Šri Činmojevo spontano poimanje neograničenog potencijala koji leži unutar svakog od nas navelo ga je da izume sportske poduhvate izdržljivosti koji su se drugima činili kao da premašuju granice ljudskih mogućnosti. Najupečatljiviji primer je, svakako, Trka Samoprevazilaženja na 3100 Milja (približno 5000km) koja se od 1997. godine redovno održava u Njujorku i još uvek je najduža setifikovana drumska trka na svetu.
by the Snow Country Legends team
The day dawned and we headed out from the Snow Country Ski Lodge in Jindabyne, hang on....it was pitch black and 7 degrees as we set off for Kalkite and still dark when we reached the boat ramp where as our swimmer Laurie observed"theres no point starting I cant see any of the buoys"
Finally the sun came up and the swimmers took to the water it was a perfect start to the day no wind clear skies and from all accounts warm waters. Laurie comfortably cruised through the swim leaving many younger competitors in his wake.....Laurie is 67!
The start of the paddle had its moments as the shoreline was knee deep in mud giving some of the paddlers a slow start. Rob our paddler got a boot full of mud and came straight off the ski lost his boots in the mud and paddled off regardless.
The paddle down the lake was eerie as the water level is so low that the course was littered with branches of long dead trees, sandbars and half-submerged rocks. The paddle did have its problems with a nasty crosswind at times giving several kayak paddlers trouble on the way down and a long swim for at least one unlucky paddler!
The change over to John C our runner went without hitch except for more bootfulls of mud and off he went for a challenging run, more challenging because John doesn't have great eyesight and we were worried about his navigation around the off road course. But a close reconnoiter of the course the previous day and the necessary help along the way from other runners got him safely home.
John C handed over to Daniel our intrepid bike rider who had heard about the bike course but had not had time to go over it the day before. Just as well because he had a nerve racking time taking a spill but still powering his way round a very tricky course without losing too much bark!
None too soon Daniel handed over to John K our long course swimmer who by this time was well warmed up and he headed out into the clear blue waters of the lake with a long even stroke. At the end of the swim course at Stinky bay we were awaiting his arrival trying to guess his stroke but with no luck most of us were sure we had John picked out until she emerged from the water!!
A strong swim from John K put us in good stead for the paddle and Jill our paddler headed out into the lake with no trouble. Jill had been dreading choppy conditions on the lake but the day was kind and the paddle was flat and calm although getting off a ski and running up the chute to hand over was more of a challenge.
Rob our bike rider set off and it was a rather sandy start to the leg which is always treacherous for bike riders but once through this the bike was underway with plenty of time to take in the sights including cattle on the course and several fences to jump. One such fence had a step up on one side but no step down so with bike on shoulder the rider had to jump down! No sooner had Rob surmounted a very steep grassy slope then the course ended rather abruptly and our runner Daniel took off up the mountain.
Now this is the same Daniel that had not had time to check out the first bike course so naturally he did not know the run course either. We waited and waited and waited up at Sawpit and finally Daniel did finish but with tales of a very tough time out there and an average heart rate of over 180!! Are we glad that Daniel volunteered for this leg.
Equally challenging was the last bike leg and John K our rider though very experienced had to use all his skills (even walking up hill) to conquer the course. When he finally emerged on the beach at Creel Bay it was with some relief to all. But a strong bike time had really set up a good finish for our team.
Rob our swimmer had been so bored waiting for John K to finish and he was so pleased to get into the water that he powered off on the swim forgetting that he had already covered two legs. It wasn't until in sight of the finish that the fatigue really hit in but he was too close to slow down so he thrashed on to hand over to the intrepid Daniel who had been nominated as the final paddler only days before the event.
After a hair raising bike ride and a gut busting run it must have been pleasant for Daniel to have a flat water paddle to take on however the wind came up and gave him a bracing headwind all the way down the course. He finished with a strong paddle to hand over to our final runner Kerrie who took off down the course eager to get to the finish line.
Despite some stray runners on the track she finished well so well in fact that as Kerrie powered through the finish line she was handed a trophy by Prachar Stegemann. Yes the team had done well enough on the day to receive the 2nd team of 12 trophy!
Congratulations to all who took part particularly the single competitors....awesome! Thanks to our manager/ handler Marissa who did a great job organising us all and finally thanks to the Sri Chinmoy organisation that put on a great event and organised wonderful weather for the day. It was our first race and we will be back!
Oh and the shirts everybody admired our race shirts on the day and they were donated by George from the Sutherland Leisure Centre in Sydney where we are all members. Thanks George!
