Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 112, November 2018 | Page 29

TRAIL RUNNING
afternoons becoming cloudy and cool. The biggest
challenge is not the hiking, but getting to the start of
the race in a condition to compete. We had a race
doctor with us and had to undergo medical check-ups
every few days. The biggest problem is to cope with
the altitude change – I had massive headaches from
when we crossed 3200m, and had to take pills daily
– while not picking up a stomach bug, or catching
a cold. We used hand sanitiser every few hours and
took pills daily to keep our stomach flora healthy.
Also, you have to drink four to five litres of water per
day to help with the altitude change.
Our hiking group numbered 28, and apart from the
two nights in tents at Base Camp, we slept in lodges
(or teahouses, as they call them in Nepal) and had
a set menu every day that varied between various
forms of bread, rice, spaghetti and potatoes. Meat
is generally avoided, as freshness is not guaranteed.
I never want to see a potato in my life again! The
highlight of the trek is the two days at Namche
Bazaar, where you can find anything from pizza and
a German bakery to a salon to cut your hair. Also, as
you go higher, everything becomes more expensive:
A litre of water in Lukla is 80 NRS (about R10), but
at Gorakshep it is 400 NRS (about R50). That said, a
tube of Pringles at R100 is still a bargain when you
are hungry!
Once at Base Camp, we had the opportunity to sleep
there two nights, a unique experience that hikers do not
normally have the privilege of experiencing. We slept
in tents, on a semi-level bed of rocks, on very, very
thin mattresses, and even in summer the temperature
at night can easily drop to -15°C – you are, after all,
sleeping on a glacier, right next to the Khumbu Icefall.
I remember waking up at two in the morning to answer
the call of nature, and standing outside the tent it was
dead quiet, with a full moon and no clouds. Those
mountains make you feel really small.
Cindy told me if I did not take her running pack, she
would not be finishing, as the second night sleeping
on the rocks had put her back into spasm. For the
rest of the race, I had her pack in front and mine on
my back.
After Lobuche at 10km, a nice trail drops to Thukla
and then Dingboche, and running is easier terrain-
wise, but you are still just below 5000m, so your legs
and lungs are not really on your side. However, the
direct route from start to finish is only 37km, so to
make up the 42.2km distance, you do a 5km out-and-
back loop from Dingboche to Bibre, which takes you
through the halfway mark. We had easily hiked and
run this portion on our rest day a few days earlier –
now it was into a serious headwind and no fun at all!
From Dingboche you drop further to Pangboche,
and by now the altitude was below 4000m and we
could run. There is actually an eight-hour cut-off at
Thyangboche Monastery at 32km, which is preceded
by three major climbs, and if you don’t make it, they
advise you to sleep in the lodge and continue the next
day. We made it in 7:30 and had only 10km left, but
nothing here is easy... It took us almost four hours to
get from there to the finish! After Thyangboche, you
have to navigate a long and technical descent, then
there are two extremely steep climbs, and in the last
3km there are three smaller climbs. There was no
running here, just walking and resting, and telling each
other what a bad idea this was.
Anything for a Shower!
We eventually rolled into Namche Bazaar in a time of
11:32, a long time to be on your feet, but at least we
just missed the rain that started to fall a few minutes
after our sprint finish to the line. Spare a thought for
one of our friends who did the ultra in a gorilla suit
to raise funds for the gorillas of Africa, finishing in 19
hours, at 1am in the morning. Raemonde, you are
one crazy lady! Having finished, all we wanted was
a shower and some food. (For the record, this would
be just our third shower since we left Namche Bazaar
nine days earlier.)
The next day we would have started the hike back,
but we got word that there were more than a thousand
people in Lukla waiting for flights out, so we were
given the option to rest a day and then fly directly
out to Kathmandu a day later with helicopters, as the
conditions at Lukla did not seem to be getting better.
Of course, we had to pay for the helicopter flight, but
what the hell, how often in your life would you get the
opportunity to chopper out of the Himalayas? Swipe
the card, sir, we’ll deal with this once we get home.
PS: During our hike up the second-last climb on race
day, Cindy and I promised ourselves no more stupid
races for the next few years. However, Mongolia does
sound interesting…
Time to Try Running
This year’s race celebrated the 65 th anniversary of
the first summit, with just over 200 runners from 30
countries taking part, including three from South Africa.
The other South African, a ‘boerseun’ from KZN called
Rhyno, actually summitted Everest five years ago,
and he just came to see if he would like to do it again.
(We checked with the organisers, and according to
their records, eight South Africans had done the full
marathon before, so after this year the tally is now 11,
with Cindy and I the first SA couple to do the race.)
The 60km ultra-marathon started at 6am, with the rest
of us starting the marathon at 7am. The record for the
marathon is a somewhat slow 3:47, because there is
no running at that altitude, unless you are Nepalese.
The first 10km is quite technical, so even if you could
run at that altitude, it is a risk. Just 3km into the race,
Cindy and Hennie proudly
fly the SA flag at the finish
Editor’s Note: There are two marathons run on the slopes of Everest. The Everest Marathon (first run
1987, now known as the Original Everest Marathon, www.originaleverestmarathon.com) starts at Gorakshep
at 5212m, the site of the 1953 Everest expedition base camp, and finishes in Namche Bazaar. The Tenzing
Hillary Everest Marathon (first run 2003, www.everestmarathon.com) starts at the current Everest Base
Camp (5364m) and finishes in Namche Bazaar. Therefore, while the Original Everest Marathon is known as the
world’s highest marathon, the Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon is actually slightly higher.
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