Sri Chinmoy ... Sports

Sri Chinmoy founded the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in 1977 as a service to the running community and to promote physical fitness and self-transcendence through sports.

Sri Chinmoy was born in East Bengal, India (now Bangladesh) in 1931. A talented and accomplished athlete in his youth, Sri Chinmoy was for 16 years the top-ranked sprinter and twice the decathlon champion in the spiritual community where he grew up. An all-round sportsman, he also excelled in soccer, volleyball and table tennis.

Since making his home in America in 1964 Sri Chinmoy, an avid sports enthusiast, continues to place emphasis upon the spiritual benefits of physical fitness - particularly running. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was an active long distance runner, completing 22 marathons and 5 ultras.

In 1981, to celebrate his 50th birthday, Sri Chinmoy along with several hundred of his students completed a "Grand Prix" of 31 days of races - with a cumulative distance of 50 miles - events ranged from 400 metres to 5 miles.

For many years - particularly during the 1980's and 1990's - Sri Chinmoy played tennis almost every day - often practicing for 2, 3, or 4 hours at a time - such is his enthusiasm for the game.

Sri Chinmoy also competed in track-and-field events and Masters Games ... including the World Masters Games in Puerto Rico in 1983, and the World Veterans Games in Miyazaki, Japan in 1993. In 1995, Sri Chinmoy participated in masters 100 metre races at invitational track meets at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, and Athletic New Zealand's Ericsson Stadium in Auckland.

Sri Chinmoy finishing a 47 miler

... Queens, New York 1980

Sri Chinmoy as a young sprinter

Sri Chinmoy took up weight-lifting in the mid 1980s and over the years has set several records in the calf-raise and the one-arm lift - including an astonishing 7,063 3/4 pound (3,205 kg) lift with the right arm on January 30 1987.

Sri Chinmoy believes that a balanced lifestyle fosters harmony and inner peace. His integral approach to life encourages physical fitness and sports as a vehicle for personal transformation.

" There are countless people on earth who do not believe in the inner strength or inner life. They feel that the outer life is everything. I do not agree with them," he says. " There is an inner life; there is spirit, and my ablility to lift heavy weights proves that it can work in matter as well. I am doing these lifts with the physical body, but the power is coming from an inner source, from my prayer and meditation."

Sri Chinmoy jogging

Sri Chinmoy practiced not only for the joy of it, and to keep the body fit but also because he sees sports as a natural means for expressing his philosophy of self-transcndence. Inspired by his example, several of his students have attempted to stretch their own personal limits - setting new world records in various fields, running multi-day races, swimming the English Channel and climbing some of the worlds highest mountains.

Over the years the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team has become the largest sponsor of ultra-distance running in the world. In New York City, the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team stages a number of ultra-marathons ranging in distances from 47 to 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometres - the world's longest certified race).

Internationally the Team has staged the National 24 Hour Championships in Switzerland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

In Canberra, Australia the Sri Chinmoy Triathlon Festival is the most comprehensive in the Southern Hemisphere, with 7 events over 3 days attracting over 2,000 competitors annually.

Sri Chinmoy has written and lectured extensively on the subject of running and training, and has answered hundred of questions on the importance of sports and physical fitness as avenues for spiritual growth.

"What gives life its value,
If not its constant cry
For self-transcendence?"
~Sri Chinmoy~

Sri Chinmoy has been a lifelong advocate of the benefits of sports and physical fitness and the following is a chronicle of his own remarkable athletic endeavours.

Running Personal Bests ...

Masters Sprints to Ultra-marathons

Since coming to the West in 1964, Sri Chinmoy has completed 241 races, including 22 marathons and 5 ultramarathons

11 Jul 1992	100m 13.67 seconds Sri Chinmoy Masters Games, Queens, NY
11 Jul 1992	200m 29.69 seconds Sri Chinmoy Masters Games, Queens, NY
27 Sep 1983	400m 72.66 seconds World Masters Games, San Juan, PR
29 Jul 1981	800m 2:47 Sri Chinmoy Grand Prix, Queens, NY
27 Jun 1982	1500m 6:30 Sri Chinmoy Race, Queens, NY
02 Aug 1981	1 mile 6:23 Sri Chinmoy Grand Prix, Queens, NY
29 Mar 1981	2 miles 13:42 (6:51 pace) Sri Chinmoy Race, Westport, CT
06 Jun 1979	3 miles 22:21 (7:27 pace) Sri Chinmoy Race, Scottsdale, AZ
17 May 1980	3.1 miles/5k 22:12 (7:09 pace) Great North Fork Footrace, Greenport, NY
23 Mar 1980	3.5 miles 25:29 (7:09 pace) March Speed Run, Brooklyn, NY
07 Aug 1982	4 miles* 30:33 (7:34 pace) Summer Blahs Race, Central Park, NY, NY
11 July 1982	5 miles* 38:11 (7:38 pace) Sri Chinmoy Race, Queens, NY
10 Oct 1981	6.2 miles/10k* 54:11 (8:48 pace) Foliage Run, Ringwood, NJ
30 Mar 1980	7 miles 51:18 (7:19 pace) Sri Chinmoy Race, Fairfield, CT
23 Sep 1979	10 miles 1:23:47 (8:23 pace) Sri Chinmoy Race, Greenwich, CT
13 Sep 1981	13 miles* 2:01:30 (9:20 pace) Sri Chinmoy Marathon (first 13 miles), Plainsboro, NJ
15 Nov 1981	13.1 miles* 1:55:24 (8:48 pace) Sri Chinmoy Half-Marathon, Queens, NY
04 Oct 1981	15.5 miles/25k 2:30:35 (9:43 pace) New York City Marathon Tune-Up, Central Park, NY, NY
25 Mar 1979	26.2 miles 3:55:07 (8:58 pace) Heart-Watchers Marathon, Toledo, OH
27 Aug 1980	47 miles 11:27:24 Sri Chinmoy Ultramarathon, Queens, NY

* The following are unofficial split times that surpass the above race times

27 Jul 1982	4 miles 30:21 Rhode Island
27 Jul 1982	5 miles 38:07 Rhode Island
27 Jul 1982	6.2 miles/10k 47:11 Rhode Island
02 May 1982	13 miles 1:54:04 Newsday L.I. Marathon, Long Island, NY
02 May 1982	13.1 miles 1:54:30 Newsday L.I. Marathon, Long Island, NY

Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart

Up to June 2004, Sri Chinmoy has lifted 7,027 individuals overhead with one arm

Weightlifting

30 Jan 1987	7063 ¾-lb One-arm Lift (right arm)
04 Aug 1988	7040 ¼-lb One-arm Lift (left arm)
19 Feb 2000	Standing Overhead Double Dumbbell Lift, 1300 lbs
15 Oct 2000	1000-lb Double Dumbbell Bench Press
28 Nov-6 Dec 2002	Lifted 1000 lambs in a Seated Double-Arm Overhead Lift in 6 lifting sessions, New Zealand
10 Dec - 16 Dec 2002	Lifted 100 cows in an Overhead Platform Standing Calf Raise Lift in 3 lifting sessions, New Zealand
12 Apr 2004	800-lb Seated Overhead Double Dumbbell Lift
11 Apr 2004	Lifted 146,931 lbs in one day- a record number, 20,000 lbs or 10 tons more than he did at his 2002 public weightlifting exhibition
11 April 2004	Lifted own body weight of 177 lbs (including apparatus) 100 times with his left arm from a seated position, 1 minute, 17 seconds
12 Apr 2004	10 reps of 400-lb Crunch Abdomen-Ups

Rainbow-Dreamers Feats

21 Apr 1996	Standing Vertical Jump, 18 ¼"
03 May 1996	Standing High Jump, 35"
16 Jun 1996	Vertical Jump onto a Platform, 33"
22 Feb 1997	79 baskets out of 100 from foul line

Rainbow-Dreamers Bodybuilding Exercises

30 Apr 1996	Step-Ups Wearing a Weighted Vest, 100 step-ups with 50-lb vest
16 Jun 1996	Walking with a 100-lb Weighted Vest, 250 metres
17 Aug 1996	Crunch Sit-Ups, 13,000 in 2 hours, 40 minutes

Tennis

13 Jun 1977	Sri Chinmoy started playing tennis

Push-ups

07 Jan 1986

2,230 in 59 minutes 50 seconds, Kyoto, Japan

"Run and Become
Become and Run.
Run to Succeed in the Outer World,
Become to Proceed in the Inner World."
~Sri Chinmoy

Page created by Simahin Pierce, last updated on Thursday, October 8, 2009

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