Ever since his early teens, Sri Chinmoy has seen the value of running as a tremendous aid to inner progress. From the ages of twelve to thirty-two, he lived in a spiritual community in Southern India; however, this community did not believe in a hermetic approach to life, but instead tried to use outer pursuits like sports to strengthen the inner life. In the twenty years he lived there, he was sprint champion for 16 of those years; his athletic prowess also twice propelled him to victory in the decathlon event.

It was only natural then, that physical fitness would be an integral part of Sri Chinmoy's philosophy as he moved to the West to share his experience of meditation and inner development to interested students in the West. Many of his students began to realize the possibilities for self-growth that could be tapped through long-distance running, and Sri Chinmoy encouraged and supported them in the best way possible - through his own personal example! He moved from sprinting to long-distance running, and could regularly be seen out on long training runs in the small hours of the morning. He ran his first marathon in Toledo, Ohio in 1979; over the course of the next few years he would run 22 marathons, with a P.B of 3:55 in Chico, Ohio at the age of 48. He also ran quite a few ultra races (races of longer distance than the marathon).

Hand in hand with his own running career, Sri Chinmoy also began contributing to the running world in a visional capacity. The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team, founded in 1977, set new standards in race organisation and treatment of runners, especially in races longer than marathon distance. A year earlier, Sri Chinmoy had set up the Liberty Torch relay, an Olympic-style torch event that ran throughout all 50 states, rekindling the pristine ideals of the Founding Fathers of America. Over the next two decades, this beautiful idea of runners carrying a torch of friendship and harmony was to be developed and extended; currently, the World Harmony Run, as it is now called, visits over 70 countries around the world, the route set by the runners a golden thread linking each of the people they meet in those countries together in a spirit of friendship and oneness.

These unique contributions were quickly recognised by the running community, and Sri Chinmoy has has made close friendships with many inspiring figures in the running world. In the early eighties, Sri Chinmoy had a weekly syndicated column in which he answered questions on all aspects of running from many of the top athletes of the day. (View column articles on srichinmoylibrary.com).

In recent years, Sri Chinmoy has been plagued on and off by knee injury; however he has competed in many Masters Games, including the 1983 World Masters games in Puerto Rico where he competed in the 100, 200 and 400m events, setting many of his fastest times. He compted as part of the Puerto Rican team, having been made an honorary citizen for his work for world harmony. In 1992 at the age of 60, he ran his fastest time for 100m since he came to America, at 13.67 seconds. Ten years later, he participated again in the World Masters Games in Japan, where he ran a 100m time of 15.34 at the age of 62 (see photo on left).