Running in Nepal
Sun, Feb 21, 2016
Nepal is such a wonderful place. Steeped in history and culture with some of the most breath-taking sights to be seen, Nepal is the home to Buddhism, the Himalayas, and of course the mighty Mt Everest. Despite all this wealth, the country and the people themselves face a lot of challenges. Economically Nepal is considered a third-world country with many people in utter poverty. To compound this hardship, Nepal has also experienced terrible earthquakes that have left many dead and even more without basic needs such as accommodation, access to food and clean water, and education. Last years earthquakes were terrible and it continues to happen. This had me thinking, wouldn’t it be great if I could do something, no matter how small, to help out in some way?
Through my love of running I got to learn about the Impact series of Marathons and right there as the inaugural run was Nepal. Impact Marathons has lofty goals, in fact they are aiming to contribute to the 17 UN Global Goals through running. “Our runners will truly see the impact of their time, money and resources by visiting and meeting all of the projects they are supporting”. As part of the week long trip we will be helping repair a school that was badly affected by the earthquake as well as undertaking other community projects. The actually marathon will be at the end of the week and promises to combine stunning views, up to 2300m of altitude, and 26.2 miles of running for a great cause. I am really looking forward to it.
This year I am hoping to complete several new challenges and up my running to ultra distances. At the moment, Nepal is my final planned race of the year but between now and then there is a lot of training to do.