After traveling for three days on the track during their ascent to the starting point at the Base Camp, many runners had set a target of around five hours to complete the marathon.[break]
Winner Tirtha Bahadur Tamang said that the track was one of the toughest he has run till date. “Uphills and downhills caused problems for runners other than the locals as we were not familiar with the route,” said Tamang. He, however, managed to complete the race in 4 hours 23 minutes 29 seconds.
Yangdi Lama Sherpa, who won the race in women’s section clocking 6 hours 2 minutes 2 seconds, said that the route is full of danger and is tougher than the track of Everest Marathon.
Sherpa had also won the Everest Marathon for three times. “The route was sloppy and slippery and the overnight rain on the eve of the marathon day caused more problems,” said Sherpa, adding, “In the Everest Marathon we had to fear about the altitude only, but here we had to be careful at every step we took.”
Describing the track Sherpa said that climbing the hills of Bambo, Chomorong and Deurali turned out to be more difficult as these hills are very steep. “We had to be careful on those hills, otherwise runners could injure themselves,” said Sherpa.
South Asian Games gold medalist Rajendra Bhandari said that the players had to toil hard to win the race as they were running in the toughest track in altitude marathon. “The frequent uphills and downhills create problems in maintaining pace.”
Technical director and chief judge of the race Baikuntha Manandhar termed the marathon as ‘Adventurous Altitude Marathon´.
More than a dozen players were injured during the race, including the winner of Everest Marathon Sudip Kulung Rai. Rai was leading till 34 km, but then he suffered from cramps on the uphill and finished in the seventh position.
However, the toughness of the route fascinated runners to take the challenge and prove their caliber.
Korean runner Lee Won Jin, who had run 10 marathons in Korea, was trekking to the Annapurna Base Camp but when he came to know about the marathon he could not stop himself from taking part in it. “I love marathon but I had never done this type of race and I could not stop myself from running here,” said Lee.
The marathon on June 3 was the first marathon on the route.
The race organized by Himalayan Expedition, Adventure Sports Tourism Society and other local organizations aimed at boosting adventure sports tourism and celebrating June 3, the day Maurice Herzog successfully scaled Annapurna I in 1950, as a tourism day in the region.
The successful completion of the event has given a positive message about adventure sports and if the organizers could manage medical facilities properly for reducing the chances of injuries to athletes, it could turn out to be the best altitude marathon in years to come.
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1st Annapurna Marathon on June 3
