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“Oh my god…. What was I thinking??? I won’t be able to walk tomorrow….”

This has the dubious honour of being “the highest marathon in the world” - I would say the most crazy marathon in the universe! The marathon covers the requisite 26 miles of a normal marathon, but the difference is the altitude and the terrain. Imagine beginning your run at 5300m - Higher than Mont Blanc, and 2.5 times higher than “Mount” Kosciusko. The air contains 50% less oxygen here than it does down at sea level! Then imagine that you have to run over giant rocks, much like picking your way over the rubble left by a humungous earthquake. This continues for about a quarter or a third of the way, the rest of the way involving steep ups and downs over an ever changing trail (often with uneven rocks and slippery gravel). The marathon starts at Everest Base Camp and ends at Namche Bazaar - a trek that took us THREE DAYS to complete!! The Nepalis, of course, all come in before the tourists do - the winner usually makes it within 4 hours. Foreigners take an average of 10-12 hours!!

We had the good timing to be able to be in Namche Bazaar on the day of the marathon. We watched the first runner come in triumphantly - a hotel cook who has the advantage of living at an altitude of 4900m, hence having the physique for the mountains. We heard that a blind man completed the marathon, with the help of two friends, and took 16 hours (He would have arrived at 1am!!) I am not sure if such feats arouse admiration in me, or a compulsion to check these people into a psychiatric ward?!?!