has set over 700 Guinness Records and currently holds more than 200. At this event, he set a new record for cutting 59 kiwis in a minute and also - completing 66 rounds of juggling a burning torch, within one minute.

The event attracted a range of self-transcendence feats - including push-ups, paper folding, skipping, sack racing and fastest one-handed hand-clap. It also included an epic feat of poetry recital. American Mahiruha Klein recited, over a period of several hours, 1,000 poems of Sri Chinmoy from the poetry series "The Golden Boat"  He later commented that he recited from memory 965 absolutely correct, with just a few slips in the other 35 poems. For Mahiruha, the long period of the recital was not about the outer display of memory, but a very rewarding inner experience to become immersed in a world of spiritual poetry.

The event attracted substantial media coverage from the local Dutch press who covered the unique challenges of the event.

Related

• Impossibility Challenger website

Recently, quite a few national records were set at our 48-hour race in Vinnytsia, including 370 km for the first-placed man. 52 athletes participated from all over Europe - mainly from the Ukraine but also from other countries such as Moldova and Belarus and even from as far away as Luxembourg and Sweden.

The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team also had a stand at this year's Wizzair Kyiv City Marathon Expo, where 17,000 participants came for starter packs. We had a great time interacting with all the runners, providing them with Sri Chinmoy's books, videos, and flyers for our coming events!

The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in Australia has continued to be as active as ever during the winter months Down Under. Melbourne’s popular race series drew large crowds while Brisbane is also in the act with a suite of race venues gathering momentum - they recently had their largest race field, with over 300 finishers!

The oldest event on the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team calendar in Australia is the 24-Hour race, which has been staged for 39 years variously in Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Campbelltown (south of Sydney). The most recent edition was held in Campbelltown in June, featuring a 12-Hour, 6-Hour and Marathon races in lanes 3 and 4 in addition to the marquee 24 Hour event staged in lanes 1 and 2, the track was abuzz with energy and excitement with 100 runners going through their paces at various times of the day.

That race was the final instalment of this race in Campbelltown, as it will now be incorporated into a brand new format...

Mark down 20–22 March 2020 in your diary as the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team will stage the 48 Hour Track Festival at the prestigious Australian Institute of Sport Track in Canberra. The Festival will revolve around a 48-Hour track race and will also include the 24-Hour race and a 6-Hour races as well as a Midnight Marathon, Half-Marathons and “Saturday Night at the Track” (a track meet under lights with distances ranging from 1,000 metres to 10,000 metres). The evening before the races kick off, after runners have enjoyed their welcome dinner at “My Rainbow-Dreams” cafe, we will have the Australian premiere of the hit ultrarunning film 3100: Run and Become with director Sanjay Rawal in attendance in a special outdoor screening.