TENSING HILLARY EVEREST MARATHON
The Tensing-Hillary marathon is the highest in the world and was first held in 2003 to commemorate the first successful ascent of Everest by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Edmund Hillary on 29th May 1953. It has been held annually since then. The marathon starts from the Everest Base Camp (5364m/17598 ft) and finishes at Namche Bazaar (3446m/11306 ft), the Sherpa capital town. The measured distance of the course is 42.195 km (26.2 miles) over rough mountain terrain. Although the course is basically downhill, there are two steep uphill sections. There may be snow and ice on the upper part of the course and considerable exposure along much of the marathon route.
The winner of the fist ever marathon was Utter Kumar Rai in a time of 3:34:12 and the winner in 2014 was Sudip Kulung in a time of 3:52:09. In 2003 just 29 people took part but in 2014 the number of competitors was 131!
Hopefully the above has set the scene for you and given you an insight into what I will be facing.
