3100: Run and Become

The film follows an unassuming Finnish runner (Ashprihanal) and an Austrian cellist (Shamita) in their attempt to complete the world’s longest certified footrace, the Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race. The 3100 promises personal expansion and, indeed, participants come from around the world to shatter their limitations and discover a deeper sense of self. The small group of competitors gather to run a distance that approximates a US cross-country run -- a total of 3,100 miles. The race requires 60 miles per day for 52 straight days, or 5,649 laps around one city block in Queens, NY. Ashprihanal and Shamita’s 3100 journey takes the audience from the heart of this astonishing event in an urban city, to sites around the world where ancient cultures have held running sacred for millennia, including the Kalahari Desert, Arizona’s Navajo Reservation, and to the sacred mountain temples of Japan. Through the heroic stories of three other runners (Shaun Martin, a Navajo runner and Board Member of Wings of America; Gaolo of the San Bushmen of the Kalahari; and Gyoman-san of the Monks of Mt. Hiei, Japan) 3100: Run and Become presents a portrait of endurance and transformation. Beyond competitiveness and athletic prowess, they run not for glory, but for spiritual enlightenment, universal oneness -- or because they simply have the responsibility to run.