Himalayan 100 Mile Stage Race & Mount Everest Challenge Marathon

Day 5: Hungry For The Finish… But It’s a LOOONNGG Way Away!

Jackie Windh / 05.11.2016

On paper, this day looks to be one of the easiest. However, in many ways, it’s one of the toughest. Aside from the accumulated effects of four days racing, there is the added fact that yesterday was on pavement: much tougher on the body. I also remember this final day from 2013 very well: The first 10k climbing is fine (basically just continuing up the big hill we’d started up yesterday, to gain a good 600 m/2000’). But the 17k downhill back to Maneybhanjang seems to go on and on forever (that is a long downhill!). Very tough mentally.

It was also a surprisingly early start for us, with a 4:30am breakfast call, for such a short stage (runners would take between 2.5 and 4.5 hours). But once you understand the logistics, you see why: buses depart for the race start at 6am so the race can start by around 8am. Which means that final racers are in by 12:30, in time to have lunch before the two-hour bus ride back to race headquarters in Mirik, so we can make the awards ceremony at 5:30 - and still have time in the evening to eat dinner and pack for tomorrow’s departure back to Delhi. A busy day!

My cumulative time so far was a good hour faster than my race time of three years ago. I had bettered each stage on Days 1 to 3 substantially, and on Day 4 by one whole minute. Perhaps more importantly, my body was definitely feeling a lot better by this stage than it had last time. I hoped I could continue my streak, and better my previous time of 3:35 today.

I knew that the initial uphill was my chance to advance my position in the field. My knee was holding out surprisingly well, but I was still running all my downhills very cautiously and would not be fast on that section today.

The route up was switchbacks winding their way relentlessly upward through the forest. I walked the steep curves, and ran the short flats in between as much as I could. Even a short 10 or 20 m run would advance me by a few metres, and by doing that I slowly but surely overtook a number of runners as we climbed.

Carlos Spinelli (Argentina) was gaining behind me. I didn’t have to turn around: the click of his poles alerted me to his distance. I knew he was going to catch me, but I wasn’t going to let him take it easily. (That’s one thing I love about this kind of race - because we ARE all in competition with one another. But it’s such a friendly competition that there’s always a smile and a wave when you see someone doing well, even if they are passing you).

As we neared the top, though, the flats were getting harder and harder for me to run. There was still that big long downhill ahead - and I wasn’t sure that I even had running legs left any more. So I stuck to hiking for the last part of the climb. Carlos passed me, as did Richard Barsk (Sweden). I didn’t even care about my position any more: I was advancing just fine, and about to finish a race that I had thought only a few days ago might be a DNF for me because of my knee. And - there was still a long way to go.

Carlos’s wife caught me at the top. Patrica is a better downhill runner than me. She tightened her laces at the crest, then shot down ahead of me. I had expected to be passed by many runners on the downhill, so was pleasantly surprised to see only a few of them over the next two and a half hours. Zdenka Jost (Germany) was one of them. She had been near the back of the pack on the trails, but she was clearly in her element here on pavement.

The toughest part of this stage really is mental. We are mainly winding our way down through trees - no more amazing distant views, the scenery closed in and mostly the same. Occasional traffic safety signs, written Indian-style, were all we had to entertain ourselves (e.g. “Do not donate blood on the road. Donate blood at the hospital”) Local vehicles passed me from time to time - cars, vans, motorbikes - and usually there was an encouraging shout of “Good luck, lady!” or “Welcome ma’m!”

I heard the finish line well before I arrived there: shouts, and the band playing. Schoolchildren lined up along the chute on both sides waving flags and shouting “Wel-COME! Wel-COME!” every bit as enthusiastically as if I were the winner. I don’t usually cry at finish lines, but I felt tears well up as I hit the ribbon and Mr. Pandey greeted me. This was a hard race - and here I was, for a second time!

Stu Cox kept the jets turned on to win this stage in 2:32. However, his efforts weren’t enough to overtake overall winner David Fontaine. Top racers are:
  MALE
   David Fontaine (France) 18:08
   Stuart Cox (Australia) 19:07
   Jaz Sanghera (UK) 19:51
  FEMALE
   Anna Petrakos (Australia) 22:46 - 4th overall
   Fiona McIntosh (South Africa) 25:05 - 8th overall
   Annette Petzold (Germany) 26:35 - 12th overall

And I was more than pleased with my result of 27:20, making me 4th female and 14th overall. I didn’t quite better my time of three years ago this final day, but my cumulative time was nearly an hour faster (and I’m sure not getting any younger).

Look for one more “wrap-up” report about the Himalayan 100 Mile Stage Race in a couple of days. I’ll give you some tips and some info that is helpful to know before you do this race (because if you are an ultrarunner who appreciates how running can get you off the beaten track, and expose you to amazing cultural and wilderness experiences, then you really MUST do this race!) So please come back for my final report.