Dipali Cunningham (born August 27, 1958) from Melbourne, Australia now she lives in New York City, USA is an ultramarathon woman runner. [1] [2] Dipali is a Disciple from the spiritual Master Sri Chinmoy over 30 years. [1]
She began multiday running in 1991 with the Sri Chinmoy 7 Day race in Flushing Meadow, Queens, New York. [3]
Cunningham won the Self-Transcendence 6 Day Race every year between 1998-2015. [4] In 2001, she set the 6 Day Road World Best of 821.862 km. [5]
"I think I am being shown that age is in the mind. [9] "
— Dipali Cunningham
Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, better known as Sri Chinmoy, was an Indian spiritual leader who taught meditation in the United States after moving to New York City in 1964. Chinmoy established his first meditation center in Queens, New York, and eventually had seven thousand students in 60 countries. He was an author, artist, poet, and musician; he also held public events such as concerts and meditations on the theme of inner peace. Chinmoy advocated a spiritual path to God through prayer and meditation. He advocated athleticism including distance running, swimming, and weightlifting. He organized marathons and other races, and was an active runner and, following a knee injury, weightlifter. Some ex-members have accused Chinmoy of running a cult.
An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of 42.195 kilometres. The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running.
The Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race is the world's longest certified footrace. In 1996 Sri Chinmoy created this event as a 2,700-mile (4,345 km) race. At the award ceremony that year he declared that the 1997 edition would be extended to 3,100 miles (4,989 km).
Multiday races are ultramarathon running events which are typically either segmented into daily events of a specified distance or time, or staged so that runners can run as far as they want, at their own discretion, over a set course or over a set number of days. Multiday races can range from continuous 48-hour track events to staged transcontinental treks.
The Cliff Young Australian 6 Day Race was an ultramarathon race that takes place in Colac, Victoria. One of a small handful of Six Day races around the world, the Cliff Young has had many fine performances culminating in November 2005 with Yiannis Kouros, arguably the best multiday runner in the world, setting a new world 6 Day record. It started in 1983 and was renamed in 2004 after Cliff Young, a Colac farmer and winner of the inaugural Sydney to Melbourne Westfield's Ultramarathon in May 1983.
Suprabha Beckjord is an ultramarathon runner from Washington, D.C. She is an owner of a gift shop and a disciple of Sri Chinmoy.
Ashprihanal Pekka Aalto is a Finnish ultramarathon runner who began running as a hobby at age 25. He currently works as a courier. Aalto is a member of The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team. In 2006, Tarja Halonen, the President of Finland, recognized him as an "International Ambassador of Sport".
The Self-Transcendence 6- & 10-day Race are two concurrent multiday running events, held in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, a large public park in the borough of Queens in New York City. The course is one mile (1.6 km) long. They are held annually in April and organized by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.
William Morley Sichel is a British long-distance runner.
Sandra May Barwick is a New Zealand ultramarathon runner who set a new six-day track world record in Campbelltown, Australia, 18–24 November 1990. Covering 549 miles 110 yards in six days, Barwick set a record that was not broken until Camille Herron covered 560.330 miles in March 2024.
Arthur "Al" Howie was a Canadian long-distance runner who won more than fifty marathons, ultramarathons, and multiday races in over two decades, including the 1991 Trans Canada Highway run in the record time of 72 days and 10 hours. A brass plaque on Victoria's Mile Zero marker commemorates this athletic event for which he raised $750,000 for a fund for children with special needs. Two weeks after running across Canada he won the Sri Chinmoy 1300 Miler in New York improving on his own world record time. Both the Trans Canada run and the 1,300-mile (2,100 km) race qualified for the Guinness Book of Records. He lived in Duncan, B.C., from 2005 until his death in 2016. He had been receiving treatment for Diabetes I. The City of Duncan awarded him the Perpetual Trophy for Excellence and Sportsmanship in December 2007, and in 2014 he was inducted into The Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.
Thian K. "Sy" Mah was an assistant professor of physical education at the University of Toledo and a Canadian long-distance runner who held a Guinness World Records mark for the most lifetime marathons (524).
Deborah Anne De Williams is an Australian ultra-marathon athlete. She is the first woman to walk around Australia and the first woman to run around Australia.
The Lake Zurich Marathon Swim belongs to the world's longest swimming marathon races. It is held annually in August and is organized by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.
Eleanor Robinson is a British former ultramarathon runner and two-time winner of the IAU 100km World Championships. She was the first woman to run over 150 miles in a 24-hour endurance race. She was the winner of the first Badwater Ultramarathon in 1987. She was twice bronze medallist at the IAU 100 km European Championships.
Grahak Cunningham is an ultra-distance runner and motivational speaker from Perth, Western Australia.
The 12+24 Hour Race Basel is an Ultramarathon race in Basel, Switzerland. The run takes place annually in May, organized by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team. It is held on the Sports Facilities St. Jakob on a 1.1 kilometer route.
Surasa Mairer is an ultra-distance runner. She works as a secretary and lives in Vienna. Surasa is a devotee of the spiritual master Sri Chinmoy.
Kaneenika Janakova is an ultra-distance runner and comes from Cerová near Senica, Slovakia. She has lived in New York for ten years. Janakova is a disciple of Sri Chinmoy. Because of him, she adopted the name Kaneenika which is a Sanskrit word meaning "vision beauty of the inner eye".
Vasu Duzhiy is an ultra-distance runner from St. Petersburg, Russia. Duzhiy is a disciple of Sri Chinmoy and adopted the name Vasu from him. He works as a foreman for a lumber company.