Video of the first month in USA

54 Years of Gratitude

At this time of year when the weather can get terribly hot with the sun blazing and the humidity stifling, rain and cloudy weather is a welcome advantage as we are out running all day. I happened to choose this particular day to run what I like to call my ‘age-athon’. This is a long run equal in miles to the amount of years since my birth, to celebrate my birthday. Even though my birthday is not until the 23rd of July, this day and location fit better into our schedule for me to run 54 miles.

I started this tradition in a simple way 28 years ago when I was 26 years old. I figured since I had run a number of 26-mile marathons by then, that I could run 26 miles on my 26th birthday as a form of gratitude for this life and for my health. The next year it seemed easy enough to add only one more mile to the distance. Each year only one more mile did not seem too difficult as long as I stayed in shape. Inspired to stay in shape and remain healthy by my life style, the first few years were not that difficult to achieve this birthday run. As time went on I also ran many ultra marathons, distances of at least 31 miles.

I never imagined back then that I would be inspired to keep it going this long.

More than double the age than when I first started, I am so grateful to be able to keep this streak of birthday runs going. It is not getting any easier and I am running more slowly now. so I am out on the road a longer amount of time. Being out on the World Harmony Run though, makes it easier in many ways than if I had to do it alone, as was the case many years ago. Today I had two main helpers, Francesco from Italy and Edi from Romania.

We started at 5 a.m. in the little town of Richland Center. Waking up earlier to the sound of thunder, lightning and heavy rain, I was inspired by this cooler weather but worried about running in a storm. About fifteen minutes before we started, the rain stopped and so did the lightning. It was still dark out when I started running, accompanied by Francesco running with me and Edi in the service vehicle. We would run two miles and then stop for a drink and fuel the Torch if necessary at the service vehicle. It seemed quite simple as Francesco carried the Torch most of the time which also made it easier for me to run.

Within the first ten miles though, my left leg started to cramp up in the quadriceps muscle. It slowed me down quite a bit for over an hour and I even had to take longer stops to massage it and keep it from spasming. At one point I was going so slow that neither Francesco nor I thought that I could go on like this for another 30 miles or so.

I was eventually able to keep the leg loose enough to keep going after 20 miles as the rest of my body felt fine and I still had plenty of energy.

After surviving the first 27 miles, Francesco stopped running and Edi came out to run the next 27 miles with me. I was feeling pretty good at this point and the weather was still cloudy and relatively cool, in the 70’s F or under 25 C. I still had to be careful about my pace as my left leg was always on the verge of cramping up at any moment. Mile after mile, hour after hour, as I was getting closer to my goal I felt more and more gratitude for such a pleasant day for running this very long run. If the sun was blazing down or the humidity started rising, the difficulties would have increased greatly. Even though I had some physical problems and limitations, I tried to focus on the positive and be always cheerful and grateful. My teammates helped so much by running with me and taking care of my every need, including a variety of drinks, light snacks and encouraging words at the right time. Also talking to someone occasionally as we ran or listening to stories helped to pass the time and made it a bit easier psychologically for me.

My body was still getting tired though, and after 40 miles I was slowing even more and the miles seemed to get longer and longer. Instead of stopping every two miles now I felt I needed to stop for a drink and even some ice every one and a half miles. The weather was getting more humid and hot but luckily the sun, trying to come out from behind the clouds, was never really a factor directly.

I was hoping to finish by 3 p.m., in order to have time to get to a ceremony at the Dane County Fair in Madison, the Capital of Wisconsin. But we received a call that they wanted us there about a half hour earlier, so in order to get there on time I would have to stop at fifty miles and run the last four miles after the ceremony. This was just fine with me as I was really wanting a substantial break even though I was sure to be able to finish a mere four miles slowly. We drove to the ceremony after I reached the fifty mile point and I was able to cool down and relax my whole body in the car, especially my left leg, which never fully loosened up for some reason.

Lisa Benke, one of the staff members of the huge fairgrounds, and Laura Bowers, were so kind to welcome us to a special events stage in the main exhibition hall.

Lisa had invited us there last year as well and we met so many nice people attending the fair who seemed quite inspired by our efforts in the World Harmony Run. This year was also quite inspiring as we had a small but enthusiastic audience to greet us and share our thoughts and sentiments on harmony and friendship.

Lisa and Laura were very kind to us as we spent some time with them and other people from the audience after our presentation. I was delighted to hear Lisa tell me details about last year that she recalled when we came through here in a similar fashion.

She asked me about my age-athon run and was genuinely encouraging to me.

I ended up finishing my last four miles around Lake Geneva further down the road in Wisconsin. I had finished there once before, many years ago, and thought it would be nice again to run in this very beautiful area ending at the lake and going for a relaxing swim afterwards. Edi helped me to finish the last four miles which were still a bit difficult as the sun had come out and the weather was hotter. But my leg was a little more relaxed and I seemed to have more energy than when I was completing 50 miles a few hours earlier.

Jumping into that cool and clean lake after about ten hours of running was a real birthday treat and a special blessing. At my age, when some people may think twice about walking down the street to the local store, I feel, as many athletes do, that if we keep moving and using our bodies in a healthy way everyday of our lives as long as we are able to, then our health and youthful energy will not be limited by the number of years on this earth. Of course it is somewhat natural to slow down as we age, but the ability to use our bodies, even if it is daily walking, or swimming or cycling, should inspire us to remain healthy and happy. In this health, happiness and youthful energy is where a very important aspect of harmony abides.

I offer deep gratitude to my helpers and those who have encouraged me along the way, especially Sri Chinmoy , the founder of the World Harmony Run. He is the one who has inspired me tremendously all these years to make the most of my life in positive ways and to stay healthy and strong, respecting the body as the temple for the soul or the spirit.

With this modest effort and achievement today, I hope I have inspired some people, especially those who may think they are too old to keep their health or endurance up, to have faith that the number of years on earth should not limit us in what we strive to achieve. As Sri Chinmoy writes, “Old age is a new page, and not a broken cage.”

With 54 years of Gratitude,

Arpan DeAngelo

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