❓Why

I had some friends in Basel area that told me about this race. I was in Nepal by the first time in March 2018 and I knew I wanted to go back and that looked an adventure that ticked ✅ all what I liked. I signed up for the edition in October 2020 but unfortunately due to Covid I had to wait 2 years for the race to resume.

The adventure scores in all the important aspects that drives me; social fitness, physical fitness and mental fitness.

👥 Social fitness

We were a group, a group of roughly 50 people between runners and crew that were ready to share almost 2 weeks together.

The race is very diverse, on the group I joined I could find people from Germany 🇩🇪 to Australia 🇦🇺, from Italy 🇮🇹 to Singapore 🇸🇬, from Norway 🇳🇴 to Japan 🇯🇵, from US 🇺🇸 to Iran 🇮🇷 and many others including 3 nepali 🇳🇵 runners from Mira Rai initiative. Everyone with its background, stories to tell 🗣 and good spirit.

You will have shorter and longer day and the opportunity to meet more deeply each of the participants and the crew.

You will feel that you are part of a big family and as part of it… the problems are not just a responsability of the organization, is a shared responsability which feels great.

💪 Physical fitness

The event has challenging figures as per what it relates to distance and elevation… and is good to count for further challenges, so try to prepare and get use to situation you can face in the race to be better prepare for what you cannot “simulate”.

You will face several different factors that can further stress your body. You will have…

• Different food for your stomach
• Different hygiene standards
• Long hours driving with a bus 🚌 and/or jeep 🛻 that will shake all your body
• Cold nights sleeping in a sleeping bag
• and a very challenging one… ALTITUDE

🧠 Mental fitness

Landscape everyday is different. From day to day you can feel culture changes, differences how the houses are build and decorated and you will observe how different is the way of living.

Mobile network 📵 is limited, specially as you move into the mountains… Satellite wi-fi networks are available, but you can leverage the inconvenience of extra cost and bad connectivity to really let your phone die and enjoy the environment. The race do not have phones as a mandatory equipment, hence leverage it.

You will face uncomfortability beyond physical exhaustion. Cold nights, altitude challenges, accumulated tireness, limited services that will prepare your mind to just embrace and have some days of “back to basics” where running, eating and sleeping is the only thing that matters.

You should have time everyday to disconnect at the end of every stage. You can walk around in the small villages, observe, may be try to talk with a local, rest or socialize with the running colleagues and/or the crew.

There are some activities that includes; sleeping in a monastery, visiting a tibetan family and a children’s race with one of the local school kids. Open your eyes 👀, it is unique!

The race has a strong sense of purpose, a sense of giving and receiving

• Giving and receiving to/from the other participants
• Giving and receiving to/from the crew members (Porters, crew doctors, photographers, Cookers, etc.)
• Giving and receiving to/from the communities of people you will pass along the way (Local school, local coffee place, local tibetan family, the lodges)