https://vimeo.com/240602153
Samunnati Nataliya Lehonkova from the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team represented the Ukraine in the 2016 Olympic marathon in Rio, and has also won marathons in Los Angeles, Dublin, Edinburgh, Belfast and Toulouse. Her most recent win, in the 2017 Dublin marathon, established a personal best of 2:28.
In this video, Samunnati sat down with her friend and 3100 Mile race finisher Jayasalini Abramovskikh and talked about becoming a meditation student of Sri Chinmoy at the age of 12 and how that slowly led to her running longer and longer distances. She also talks a little about her training schedule, and how Sri Chinmoy's philosophy of self-transcendence inspires her to run.
Before she became a professional runner, Samunnati was a regular on the international Peace Run team; she reminices a little about travels all around Europe and Australia carrying a torch for world harmony.