Sri Chinmoy founded the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in 1977 as a service to the running community and to help promote spiritual growth through sports.

Over the years, the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team has become the world's largest sponsor of ultra-distance running and a major organiser of road races, marathons, triathlons, multi-sport events, long-distance swimming events and Master's track-and-field meets. It has hosted several national championships, and numerous world records have been set in its races.

In the early years of the "running boom," these events established standards and levels of service to participants that have now become commonplace: regular drink stations, post-race food and prizes right up the age groups to 70+ years.