Key Takeaways
- Nearly 6,000 athletes from around the globe are set to tackle the world’s highest marathon across Ladakh’s extreme terrain.
- The race features a challenging Khardung La climb at 17,618 feet and a 122 km Silk Route Ultra Marathon segment.
- Prize money awards Rs 80,000 for first place, with substantial sums for second and third positions.
Jammu: Nearly 6000 runners from different parts of the country and the world will be taking part in the four-day world’s highest marathon in the Union Territory of Ladakh.
Chhewang Motup, founder of Remo Expedition, told UNI that the ultra event race will begin on Thursday evening from Kygar village in Nubra. The course is situated at an altitude of 10,700 feet and will conclude in Leh on Friday morning.
Notably, several times marathon winner Army’s Ladakh Scouts, Shabbir Hussain, who was the runner-up of Ultra Marathon last time, is also among the participants.
The runners are ready to showcase their strength in Ladakh and on the first day, 47 runners will cross the world’s highest Khardung La peak at 17,618 feet in the 122 km long Silk Route Ultra Marathon.
Runners will have to complete the race from Nubra to Leh within 22 hours, the official said.
Motup added that it is a challenging race adding, “runners from Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Jordan, Malaysia, Portugal, Spain, South Korea, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam will be participating in the marathon.”
He added that 51 runners from India and abroad had registered for the race while 47 have reached Nubra to participate in it, adding, “the race will be very tough and a time limit has also been set to complete it in six stages.”
However, as per the rules, in case the runner does not complete any stage within the stipulated time, shall be treated as disqualified.
The winner will be given a reward of Rs 80 thousand and Rs 50,000 and 30,000 will be given for the second and third place respectively.
Motup, who has been organizing the event for the last ten years, exempting two years of pandemic, said that this is the highest race in the world and is very difficult.
“Last year 60 runners had tried their luck in the Silk Route Ultra Marathon and out of these only 21 runners were able to complete the task within the stipulated time,” he added and said and of these, 12 were local runners from Ladakh, while nine were from India and abroad.
This time 47 runners are participating in the marathon and a record 261 runners are taking part in another 72 km Khardung La Challenge race starting on Friday, he said.
On September 9, there will be a five kilometer run for fun while on the last day on September 10, there will be a 42 kilometer marathon, 21 kilometer half marathon along with 11.2 kilometer race, said the organiser.
