Mustang Trail Race - the runners

There were 35 "runners" for the race, 36 if you include the police escort (far left in the picture) who ran two stages. However not everyone ran every stage and some people walked the whole way.   

We were a mixed ability group ranging from Salamon team runners to those who had not done anything like this before. So who were the runners?

Sylvan - a French runner based in Singapore who did much of his training on a treadmill. He had trekked for 10 days up to 5000 metres to acclimatise. Overall 1st

Stefan - a Salamon sponsored runner from Bavaria who owns a running shop with his wife Barbara. The only person who ran every hill. Had lived at altitude for sometime so was acclimatised. 2nd overall. 

Tyler ( the younger)- from Montana in his early 20s. On a Salamon scholarship and had been in Nepal for a couple of weeks to visit and run with Mira Rai.

Gian Mario (Jimmy) - from Lake Garda and had run the UTMB and on his way to run a World Skyrunning race in a remote part of Western China. 

Tyler ( the older but still young) - living in Pokhara with his wife originally from Spokane, Washington State and an experienced fast runner. 

Natalia - from Spain but living in Switzerland. Had run the Manaslu race and the Glencoe Skyline.  Going to China with Jimmy and doing the Dragons Back in May. Great runner. 

5 Young Nepali girl runners. Regina, Sita, Rashila, Sunita and Kamala.  Regina was achieving times similar to Mira Rai on this race. 

George - from the UK who ran with me for 5 stages had a fast marathon time but not done anything like this before. Once he was acclimatised he stormed ahead. 

Chris (Canada) - from Edmonton was an experienced runner and very fast downhill. 

Sven - from Germany carried a heavy Leica camera with him the whole way. Once acclimatised he was strong uphill. 

Nick - from New York but based in Russia was a really strong runner who was not well for the last couple of days. 

Alex - from Cambridge was an experienced Ultra runner who once acclimatised was strong. Doing the Dragons Back in May. 

Barbara - Stefan's other half was consistently strong not finishng long after me most days. 

Tite - from the Dolomites had run the race before and had looked after Mira Rai when she was in Italy. Going to china with Jimmy and Natalia. 

Erica - from Australia. She was consistently strong and always had a positive outlook.

Jo - from Northern Ireland but living in London was a strong runner who finished well up the field. 

Steph - from Dubai was a multiple Comrades finisher and doing it again this year. 

 

Pushba - a Nepali living in the UK and in the Hampshire Constabulary.  The daughter of a Gurkha soldier and was really a great person to be with as well as being a tough runner. 

Priti - a Nepali living in Kathmandu and a part of the trail running Nepal scene. An experienced runner and fun to be with. 

Paul and Shona - from Australia and had done the Manaslu race and were experienced trail runners. 

Andrea and Ivelia - A couple from Italy. Andrea was an experienced trail runner but chose to run with Ivelia who was new to it. 

Helen - from the UK was not experienced on this sort of terrain but was determined to finish each stage. 

James - the oldest participant based in the UK finished each leg in good heart and an experienced runner. 

Jim - from Australia never intended to run e race but walked (very fast) each stage and was great company. 

Hiro - from Kathmandu was a great runner and had done the race before. He chose to take photos most of the time. 

 

Mustang Trail Race - Route finding and marking the trail

The race was run in pretty remote country and the maps were not accurate enough to enable realistic map reading. There was no one you could ask the way most of the time and the trail we took was not always the most obvious route from A to B. Therefore we had the route marked for us by none other than the world famous Lizzy Hawker. For those of you who do not know who she is this is a list of some of her accomplishments:

5 times winner of the 160k Ultra Tour Du Mont Blanc

Former 24 hour world record holder 

Former 100k world champion

Winner of 155 mile Spartathlon

In 2016 she ran the 1600k Grand Himalayan Trail across Nepal in 42 days

Lizzy and Menai

Lizzie would set off at about 4.30am to lay a trail of orange ribbons and spray paint for us to stop us from getting lost. She was meticulous in setting the trail and it rarely let us down. The only time nearly all of us got lost was on stage 2 when the villagers decided to help themselves to the ribbons. We saw yaks, bikes and dogs decorated with orange ribbons on our travels. At the end of the day the sweeper would collect all the ribbons again and cross the finish line looking like some sort of orange rag doll. 

Lizzy was great to have along on the trip and had wise words for us about the trail. She is incredibly modest about her achievement and it was quite hard to get her to talk about them.  She obviously is happiest in the mountains and running. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 14

So to the last stage of the race - stage 8. A nice short 15k to the holy town of Mukinath. Ok it was short but we still had to climb over 1000 metres and cross a pass at 4100 metres so it was not going to be easy. 

We had another staggered start to the day with the same timings as before and the start was brutal, climbing after the first 200 metres with only  a few leveller patches to catch breath. If I was to retain my 12th place I had to stay within 13 minutes of the improving Sven. For the first 5k this was OK but I tired and he pulled away. It was a hard climb but at least  I reached the high point before the faster runners caught me and was greeted with a jaw dropping view of the whole Annapurna range and Dhaulagiri there in full view. 

We then had a great 5k downhill to the town which was visible from the pass. I really enjoyed this very runnable section until the sting in the tail of climbing up to the town. At this point Stefan caught me and I followed him into town fighting crowds of pilgrims coming in the opposite direction. It was a bit surreal but not as odd as our finishing point - the Bob Marley cafe and grill. 

It was great to finish and because of the staggered start finishers arrived in quick succession cheered on by other runners, tourists and even some bemused pilgrims. 

We celebrated with Gorkha beer and burgers before a 1 hour uncomfortable bus ride to the hotel in rainy  Jomsom. In the evening we had the awards dinner and buffet dhal bhat before dropping into a well deserved bed at the late night time of 10pm. After 14 days of early starts and exertion we looked forward to a bit of rest and recuperation in Pokhara. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 13

Stage 7 was another big day with a reported distance of 26 or 28k depending on which document you believe. According to the provided profile the course had one big climb of 1000 metres and then followed a ridge line before a big drop to the village of Chuksang.  Today we had a staggered start with the slower runners starting at 7am, the mid-packers at 7.30am and the faster runners at 8am. 

It was a difficult start with the course climbing for 7k to over 4000 metres and I was struggling with the beginnings of a cold and sore throat. I passed Menai after about an hour and Stefan (the Salomon team runner from Germany) stormed past me running up to the pass. It was really impressive to see him in action working hard up the hill. Once we got to the top it was actually cold with patches of snow visible and I considered putting on an extra layer. 

We then had a long ridge line which was not as flat as I had hoped that undulated for 10k at an altitude over 4000 metres which meant difficult running. I was passed by a lot of the faster runners on this section as I struggled along it but at least it meant I was not on my own for long. The long descent to Chuksang was difficult as the path was steep, rocky and exposed made worse by the fact that you could see the village from 6k away. I managed to fall three times but was not injured. 

I wobbled into the finish in 3.59 which was pretty much on my estimate with Menai trotting in an hour or so later.

Chris from Gloucester had a good run but managed to dislocate his shoulder on the stairs of the guest house. The doctor was with the sweeper so possibly 2 hours away so poor Chris just had to wait. However two Italian runners happened to be orthopaedic surgeons and after they finished together Andrea and Ivelea set about putting the shoulder back together. It was pretty gruesome to watch and not as easy as you would see on the TV. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 12

Stage 6 was a 20k jaunt with over 1000 metres of climbing. 

The complication was we had a 5k uphill trek to the start at a cave monastery. We even had a tea stop on the way to the start.  I presume it is a way of giving some income to these remote villages. 

The stage started at 10.30 so we were in for a hot one. We started with a lovely 5k downhill through a river valley and saw huge vultures that are attracted by the local practice of sky burials. Rashila a Nepali 17 year old girl took a tumble in front pf me but was up and running  with no ill effects. Then the first climb started taking us over a plateau and then a big drop to a river crossing and the half way checkpoint. George, my running partner for the last few days, had a new lease of life and flew ahead not to be seen again. 

We then had a big steep and relentless climb to a pass. This seemed to go on forever with multiple false summits. I was going well and managed to keep Nick, Sven and a   Rashila behind me to the top. Sven overtook me on the decent but I was able to pass him again on the long 5k run into the village of Tangye

Mustang Trail Race 2017 day 11

We had a nice relaxed start this morning and a 9am race start because stage 5 was a short one at just over 15k and 650 metres of climbing. There was a net descent for the day meaning that we are sleeping 300 metres lower tonight. 

The stage started with a longish climb to a pass and then 6k of superb ridge running with stunning views. At times the path was narrow with steep drop offs. 

Today we were running at between 3900 and 4100 metres and for the first time  I felt that I could really run properly. 

We then had a steep descent to a lovely green village before heading up a river valley. I was running with a good Nepali girl who took a massive shortcut route but scared us all to death with her antics trying to descend a scree and then a cliff. Three of us finished mote or less together: Nick first, then me and George in a time of around 2.03. Menai had a better day finishing in 3.14.

  The afternoon's "entertainment" was to go for a Lizzie Hawker half hour walk to look at a monastery and for fossils - 90 minutes later I returned with one measly fossil and a lot more tired. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 10

An early start for the big day of stage 4. As we start the race at over 3800 metres the day is all high altitude with two climbs well above 4000 metres. This was meant to be a very runnable day and to begin with is was on tracks but as we gained altitude I began to have to walk more and more. 

 We turned up a valley heading for a hidden cave with painting dating from the 1300s. The amazing thing is that this cave was at 4100 metres and only accessible with the use of a cable hand rail. Why would anyone want to live up here? It took about 1 hour 20 to reach the check in point and another hour to visit the cave with substantial climbing on precipitous narrow paths.

The run down the valley was fun with outstanding views and landscapes. We contoured round a set of cliffs to head down to a valley where the water point was. We then had another 1k to get to the next check in check out. This was an amazing 5 storey cave settlement now abandoned. I managed to bang my head on a doorway and loose some blood.

 The next section was about 3k through villages and pastures before heading unto a high plateau that eventually headed down towards Lo Manthang 6k away.  Much of this was runnable and Sven left our little group and stormed ahead.  George and I kept a good pace over pastures, fields and irrigation ditches until the last descent and climb into Lo Manthang where George ran out of energy and I managed to finish a few minutes in front of him in 3.39. Menai struggled today but did a great job to complete the round in about 5 hours.