Self Transcendence Races in Thailand

Members of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team from all over the world were gathered in Thailand this winter (06-07) and 1-mile and 2-mile races were a regular feature of the trip.

I was in Thailand during February, where we were lucky enough to have access to the local athletic stadium, with a fantastic 400m track. It was hot, as you'd expect, but the early start (7.45am) meant that we avoided he worst of the heat and humidity - conditions were good enough for quite a few PBs.

Each race was preceded by a run through the streets of around two miles to reach the track - the easy-to-follow route kept to the city wall and moat but the air on that polluted ring road was so bad that most of us took a route into the old city itself and ran up the streets and sois (back lanes) with the occasional wrong turn! Chiang Mai is a beautiful town, with numerous temples, their open doors revealing huge golden Buddhas.For runners, though, the air quality really is an issue so those of us needing to run long distances had to head out of town and run in the hills or at the Huay Tung Tao reservoir.

On the track, Tristan, Arthur and Luke dominated the men's race while Gharbitashri was always out in front for the women. Dhavala from Edinburgh was in good form, and regularly came a close second. Sri Chinmoy came to every race, and despite some severe knee and shoulder problems was able to complete laps of the track before each race, receiving thunderous applause from the hundreds of runners present, most of whom had taken up running just because of his inspiration.

The shots above show the run through the streets and some of the faster runners as well as the race start. I don't have all the results, but here are those from a 1-miler and a 2-miler which I managed to get off the race director's laptop, to give you an idea of the standard.

Self Transcendence 1 Mile Race, Chiang Mai Athletic Stadium, Thailand, Feb 07

Womens Race

Mens Race

Self Transcendence 2 Mile Race, Chiang Mai Athletic Stadium, Thailand, Feb 07

Womens Race

Mens Race