Everest Marathon kicks off today

The 10th edition of Tenzing-Hillary Everest Marathon is all set to kick off Tuesday morning to commemorate the first successful ascent of Mt Everest by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary on May 29, 1953.

Over 160 national and international runners are taking part in the marathon that is held annually at the highest altitude of the world, the organizer Himalaya Expeditions and co-convener Adventure Sports Nepal informed through a press statement on Monday.

The race will begin from the Everest Base Camp situated at an altitude of 5,363 meters and end at Namche Bazar (3440 m) covering a distance of 42 km in the rugged Himalayan terrain.

According to Shikhar Pandey, the event manager, “Unlike in the past years, weather brought lot of challenges but we overcame them without letting it affect our participants in any way. The race will be held on Tuesday as scheduled,” he said referring to the disturbance of Kathmandu-Lukla flights due to weather just prior to the main event.

However, the weather at Everest Base Camp has been excellent throughout.

“The marathoners are already at Everest Base Camp and are in high spirits to take part in the ´world´s highest marathon´. They trekked there from Lukla and have already taken part in mock races to warm up for the event and are in top condition,” the organizers informed on the eve of the event.

Pandey further added, “Considering that we were able to overcome last-minute weather challenges, the marathon will by far be the best edition.”

Pandey was referring to the difficulty in organizing an international marathon in the difficult terrains of the Everest region.

Pandey also pointed out that the Everest Marathon is a unique tourism product and such a product require all the assistance it deserves to develop the country´s tourism industry. “Innovation is the key and our tourism industry requires it in large doses,” said Pandey. “We will always strive to push ourselves in that direction,” he added.

Besides the locals, who are the favorites to clinch the title, international participants from eighteen countries including Australia, the UK, the USA, Germany, New Zealand and India among others are taking part in the event.

source: republica,29 May 2012