The organisers of the Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon on Thursday confirmed participation of over 200 athletes from 30 countries in this year’s race on May 29.

The Himalayan Expeditions organise the high-altitude annually on May 29 to commemorate the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa. The 17th edition of the race will see 154 foreigners compete in various categories: marathon (42.195km), Everest Extreme Ultra (60km) and Half Marathon (21 km). “It gives us immense pleasure to note that this event has grown up to become a premier adventure sports event globally,” said Bikram Pandey, the man who inititated the race.The marathon will begin from Everest Base Camp and will conclude at Namche Bazaar.

Of 154 foreign athletes, 59 are women. Of the total foreigners 125 are competing in Marathon, 17 in Extreme Ultra and 12 in Half Marathon events. This figure does not include Nepali athletes. The 22-year-old Christoph Jackson of Britain is the youngest and the 67-year-old Leonard Douglas Stanmore of Canada is the oldest participants this season. British Ambassador to Nepal Richard Morris is also scheduled to compete in marathon this year, informed the organisers on Thursday.

Abhishek Pande of the Himalayan Expeditions said the athletes will leave for the Everest region on Thursday. “As the marathon is being held in a high altitude, they will do a 10-day trekking to the Everest Base Camp. This will give them proper time to acclimatize to the high altitude,” he said, adding that the runners will be accompanied by a team of doctors.

Top three athletes in each categories will receive cash rewards ranging from Rs100,00 to Rs 25,000.