Self- Transcendence 6, 12 and 24 Hour Races Belgrade
My account by Chanakhya Jakovic.
I was participating on the latest leg of the World Harmony Run and while in Serbia we took a break in Belgrade. Some of us wanted to run in the Ultra marathon there. I had decided to do the 6 hour race and the team wanted to run in the 12 hour relay. As it turned out, due to other commitments we only had 3 guys for the relay and it was supposed to be a 4 man team. So being brave I agreed to run the last 3 hour leg of the relay too.
For the first time the 12 and 24 hour races had been given National Championship status, so there was a big turnout over the 3 races. Usually there is a field of 40+ this year it was 81.
The 6 and 24 hour races started at a little after noon on September 26. It was a little warm and I decided to start out slowly. The course is a 2km loop in a beautiful park in Belgrade, part of the course runs alongside the Danube river.
As part of the race, the World Harmony Run torch was to be carried by the runners for 1 lap throughout the entire 24 hours. It was very inspiring to see each runner carrying the torch.
In the 24 hour race it seemed the main competition was between a local runner and a visiting Bulgarian Gustav and Radi. I was a little surprised that I started to have some problems with sore feet within the first couple of hours, so I slowed down even more and just decided to enjoy the run. My plan was to run 42km, but as it turned out I settled for 38km. The team were staying in a floating hotel on the river near the course to it was just a short walk to a shower and some rest.
When I came back out on to the course at around 6:30 the 12 hour race was well underway. Dejan Kakonj who had spent the last 5 days on the World Harmony run was in first place. Our relay team was vying for first place in the relay ( OK there were only 2 teams participating). I was still a little tired from the 6 hour, but ready to run again, for me it was like multi day training.
I got to run my first lap with the torch and of course I felt good and also on the next lap. Then suddenly my legs felt very heavy. The guys told me just to take it easy and not worry about first place. I decided to try and get us to 100km which I did and added 2km more. We finished just 4 km behind the first place team from Belgrade, which included one of our local team members.
I should mention that the lap counting was great and there was a constant supply of food and drinks provided by the cooks. There was also expert massage available, both during and after the race. Gustav won the 24 hour with a total of 187km I think with Radi just a few K’s behind.
As I write this I do not have access to the internet so cannot check the results. You can however check them out yourself at the race site, see below:
Race results: Sri Chinmoy Races.org
Chanakhya’s blog: iliketorun.blogspot.com
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