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Everest Trail Race begins on Friday
Annapurna Treks and Expedition (ATE) is organising the sixth edition of the Everest Trail Race from Friday.Annapurna Treks and Expedition (ATE) is organising the sixth edition of the Everest Trail Race from Friday.
The race will begin from Jiri and will travel en route to Bamti Bhandar of Ramechhap before entering Solukhumbu to go through Namche, Tengboche and return to Lukla on November 15 to complete the race. Nepal Tourism Board Director General Jay Narayan Acharya inaugurated the race during a programme in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
The race route is the one used by New Zealand’s Sir Edmund Hilary and Nepal’s Tenzing Norgay Sherpa to scale Mt Everest in 1953. ATE has been organising the race since 2011 to preserve the route used by the two mountaineers.
“The route is the national treasure and we want to keep it alive by organising this race annually. It will also help boost Nepal’s tourism to some extent,” said ATE Managing Director Kami Sherpa. Everest Trail Race Director General Jordi Abad said the event has grown up bigger with time.
“We have received many positive responses following the decision to continue this race. The participants are increasing with each edition. Those runners who have previously competed in the event, are making multiple appearances which is a good sign for us,” said Abad.
The race will begin from an altitude of 1,600 metres and finishes at 4700m. The trail—which covers a distance of 30kms–-will be participated
in by 46 ultra runners including 16 from England and 14 from Spain. The top three finishers in both the men’s and women’s categories will get 1000, 750 and 250 euros respectively. Bhim Gurung is the defending champion having completed the race in 20 hours and 24:63 minutes.