Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 6

We had a scheduled start of the race for 9.30 but due to some interference from Nepali officialdom who deemed running as an illegal activity, the race did not start on time. The Police needed to see our passports and permits and all sorts of other pointless pieces of paper. We also had a police escort and I am sure money changed hands. 

 At any rate we started the race at 11.40 when it was really hot and the wind had started. The first 8k was on a dust track with a fair bit of climbing which required some walking. After the checkpoint at 8k we turned off onto a really nice hill section on footpaths past irrigation ditches and then onto exposed rock and scree. This led to a dry river bed climbing to a plateau. At this point I was running with an English runner called George and Menai was running with some Nepali runners, Erica from Australia and Pushpa, a Gurkhas daughter. 

The descent was fast back into the valley and when we reached a village to cross the  river we were told to walk past the police post because, remember, running is an illegal activity. We then had about 1k of track before another bridge and a steep 50m climb to the finish. I was 9th equal in 2.27 with Menai powerin in 40 minutes later.