KATHMANDU, March 24: Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) is organizing the second edition of TAAN International Langtang Marathon under men's and women's categories in Langtang region on April 25.
Organizing a press conference in the capital on Friday, TAAN informed that the event is being organized to spread the message that Langtang region is safe for trekking two years after the devastating earthquake of April 25.
“We want to spread a worldwide message that Langtang, one of the major trekking destinations of the country, is safe for trekking. We also want to revitalize the tourism activities in the region,” said Karna Bahadur Lama, the general secretary of TAAN. “We have changed the half marathon to full marathon from this edition to make it an international event.”
“Besides this, we are also planning to promote Nepal as one of the major destinations for sports tourism in global map and sell attractive package to domestic tourist as well,” Lama elaborated. “We are committed to promoting internal tourism also.”
According to TAAN, it is planning to create an environment for participation of around 200 international runners within the next five years. TAAN is expecting participation of at least 20 international runners in this edition.
The marathon will begin from Kyanjin Gompa of Langtang National Park and finish at Syabrubesi going through Thangsyap, Ghada Tabela and Lingling.
The top three finishers of the event will bag purse of Rs 100,000, Rs 75,000 and Rs 50,000 respectively in either categories. The registration fee is Rs 1700 for Nepali and Rs 5500 for foreigners.
The expected cost of the event is Rs 4.2 million and the organizer will collect the required amount from its internal sources, according to TAAN President Chandra Prasad Rijal.
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