Back from New York

Shrouded in mist - early morning at the Statue of Liberty, before the sun came out powerfully

10 days New York seemed more like a month - packed with endless inspiration and activities, but no swimming in open water. The weather was mostly sunny, yet cold - except for the day of the Harmony Run. I saw water and the ocean several times, glittering magically in the sun, from the plane, helping at the marathon in Flushing Meadows, and when we were taking the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, but it just did not happen (and it mostly did not look tempting on closer inspection, either). Instead I will be in Dover on May 17/18th!

This brief period of meditation, sports, music and meeting with friends from all over the world, a regular annual tradition since long, helped refocus and recharge batteries.

World Harmony Run New York

At the global World Hamony Run Opening Ceremony (which actually took place after the start in Europe!) in New York, April 10th, I had the fortune to meet again one of the most inspiring athletes of the last decades, Carl Lewis, who has supported this international torch relay right from its beginning in 1987, and his mother Evelyn, who only a few days ago had been inducted into the South Jersey Track and Field Hall of Fame for her pioneer work as a track and field coach for girls. They joined our team on the ferry to Liberty Island for a ceremony at the foot of the Liberty Statue and Carl actually saved the day when a security officer did not want to let us bring the suspicious looking Harmony Torch on board and could not reach his superior, who knew about it. Explanations that the torch was needed for a ceremony with Carl Lewis were fruitless, until Carl Lewis himself came back to the security gate. On seeing the Olympic legend, the officer exclaimed in awe: "O, Carl Lewis! Why didn't you tell me?" (which we had) and let us pass immediately.



On the ferry to Liberty Island, with Manhattan in the background

The misty morning developed into a beautiful sunny and hot day, and carrying the torch from Battery Park along 3rd Avenue with New York highschool teens and about 100 international runners was great fun and a nice bit of training. At the end, Carl joined us again and lit the fire on stage at the Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, where Billie Jean King, some other celebrities as well as ambassadors and representatives of several Permanent Missions to the United Nations welcomed the runners. From here, the torches of friendship will be carried trough more than 100 countries on all continents around the world, including the whole of Europe. After the ceremony, Carl, getting tired of having so many pictures taken of him, went with us across the plaza to pay a personal visit to the international school whose children had performed a beautiful "world harmony song" at the ceremony. The children and staff, of course, were delighted, and went on to take even more photos.



Photo credit: Thomas Lee, "Sing for Hope"



more photos


The "Flying Nun" - Sister Madonna Buder

Meeting inspiring athletes is always a boost in regard to my own discipline and goals. Another special athlete I had the chance to spend time with was Sister Madonna, 77 years of age, who had come to participate in the World Harmony Run.



Sister Madonna running all the way from Battery Park to Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza

A quite unusual nun, she started running in 1978 at the age of 49 , inspired by a priest who told her that running would help harmonize mind, body and soul. She discovered her running talent and qualified for the Boston Marathon which she ran in 1982 and 1983, raising money for Multiple Sclerosis, and then turned to triathlons as a new challenge. She has completed some 31 Ironmen so far (the oldest female finisher in Kona), over 300 triathlons altogether, and is still going strong! One of her mantras, she smilingly told us, is "Praise the Lord, bless his Holy Name", which she often chants rhythmically, sometimes even out loud, when she pounds along the hot tarmac of Kona. It has helped even others who were struggling and heard her chanting and then used it for themselves. The beautiful thing about her: she does not compete for her ego, but for God. If compete is the right word at all. She would have long stopped doing triathlons, but something "inner" compels her to go on - and she seems very happy with it, in spite of all the pain and lows and occasional accidents. She certainly is a shining example of the power of the spirit.

After she attended our Bhajan Concert at the United Nations, which she enjoyed tremendously, we did a long interview with her which may be seen soon on Live Voices.

For her, it does not matter which cultural or theological background a person comes from, "we are all one family", she said at the Harmony Run Ceremony. And she particularly liked the poem on the back of the World Harmony Award Medal she received as a tribute to her own inspiration to others:

"To change the world around you
give the world
what you have
and serve the world
with what you are." - Sri Chinmoy (founder)

A very inspiring article about her incredible feats and her spiritual attitude and wisdom was written by Greg Damian: Sister Madonna Buder . She Glows, She Flows, She Really Goes
One of her mottos: "The only failure," she says, "is not to try."

12 Hour Walk

The annual 12 hour walk in honour of my teacher, Sri Chinmoy's coming to the West on April 13th, started at 7 p.m. on the 12th. I was an hour late because of a meeting and was going to "take it easy" anyway. I am not as hardy as some of my teammates who do the 12 hour walk and then a marathon a couple of days later. My goal was not to challenge my previous best but to do a bit more than the 46 k in Nürnberg. I have to save my feet if I want to do the Heidelberg halfmarathon on the 27th and the 12 hours of Basel on the 3rd/4th of May, where I want to get close to the 80 k of my Channel Triathlon running leg.

The weather was perfect again - still a bit warm at the start, mostly dry, then getting colder during the night with a short spell of drizzle around 2 a.m. and dry but even colder towards the morning. I felt strong and comfortable, but did not go all out - more an "LSD"-tempo, long slow distance, but still fast enough in a smooth rhythm to feel the joy of "dancing" or "flying" and getting a good cardio-workout. I love the night, its silence and special otherworldly quality, it is easier to concentrate within while watching the stars, the crescent of the moon, listening to the first birds in the morning, rising surprisingly early around 2 a.m., and later watching the sky getting lighter with the rising sun. My heels (a chronic bursitis) were killing me at times, but I could feel the inner joy at the same time. When it became too painful around 6 a.m. and I had done 31 laps (36 miles, about 58 k), I tried to listen within and felt it was o.k. to stop.

It may seem crazy to walk for 10 (or 12) hours around a 1 mile lap in the middle of the night - but it can be a very special inner experience, and most faces were beaming and glowing the next day, in spite of some limping around for maybe 1 or 2 days (not everybody did, though).

I would have loved to plunge my legs and feet (and the rest of myself) into an icy ocean at Jones Beach the next day, but unfortunately nobody had any time or inclination to come with me. The outside temperature had dropped drastically and the wind had picked up quite a bit now. And putting your clothes on by yourself after a prolonged swim in icy water can be quite a challenge - not to speak of safety concerns if you are alone out there.

So welcome back to the pool in Heidelberg now - until the first Dover-weekend of 17/18th of May!

Anybody around London is invited to a great free concert in the Royal Albert Hall on Monday, May 19th, with Boris Grebeshnikov, founder of the Russian Band "Aquarium", and other international artists. Details and free tickets: http://www.grebenshikovconcert.com.