The longest — and most obscure — footrace in the world just ended with 10 endurance athletes attempting a 3,100-mile trek around a single square block in Jamaica, Queens.
The 29th Annual Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3,100 Mile Race saw a few brave participants from around the world run around Thomas Edison High School along Grand Central Parkway — a half-mile loop — from 6 a.m. to midnight, from Aug. 30 to Oct. 20.
They logged an average of 59.6 miles every day for 52 days.
Their 5,653 laps covered a distance equivalent to that of New York to California, plus 11 marathons.
And because the route has a 10-foot incline, it was similar to climbing Mount Everest twice.
Sri Chinmoy, a Hindu holy man and Indian immigrant who died in 2010, conceived the race in 1997 with the purpose of creating an intense physical exertion that would result in a spiritual awakening and transcendence of individual consciousness.
“The outer running reminds me of the inner running,” Sri Chinmoy said in an interview with TV host Joel Martin. “We are each human beings running eternally along eternity’s road.”
This year’s race saw eight of 10 intrepid runners complete the feat — including five first-time finishers from Romania, the US, Czech Republic, Russia and China. Italian Andrea Marcato, 43, was the victor.
He completed the 3,100 miles in 46 days, 14 hours, 37 minutes and 45 seconds.
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In second place was three-time winner Vasu Duzhiy of Russia, who crossed the finish line two days later.
“You know, the winning, the ranking I did very well, ok,” Marcato said on day 11 of this year’s race while jogging the well-worn street. “At the same time, if you win this kind of race its not only about your capacities, but its mostly about . . . a spiritual component which is beyond me somehow. Which I don’t really understand.
“Call it luck, call it blessing — whatever it is — it’s something extra beyond myself.”
Alex Ramsey, 40, became only the third American to compete in the race and completed the gargantuan task on his first attempt.
The Ohio man proudly held the American flag as he crossed the finish line on day 51.
“Even if it feels like this race is an infinity to the mind, in a blink of a second, it too will have its end,” said Ramsey.
“So my part of the process is really just to be here in the present moment as much as possible.”
Ramsey was the youngest of the runners, who had an average age of 50.
