On Saturday, June 27, Sunmaya Budha was crowned the new queen of the Lavaredo Ultra Trail 120K in Italy after winning the race’s 19th edition. After conquering a gruelling 120-kilometre course with more than 5,800 metres of elevation gain, she crossed the finish line to a roar from hundreds of spectators. Budha held the finishing tape, raised her arms in triumph and was celebrated as a champion.

Three days later, when Budha walked through the arrival gate at Tribhuvan International Airport with the winner’s medal, there was no cheering crowd waiting.

Instead, a small group led by Nepal Adventure Running Federation (NARF) Vice-President Rajan Khatri, joined by a handful of well-wishers carrying a banner, bouquets and scarfs, welcomed one of Nepal’s greatest trail runners home.

Budha, however, appeared neither surprised nor disappointed. It was a reception she had long expected.

“I knew there wouldn’t be a grand welcome for a trail runner at the airport, even after winning one of the biggest races,” Budha told the Post as she sat at a coffee shop inside the international arrivals terminal. “That’s why I usually don’t even share my arrival details.”

Budha did not merely win the Lavaredo Ultra Trail 120K—she rewrote its history. She completed the course in 13 hours, 33 minutes and 18 seconds, shaving more than six minutes off the course record that had stood for 11 years.

The victory was anything but comfortable. Budha caught and passed Australia’s Lucy Bartholomew on a downhill section near the end of the race before crossing the finish line just a minute and a half ahead of her rival.

“Sunmaya is a great runner,” said Preeti Khatri, founder and director of Nepal Trail Series, a company that manages Budha’s race calendar, logistics, media and sponsorships. “The race she just won was one of the biggest races in the world where elite runners participate.”

Khatri added, “A couple of decades ago, Dawa Dachhiri Sherpa led a generation of trail runners. He was followed by Bhim Gurung, and then came Mira Rai. Now, there is Sunmaya.”

For Preeti, however, Budha’s record-breaking victory made the reception at Tribhuvan International Airport even harder to accept.

“Do you see any representatives from the government?” Preeti asked, gesturing around the arrivals’ hall. “Sunmaya won one of the world's biggest trail races while representing Nepal. And this is what she gets in return.”

A few minutes later, media representatives from the National Sports Council arrived, took a handful of pictures and left after speaking briefly with Budha. “But is this all that the state can do?” Preeti asked again.

Even before Budha’s flight landed in New Delhi from Rome on Monday morning, Nepal Trail Series had issued a statement calling on the government to honour her achievement.

“A state honour or a national award. A formal meeting between the Prime Minister and Sunmaya. Is that too much to ask after everything she has achieved for the country?” Preeti said. “And this is not just about Sunmaya. Many Nepali trail runners have been winning medals around the world, yet they continue to be ignored. That neglect seems to have continued even under a government that has promised change.”

The statement also demands a policy framework providing elite trail and mountain running athletes financial support, healthcare, and post-career security and recognising trail and mountain running as a strategic national sport, given Nepal’s geographic advantage and trail running’s coming Olympic inclusion.

Yet, despite their frustration, neither Preeti nor Budha appeared ready to give up. Both spoke less about what had been denied than about what could still be achieved if Nepal finally began taking trail running seriously.

Budha comes from Patarasi, a remote village in Jumla, where running was part of everyday life long before it became a profession. She began running at the age of 12 and turned professional five years later.

“I had a guru, Hari Rokka. He trained me while I was in school and the President’s Running Shield was underway,” Budha recalls. “I started in track and field and went on to trail running.”

Now 27, Budha has established herself as one of Nepal’s most decorated trail runners.

The gold medal at Lavaredo 120K was Budha’s first win of the year. A year ago, she had finished first in four races—Anta Hong Kong 100 Ultra (102km), Chengdu Trail (60km), Mount Yun by UTMB (30km) and Ultra-trail Cape Town (99.4km)—and second in the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships (81.2km).

Further, Budha had also set a course record in Hong Kong, and her finish at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships was the highest-ever by an Asian athlete.

“Sunmaya has been consistently performing and winning in the world’s most competitive races since 2021. And it is not because of the support from the federation or the state,” Preeti said. “It is a result of the sponsorships Sunmaya has earned from the hard work that has led her to train in a professional ecosystem with proper coaches, nutritionists and physios among others.”

Budha also finished first in three races—two in China and one in Switzerland—in 2024. She had five first-place finishes in 2023, a second-place finish in UTMB Mont Blanc (99.1km) in 2022 and a gold medal in the 106.9km race in HOKA Chiang Mai by UTMB in Hong Kong in 2021.

The National Sports Honours Guidelines-2080 provisions cash awards for athletes and coaches, among others, who win medals at the international stage. “But none of the trail runners who have won medals across the world representing Nepal over the years has been awarded under the guidelines,” Rajan said. “We have been forwarding the achievements to the NSC but to no avail.”

As Budha left Tribhuvan International Airport carrying the medal she had won against some of the world’s best trail runners, there were no cameras chasing her and no government officials waiting to congratulate her. In a few days, she will return to the trails of Jumla, where her journey began.

“It is difficult to stay motivated when your hard work goes unrecognised,” she said. “But, at the end of the day, it also pushes you to prove those who ignored you wrong—to show them that you can still achieve great things.”

Sunmaya is the fifth child among seven daughters. Her youngest sister, Rammaya Budha, has also followed in her footsteps and is an emerging trail runner in the country. And she hopes the next generation will not have to return to the same silence.

“I hope things get better by the time Rammaya reaches her peak,” Sunmaya said.