Stutisheel's 10th finish in 3100-Mile Race!

October 25, 2022

Ukrainian ultrarunner Stutisheel Oleg Lebedev, age 52, today finished the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3,100 Mile Race in 51 days, 15 hours, 37 minutes, 47 seconds — his tenth finish in the world’s longest certified foot race. This was his 14th attempt in what has been dubbed the Mount Everest of ultrarunning. His best time was 48 days, 3 hours, 57 minutes, 19 seconds, in 2014, which ranks him #19 all-time among the 52 finishers of the elite race.

This 26^th annual Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3,100 Mile Race ran from September 4 through October 25. Runners are given 52 days to complete the distance, averaging 59.6 miles — about 2.5 marathons — daily from 6:00am to midnight, totalling 118 successive marathons. The course is a 0.5488 mile loop around Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education High School (165-65 84th Avenue in Jamaica, Queens), and runners must navigate through streams of students going to and from school on the sidewalks each day.

Among the biggest challenges this year for many of the runners was the abundance of rainy, stormy days. Wet shoes soften skin, often causing blisters and wounds in between the toes, forcing runners to slow down and spend time on foot care. The concrete pavement wears out shoes quickly, forcing runners to resole or get new shoes every 3-4 days. Lebedev went through 12 pairs of running shoes in this year’s race.

On his last day, Lebedev said, “I see that we can inspire people to become better citizens. But once Sri Chinmoy said that all multi-day runners, and especially 3100 mile race runners, are serving their countries in most unique ways. So I just hope that my humble contribution will be helpful to restore peace in my country.” The Ukrainian athlete, originally from Kyiv and living in New York, has also authored four books on ultrarunning, sports nutrition and training methods.

Mr. Lebedev was the last athlete who complete the race within deadline of 52 days. 6 runners out of 12 didn’t complete the whole distance.

News shown at the Ukrainian TV