Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 125, December 2019 | Page 45

TRAIL RUNNING
Sadly, cloud obscured Everest all day
Misty start to day three
Marathon Challenge
Day three is the marathon length stage, and is a race within a race, as it doubles
up as the Mount Everest Challenge Marathon. The name is derived from the fact
that you can normally see Everest on the horizon for part of the first two thirds of
the race To me, the whole race revolved around this day. Not only would it be the
longest day of the race, but also the last day in the higher mountains. Months of
training and planning came down to this day, and soon it would all be over.
The first stretch of the day is on the same route as the previous day, but you do it in
the dark, so it is a completely different experience. In fact, it does not actually feel
like running the same route. Also, the mist did not lift for the first couple of hours
and I patted myself on the back for getting up early the previous morning to enjoy
the sunrise, as we did not see Kanchenjunga all day. The second third of the day
is another out-and-back section along a ridge where you look down into Nepal.
Unfortunately, Everest was also not visible all day due to cloud cover.
Day three takes runners down from the high area
Eventually we had to turn our backs to the big mountains and start heading down.
The toughest section of the day was a 1500m descent over 10km. Included in
this section was some technical single-track, which was a nice break from all the
jeep track up to this point. The last part of the descent was made up of concrete
steps – if you had asked me then, I would have said it felt like a thousand steps,
but it was probably way less. Running further, the signs of civilisation became more
obvious, and after crossing the Ramman River, the reality of traffic, humans and
shops hits you as you enter the town of Rimbick. In one day the terrain changed
completely, from high altitude to subtropical forests. We went from basic mountain
cabins to cold beer and wifi, from oxygen deprivation to wishing you were back in
the silence.
Simple course markings keep
the runners on the right path
The concrete steps that
seemed never-ending
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