Himalayan Challenge Marathon

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Day 2: Running by the Highest Mountains in the World

Jose Manuel Jimenez / 03.11.2007

Early morning breakfast was served at 05:30 but only a few were paying any attention to food, mostly everybody was out on a ridge looking at the majestic peaks just minutes before the sun would strike them making them seem even more impressive.

From here a fabulous view of the Kanchenjunga range and the Everest range (Lhotse, Everest and Makalu) were in perfect view. Few words were spoken, everybody was coping with what their eyes were seeing; four of the five highest mountains in the world were right there in front of us, it was worth every hard breath and ache from the day before.

After breakfast the race commenced from the same spot the race had ended the day before, mainly downhill with some ascents, the whole while the Kanchenjunga and Everest were shyly peaking through the hills or just flat out in full view.

Many participants could be caught on the way with their mouths open, but not gasping for air, in fact it was due to the landscape and the spectacular views, others even landed on their hands and knees while not paying attention to their footing, the scenery was just too much.

It took one hour and a half for the leaders to reach the half way point at Molle(11655 ft); from here they would turn around and climb back up to Sandakphu with the colossal mountains behind them. This stage could be considered an easy one compared to day one, although running on cobblestone roads is very hard on the knees.

You must pay very good attention to your footing or you can injure yourself really easily, knees and ankles suffer here unless you are wearing good running shoes and pay really careful attention to were your feet are going.

At about 0930 the first runners reached Sandakphu and kept their places in this race ranking. The rest of the day was very relaxing, enjoying the place and taking photos and just baking in the beautiful sun.

Race briefing for day 3 was at 2:30 pm; Instructions for luggage and drop offs were given to the runners and an explanation of the course for the following day.See All Event Posts