Each summer in Queens, N.Y., a bland stretch of sidewalk becomes the setting for a mind-boggling endurance challenge.
With little fanfare, a small group of ultrarunners from around the world compete in the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3,100 Mile Race, the world's longest certified footrace.
"The 3,100 Mile Race is not for everyone," says Sahishnu Szczesiul, one of the race directors. "It is difficult, tiring, boring and a supreme challenge all rolled into one thing."
For 52 consecutive days from mid-June to early August, runners spend 18 hours a day plodding along on a half-mile course, as they aim to average an astounding 60 miles a day.
"It is difficult, tiring, boring and a supreme challenge all rolled into one thing."
The goal is to log 3,100 miles—an eye-popping 5,649 laps—before or by the end of day 52.
"Sometimes you just accumulate the miles," runner Kaneenika Janakova says in a video posted on Perfection Journey, a blog documenting the event. "But sometimes you get into a state where you see that there is much more going on here. It is not just the numbers on the board. There is a duty that we runners have here to inspire the world."
Six race veterans and four first-timers are attempting the incredible feat in 2017.
Yolanda Holder, a record-holding endurance walker from Corona, Calif., is the event's first person to try and achieve 3,100 miles by walking only.
"This is a lot harder than I ever imagined," she says in a video on Day 17 of the 2017 event. "I never thought in my wildest dreams that I could push my body this far."
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