Marathon News

When marathons are too easy by Willow Belden, Queens Chronicle Reporter New York – 03/26/2009 For most people, running a marathon is a major achievement. But Suprabha Beckjord and Dipali Cunningham, two world champion multi-day runners, think 26 miles isn’t enough of a challenge; they typically run for hundreds — or even thousands — of miles, in races that can last up to two months. Cunningham, 50, lives in Queens and does a six-day race each year, often in addition to a 700-mile race. Beckjord, 52, runs a gift shop in Washington, D.C. and participates in 3,100-mile races. She has completed 12 of them so far and is the world record holder for the race.

The six-day races that Cunningham does take place in Flushing Meadows Park and don’t have set mileages; instead, participants run a one-mile loop around the park as many times as they can in a six-day period. The runners are allowed to stop, rest, eat and sleep as much as they want (tents are set up in the park, and meals are provided), but Beckjord said she rarely sleeps more than two or three hours in a night while she’s racing.

The 3,100-mile “Self Transcendence” race, which is the longest running race in the world, takes place in Jamaica, with participants circling the same city block over and over again, day in and day out, for about two months. Runners go home to sleep between midnight and 6 a.m., but the rest of their time is spent repeating the same half-mile loop around Jamaica High School.

Beckjord and Cunningham spoke of their running experiences at Annam Brahma Restaurant in Jamaica Hills on Sunday, explaining how they got into running and why they do such long races year after year.

Read the rest Willow Belden’s article When marathons are too easy