Everest Marathon

Our hike towards Everest Base Camp coincidentally coincided with the Everest Marathon. The marathon is on the anniversary of Edmond Hillary and Tenzig Norgay's ascent on May 29, 1953. On a crisp clear morning (after a couple of rainy days), we set off heading up the trail at our normal time. We all knew about the marathon, but as we were enjoying the mountain views in the valley...thoughts of the marathon drifted to the back of our minds. Climbing a steep hillside, we were panting for breath and taking frequent breaks. Then suddenly we spotted a few runners that were branching off on another trail at the top of the hillside. A chill ran through me, as I know the challenges of a marathon and can't even begin to imagine running a marathon that begins above 17,000 ft and descends to 11,000 ft - starting on a glacier and descending along rocky, snowy, and muddy trail where the runners must dodge the yak trains and porters during their 26.2 miles! Suddenly I forgot about my struggles climbing the hillside and began barrelling up the hillside to cheer on the runners. Between gasps (attempting to catch our breath), we screamed and clapped for these amazing runners. First the Nepali runner charged through, focused on the trail and their running. As we continued up the trail, we eventually ran into the international contingent...who appeared to be much more appreciative of the cheering as they seemed to be searching for more distractions! In the marathons that I have run, there are frequent water stations and plenty of support personel. In the 6 or so miles of the trail we hiked, we passed one water station...and you were pretty much on your own for a while if you were to slip and fall. We watched runner leap off the trail into the snow to get out of the way of a train of 5-6 yaks and patiently wait for them to pass. The obstacles were great in this race, but there were only 150 runners that could boast that they completed the Everest Marathon. It certainly made any of our aches, pains, or shortness of breath seem trivial witnessing the feat these runners were accomplishing!