A Texada Island runner agrees the Everest Marathon, the world’s highest marathon, is also the planet’s toughest marathon.
Rob McWilliam from Gillies Bay successfully completed the 2011 Everest Marathon in December. “It was certainly the toughest race that I’ve ever been in,” said McWilliam. Since Everest was his 133rd marathon or longer event, McWilliam believes he has lots of events to compare.
Two Canadians were among the 186 runners from 19 countries who participated in the race, which started at Gorek Shrep, the original Everest base camp, at 5,184 metres (17,000 feet) and finished in Namache Bazaar, at 3,346 metres (about 11,000 feet).
However, much of the race’s difficulty is just the effort that it takes to get to the starting line, said McWilliam. It requires a 15-day trek from Lukla at 2,860 meters (9,400 feet), the world’s highest and most dangerous airport. “The biggest challenges are acclimatizing and staying healthy,” he said. “There were other unique problems like encountering yak caravans on narrow mountain trails. You quickly learned to get to the high side of the trail and that the yaks always got the right of way.”
By going up gradually and returning to lower altitude several times to sleep, most people were able to adjust to the altitude, but not without many experiencing frightening episodes when it seemed almost impossible to breathe, McWilliam said. “Staying healthy was an even greater challenge as coughs and colds swept through the group. It’s something that is so common on Everest treks that they even call it the Kumbu cough, after the glacier where the Everest base camp is located.”
Once the marathon started, foreign runners watched helplessly as Nepali runners took off over the Kumbu glacial moraine while even the best foreign runners were reduced to shuffling up the 50-metre climb. The winner was Ran Kumar Raj Bhandari with a new record time of three hours and 47 minutes. The first foreign runner was Scottish fell-runner Bruce Hall in five hours and 47 minutes. The first woman was Chhechee Sherpa in five hours and six minutes, while the top foreign woman was a resident of Kathmandu, Frances Fox in six hours and seven minutes.
McWilliam was the final finisher in 11 hours and 20 minutes, but he is still very proud of his accomplishment. “There were lots of moments when I wondered what I was doing this for, then I would remind myself that I was trying to raise money for the people of Nepal, who have so little. I’d dig down to find just a little more energy to continue,” he said. “I was pleased to be able to finish the world’s highest marathon, but I’m more excited about the community support for my fundraising. To date we’ve raised just over $2,500 for Nepal School Projects, a Canadian charity that supports self-help projects in rural Nepal. But we aren’t finished yet.”
On Saturday, February 4, McWilliam and Gillies Bay artist Doby Dobrostanski will be presenting a slide show on McWilliam’s trip and will be auctioning Dobrostanski’s latest painting, with all profits going to the charity. Members of the public are invited to join them at the Texada Arts, Culture and Tourism Society meeting room in the old credit union building in Van Anda. The presentation will start a 7:30 pm with auction to follow.
