Pradhan (left) and Vajra
Pradhan Balter travels 1000 miles a week from Chicago to New York to help the 3100 runners. We asked for his thoughts about the race and they will be included in a small magazine we are putting together to commemorate this years event.
“The 3100 mile race is an absolutely phenomenal event and each of the runners who participate are doing something which is also phenomenal, inconceivable almost from a mental stand point. From a medical stand point it is interesting to watch and it’s also interesting to participate in. First of all from a deeply personal stand point by virtue of having the opportunity to treat each of the runners you really feel part of their experience and you feel glory in their success and it really is very joyful for me to see each of these runners finish and their accomplishment feeds me tremendously.
Secondly also from a physical stand point it’s interesting to see runners coming in with injuries which would stop them in a normal course of events, severe shin splints, blisters these are the kinds of things which if you are working that day you would call your boss and say I can’t come in today yet the runners persevere and run through these injuries and resolve them themselves and I have to use the term miraculously resolve them themselves. The physical surrenders to the determination of the runner and instead of imposing it’s will, it surrenders to the will of the runner who says “I know that you are injured but you have to heal yourself so that we can continue in this incredible task” and it does. It’s just amazing. I’m watching shin splints disappear in two three days or at worst two weeks and afterwards they are running and they are running really well. I see blisters disappear and infections come and go. You will see a runner come and have absolutely no life energy and the next day he is putting in more laps than everybody else.”