From his early life in India Sri Chinmoy has been a keen sportsman.
In the Sri Aurobindo Ashram the young Chinmoy excelled in sprinting and stood first in the decathlon for 20 consecutive years.
On arriving in America Sri Chinmoy has continued to participate in many athletic events. In the late 1970s he took up ultra running, completing 5 ultra marathons and several marathons.
In the 1980s Sri Chinmoy took up weightlifting. This was partly due to a knee injury which curtailed his running. At the age of 74 Sri Chinmoy continues to seek to pursue athletic self transcendence through weightlifting.
Sri Chinmoy is a firm believer in both the physical and spiritual merits of sports and running. He encourages his students to be physically fit as a complement to a spiritual life.
The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team founded by Sri Chinmoy has grown to be one of the leading promoters of ultra distance running. Races promoted by the SCMT range from short 2 mile self transcendence races to the world's longest race of 3,100 miles.
The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team also are responsible for organising the annual World Harmony Run. This is a global relay run for promoting world harmony. It seeks to combine both the benefits of running with the goal of promoting greater friendship and understanding.