I can’t believe I came 10th in Manjushree Trail Race 80k Ultra this year. I finished top ten — just behind Dakahi the first in women’s category.
Since the race in mid April, I have been contemplating the run — those brutal 80 kilometres. The run began at eight in the evening of 17 April in Nagarkot. We started in the night and finished in the following day.
It was a good start. There is some climb until Nagarkot Tower. The path then descends to Nala Gadhi via Chautara, until Tukucha Nala and further to Sanga passing through villages, forest and temples.
After about couple of hours the body felt a bit strange. The natural cycle of sleep hovered. As though the mind and body were negotiating between movement and rest. I felt a subtle stuck up in my throat. A slow battle against drowsiness and heaviness.
I kept moving.
I stopped briefly at checkpoints — munched on saltly biscuits and black tea, ate watermelons and refilled water — getting brief rest and recovery.
It felt surreal crossing Sanga suspension bridge — me hovering in mid air across a highway below dotted with heavy trucks overhauling construction material into the city. We were switching between the quietness of trails passing through villages and forests, and the alive and noisy highway.
Gradually the sounds of the highway faded behind me. The trail took me through villages and quiet forest trails. I passed through Ranikot, Lakurbhanjyang and Chapakharka.
The section from Chapakharka, through Phulchowki, Nallu, Tika Bhairab, Dukuchhap and eventually to Pharping was specially beautiful. I was almost of almost on my own throughout. The quiet of the mid-night transformed the trail into something sacred. The darkness narrowed the outside world into a tunnel vision — the light from the headlamp and the small illuminated path ahead. Nothing else seemed to exist.
There were moments when the forest opened into deep bluish-silver landscapes beneath the night sky. I still am mesmerised by a faint silver like glow that emanates — this is something out of the world as we do not get to see this in our usual city nights. The deep bluish-black sky forming a dome over the horizon — like some scape that forms this beautiful world capsule containing the world I am treading on. This meditative rhythm is what carried me forward through the night. What a privilege to be able to experience this night wonderland!
As the night transitioned into light break, I still remember opening of a greyish sky, and the trees and the birds greeting me into the morning. I was kind of high.
Everyone carries a story. Every runner out there was moving with their own history — that of challenge, hardship, discipline, sacrifice and persistence. Each person had pushed through moments where stopping must have seemed easier than continuing.
So did I.
There were several moments when I thought of giving up. Especially during the final climb of relentless vertical steps through Champadevi, Bhasmasur and Chandragiri. And yet somewhere inside those beaten-up moments I felt strangely good. Like there was nothing more to loose. Not happy in ordinary sense, but deeply present and at peace with the breathing, struggle and moving onto next step. The race had stripped away all unnecessary thoughts.
I remember realising that despite the pain, despite the exhaustion, I was fully there in that moment. Completely aware. Somehow, deep inside there was positivity and calmness. My body was struggling, yet my feet kept moving. One step at a time, in a slow motion going up. Slow, tired and stubborn — but moving nonetheless.
All the previous trainings helped. The weekend long runs, strength training, upper core exercises. Adapting to brief breaks at checkpoints, snacking, resting and moving on. The adaptation of brief rest, refuelling and continuing run helped.
Following the Kathmandu Valley Rim, guided by the famous neon yellow and white stripes on trees, rocks and path — guided by trail markings of ribbons and reflectors — I moved through the silent forests, sleeping hills and villages. Sometimes I ran alongside others and sometimes alone.
I reached Pharping checkpoint around 08.20 the morning of 18 April. Pharping is a major checkpoint. Rashila was there, and she took good care of all the incoming runners from the previous day and night. Her care was more than I could have imagined — she guided me to the physiotherapist as I wanted ankle support. I had twisted both ankles a few times the previous night, and I needed them wrapped. Then she brought me warm Dal Bhat. Exactly what I had been wishing for. I had seen a happy Ubin leave with a full stomach of Dal Bhat, and secretly I wanted the same.
I remember moving on from Pharping — through forest above Sheshnarayan — feeling proud and emotional. I had made through 62k. I called my family in high spirits, and said I would probably finish the next 20k in next four hours or so. No. That did not happen.
The climb to Champadevi was hard. It is a long way from Pharping, through Dollu and then to Champadevi. I could hardly move. My pace had slowed down to that of a sloth-like-movement. My only salvation was returning attention toward breathing and the upper core — the chest and area. I focussed on air moving in and out, posture and being with the pain. Slowly and steadily I somehow continued.
Then came Bhasmasur. Another brutal climb. My legs were done. Running was no longer possible. I could not run the flat stretches or even the descents. I was simply walking.
The next checkpoint in Deurali, I sat for a while, and ate salty biscuits and watermelons.
Then came the final brutal climb toward Chandragiri. Somewhere, as I was closing in on Chandragiri summit, Raja Mahatara, Ang Furba and Dakahi gradually caught up. I was a bit frustrated initially. I greeted them, a brief chat with Raja Mahatara and Dakahi. From there Dakahi and I remained more or less together for the final leg to the finish point Pataleban Vineyard Resort in Nagdhunga.
The final stretch was beautiful in Dakahi’s company. We moved together, encouraging and supporting each other. There was comfort in struggling together. The impossible felt achievable. The endless vertical descent from Chandragiri to Nagdhunga — the gravity facilitated some running into my body.
I reflect the 80k run in awe — the race felt more than a sporting event. It felt like a ritual — something like a long puja carried out through the forests, ridges, darkness, pain, silence and step after step after step.
The organisers, volunteers, checkpoint teams, chairs to rest upon, warm food, tea, salty biscuits, watermelons, positivity from everyone in the race, love and support of family and friends — this is what made it possible. I never felt alone in the run.
I feel deeply blessed to have experienced this amazing trial run.
Perhaps what stays with me most is not the top ten finish, not the distance, and not even the struggle itself. Somewhere through those long hours of running, exhaustion and silence, something unnecessary had quietly fallen away. The race had stripped life into something very simple — breathing, moving and taking the next step.
Maybe that is why I keep returning to the trail run. Not because I finished 80k. But because for a few brief hours, somewhere out there between darkness and dawn, I felt deeply and completely alive.
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