NEPAL EVEREST

Googling the world highest ultra-marathon sparked the idea of my Nepalese adventure. The Everest Ultra is a 65-kilometre race down Mt Everest. Starting at the old Everest Basecamp Gorakshep (5164m) this race wound its way down the mountain before finishing in Lukla (2860m). With my head throbbing from the altitude, and being hit by an intense case of Giardia (a parasite in my small intestines), which ignited a release of all liquids from my body anyway possible, I could not eat or drink anything for three days prior to the race.

In spite of that I managed to take part in this brutal event with a bunch of foreigners and several local runners, and made it off the mountain to tell the tale. Before I battled my way up Mt Everest though, I spent three weeks living high up in the rural mountains of Nepal with local runners Aite Tamang and Upendra Sunuwar, experiencing how they live within their family homes. I immersed myself in their daily lives and community culture, while also enjoying running the trails up into the mountains from their front doorsteps.

It was an experience I still hold very close to my heart.