What a Wonderfull Experience and Time!!

Hola / Kia Ora / Namaste everyone, 

I’ve been back in NZ for almost 2 weeks, having a good rest (kind of) and reflecting on what an awesome time I had on the Everest Marathon.

It was such an amazing experience and I don’t know how I can put my feelings into words but here we go!

I spent a bit over a week making my way up to Base Camp and I was so lucky to have so many of my Nepali friends helping me all the way. The Tsering Lhamu Sherpa family, The Lakpa Sherpa families in Namche and Periche, my Nepali mother from Rivendell Tea House in Deboche and Kul Tamang in Dingboche. They have all made me feel like one of their sons and I am so grateful to call them my extended family. 

It was great to spend time acclimatizing and eating lots of Dal Bhat as I made my way up the mountain. Being the climbing season I got to meet and share stories with lots of the Sherpa Mountain Guides, some of them have summited Everest more than 10 times. What legends!!!

By the time I made it to Periche, I got to meet up with Mel my fellow Active running mate and her mum and dad Phil and Jackie. We shared a few laughs and Phil promised to meet me at the finish line with a Snickers bar… I really hoped that was true!!

Getting to sleep two nights at Everest Base Camp, something normally only the climbers get to do was incredible. Trying to sleep at that altitude is pretty hard and I was so worried about keeping hydrated that I spent most of first night getting up to go to the bathroom, which is pretty difficult when it’s -6c•/15f!!!! But, every time I got up the scenery was AMAZING, breathtaking and scary all at the same time. The power of these mountains and being on the glacier that is constantly moving and cracking is something I can’t describe!

Finally, it s race day!!! I managed to get a much better sleep which is surprising considering all the adrenalin that was running through the camp! The countdown gets to 1 and we’re off. My heart was pumping and I had so many emotions but it was a great feeling to be part of this race. Running along the glacier with all the rock and ice, I think I had some tears just thinking how blessed I am to be doing this race and raising money for such a great charity.

I didn’t feel tired, there was always people cheering me on and laughing and running with me. There is a local song called Kale Dai, which means ‘black brother’, and my Nepali brothers call me this with sincere respect and appreciation.  Hearing this song was bloody good! It gave me so much energy. I love this and I look forward to seeing all my brothers again next season. 

All of a sudden I’m at the half marathon start, woohoo 22km’s to go. I did a little Nepali dance in front of the tea houses for a good laugh, Everyone loved it which gave me more energy to keep going!! I still can’t believe I am running my first marathon and it’s the highest one in the world, passing checkpoints, yak trains, and lots of friends. This is crazy!!! It was also so great that even if people were passing you or you passing them everyone was stopping to shake hands and wish each other well in the rest of the race.

All of a sudden there are 2 km’s to go and I can hear the music playing, my heart was pumping and I pull out my home flag of Peru ready to cross the finish. And guess who is waiting for me… Mel’s parents, with snickers!!! Awesome! 

I finished in 7 hours, 34 min. WOW. My friend Josh the Kiwi who I met on the way up had come 3^rdin the foreigner category, another friend Carlo is half Peruvian/half American came 4^thand I came 8^th!!!! Yahooooooo! What an amazing experience. Not bloody bad for my first marathon!

After a hot shower, a cold beer and a nights rest, it was time to walk to Lukla… just another 13km’s! I was pretty sore but I think the walk was good for my muscles!! 

THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT AND DONATIONS FOR THIS WONDERFUL CHARITY I APPRECIATE EVERYTHING YOU MY FRIENDS HAVE DONE. 

                                                          YOU ARE LEGENDS!!!!!!!

For now see you later, I’ve got the running bug… Who knows 60km Ultra Everest Run in 2020. Who’s with me??

Jungle Boy!

Deboche Bridge

Enjoying a Cuppa

Just before the Race

Carlo     Josh     Mel, Fellow running friends

Day #1 at Base Camp

Day #2 at Base Camp

Mel and I holding our flags(Jungle Flag)

On my way to Base Camp

Khumbu Glaciar, Nuptse at the background

Pheriche, with Tabuche behind the cloud

One more sleep!

Hola everyone,

Ellie here! Elder has sent through a few more pictures of his last few days leading up to the incredible Everest Marathon that he'd love to share with you!

Elder and Mel getting ready!!

Elder and Mel spent their first night at Everest Base Camp last night with one more night tonight. 

The race starts at 7am tomorrow (Tuesday) morning local time - For those wanting to track the race this will be approx 1pm New Zealand time, 3pm Australian time (East Coast) and for those in the Americas you'll need to tune in on Monday evening - 6.15pm California time and 8.15pm in Peru.

Elder's tracking number is 143 and Mel's is 112 everestmarathon.com

Good luck team!!! We can't wait to hear all about it!

Elder with friend Ang Dawa who has summited Everest 4 times!

Heading to Base Camp! Everest in the background

Ama Dablam

 
 

Elder with the amazing family from Poumari Tea House, they have treated him like a son!

Helicopter to Lukla!

View of Nuptse with Base Camp behind Elder

  

Presents from our amazing friends at Shoe Clinic in Invercargill!

Rai!

Climbers from Everest. Some of these guys have summited 10 times!

13 Days to go!! / Trece días más!!!

Woohoo, not long till the marathon – only 13 days to go. The clock is ticking down.

I’m here in the Himalayas already letting my body adapt to the altitude. I’ve been in Nepal for a couple of weeks now guiding an Everest Base Camp trip for Active Adventures and spending time with my awesome clients - Richard, Paul and his son Branden and our amazing Nepali team Amrit, Dipes and Raz. We’ve had a great trip, sharing stories and playing cards in the tea houses as we made our way to and from Base Camp.

It’s been pretty busy on the trail with lots of climbers on their way to summit Sagarmatha/ Mt Everest. So far 39 climbers have made it to the summit and I wish all the best for rest of them.

I’ve been doing some training runs on our rest days and taking in the breath-taking scenery and amazing people. Everyone here is cheering you on and giving you lots of motivation!

I’ve also just found out that our crew member Raz is running in the Everest Marathon too! It will be an absolute pleasure to run with him!

I’ll be heading back to Lukla on the 19^th May to start the journey back to EBC to start the race. From there it’s on to Periche where I will meet up with my friend and fellow Active Adventures guide Mel McArtney. From there we will hike together to do this awesome charity run and prove to ourselves that we can do this! It’s going to be crazy fun, hiking bistari bistari (it means slowly slowly) and spending time with our Nepalase friends and sharing a lot of Nepali tea, we’ll be resting lots and of course eating lots of Dhal Bhat! In Nepal we live by the classic saying “Dhal Bhat power twenty three ours one hour for toilet and shower”

Thank you all again so much for your thoughts and support and all the people that have been donating to this charity. A big thanks to Shoe Clinic who has donated some spare running shoes which we are able to give to Nepali runners like Raz!

If you want to check out how much we are raising for this charity head to the Active Hearts Foundation page or the givealittle page. It’s so exciting tod bring lots dreams and smiles to these awesome people in Nepal!

Well that’s it for now. I will try and send another post before the race but if not I’ll be in touch after I cross that finish line. You should be able to track us on the Everest Marathon website or their Facebook page.  

Jungle Boy

Namaste

For everyone keen on the spanish version see below!!!

Solo faltan 13 días para la maratón

Ya aquí en los Himalayas, Nepal aclimatizando un poco más el cuerpo mientras guiando para la empresa en la que trabajo hace años Active Adventures llevando un grupo de clientes hacia el campamento base del Everest con el clima espectacular, los hospedajes acogedores y por supuesto con gente lindisima y amable contando anécdotas, juegos de cartas y compartiendo historias con algunos escaladores a la montaña más alta del mundo El Everest/Sagarmatha que hasta la fecha ya escalaron 39 personas de las 349 en total

Y muchas Bendiciones para ellos!

Aquí en nuestros días de aclimatación mientras mis pasajeros descansan yo a seguir mi entrenamiento siempre los nepaleses muy lindos alentándome para seguir

Uno de nuestros porteadores Raz estará corriendo la maratón también lo cual me llena de alegría y creo no poder ganarle jaja.. pero si será un enorme placer correr con El. El también estuvo entrenando duro como el me dijo tratara de estar en uno de los 3 primer lugares así que vamos Raz!!

Ahora termine mi trabajo clientes de regreso a casa!! así que yo de regreso al campamento Base otra ves 10 días de caminata y así que el 29 de mayo estaré finalizando una de mis metas y sueños de aquellos que lo necesitan.

siempre dándole gracias a Dios por dejarme cumplir lo que quiero y sueño.

Gracias por el apoyo incondicional de toda mi linda familia hermanos, primos sobrinos tíos y más, mi prometida Ellie y amigos que compartieron en sus muros y redes sociales un enorme abrazo para todos y muchas bendiciones en todo.

Y para los jóvenes y niños de puerto Maldonado: no es necesario ser millonario sino solo tener sueños y luchar por ellos con fuerza y ganas y respeto se logra todo.

Asi que les contare como me fue jungle boy en Camino a la línea de partida

Y aquí la bandera de mi tierra que me vio nacer

De la Selva su Hijo

Mi nombre es Elder Bejar soy de la selva Puerto Maldonado nací en ella ósea soy "El chico de la selva" crecí en ella donde todo era un gran campo lleno de aventura desde sus ríos, quebradas, plantas, arboles, animales y entre muchas cosas mas que admiro hasta hoy,  de una familia normal común y corriente pero que me enseñaron a soñar y creer. crecí con amigos increíbles mi niñez fue como las de muchos niños, bañándonos en los ríos cuando era tiempo de playa y sino saltabamos de ramas de los arboles o un tronco y tan solo por diversion y si que se pasaba super bien y entre muchas aventuras mas que están en mi mente atesorado y bien guardado aquí como para una historia de cuentos.

Top of Ben Lomond, Nueva Zelanda. Dia de Entrenamiento

Soy guia de turismo por profesión y pasión lo cual mi trabajo me llevo a viajar a muchos lugares y aun sigo en el largo camino del aprendizaje y dando lo mejor de mi y mas. Siempre soñé con hacer cosas un poco extremas y decir que un joven de la selva también puede hacer cosas motivadoras y dejar el sueño para otro. En mi carrera de la vida llegue a Nepal los Himalayas me encontré con gente tan linda como la que tengo en mi selva querida los nepaleses quienes me tratan como su hermano aparte de parecer como uno de ellos jaja.. mejor aun. 

Conocí a un amigo mío que es de Nueva Zelanda su nombre "Daniel Keys" o mejor conocido como DK El Hace un increíble trabajo en Nepal ayudando a poner "Librerías para colegios, pequeñas postas de salud, sistema de agua potable y alimentos de primera necesidad en areas remotas de los Himalayas" El viene trabajando ya casi 6 años por Allá. Así que decidí contribuir con esta misión y vision que DK mi amigo tiene. Así que esta vez decidí hacer una marathon allá en los Himalayas en Nepal por caridad tratar de juntar dinero que sera donado para ACTIVE HEART FOUNDATION y así que ir por lo extremo y poder hacer esto de corazón. Aqui les dejo la pagina web para que le den un vistazo:

https://www.activeheartsfoundation.org

https://www.activeheartsfoundation.org/project/2018-everest-marathon

Mujer Nepales, en su labor diaria colectando leña

Estaré corriendo 42.1 km/22.2 Millas el 29 de mayo desde el campamento Base del Everest que esta a  5,364 M.S.N.M. / 17,598 Pies. de altura. Hasta Namche Bazar que esta a 3,440 M.S.N.M./11,286 Pies. de altura.

Muy agradecido por las personas que me dan su apoyo como mi familia, mi pareja Ellie y amigos. a la misma Vez agradecer a las personas que donaron para esta causa de caridad para hacer posible este pequeño sueño y una gran ayuda para otros.

Como un dicho dice "nadie es profeta en su propia tierra" pero llevare de todo corazón todos su apoyo.

Por ahora sigo entrenando y siendo feliz haciendo lo que me gusta

Nepal, Los Himalayas haciendo caminata al campamento base.

Namaste!

Jungle Boy

Back in the game!

I’m back in the game again!! Sorry I haven’t posted any updates recently. I have been having some visa issues but that is all sorted now and I can breathe a sigh of relief!

Holding my home town flag Puerto Maldonado at the top of Ben Lomond

It has been a full on couple of months. My friend Nick and I did Motatapu Bike Race which is a challenging 47 km/29.2 miles mountain ride. It was quite a bit of challenge with lots of up and down and lots river crossings but the end of the day we came 3rd in our division. Woohoo!

Ellie (my fiancé) and I went up to the Marlborough Sounds area for a few days holidays over Easter. While up there I continued my training with a 70km/43.4miles bike ride on the Queen Charlotte Track and some more runs in this breathtaking scenery.

Back in the adventure capital of New Zealand - Queenstown where the Jungle Boy lives (That’s me ;) I’ve been cranking the training up with some more mean trails, including a run up to Ben Lomond summit in the snow this morning!

I’ve also been given some awesome T-Shirts from “Varsity Sports” in the US “Run Hard Live Easy” I love them! Thank you Randa Patrick for sending them over.

A MASSIVE THANK YOU TO YOU ALL for following my progress and for those of you that have donated to this charity already. The official website for Active Hearts is finally up and running and you can check out some of the awesome projects we are running in Nepal.

                                       https://www.activeheartsfoundation.org 

I am so proud to contribute to this incredible foundation, and thank you for helping me to help others!

Namaste!!!

Jungle Boy

Why am I doing the Everest Marathon?

Since I started working for Active Adventures in Nepal I have been surrounded by amazing people and mountains. I have really fallen in love with this beautiful country. 

Last year I decided to do the Everest Marathon as my next challenge though I also want to raise money for a charity that is very important to me. Active Hearts Foundation. These guys raise money to build school libraries in remote villages of Nepal, they also help deliver health services and supplies to remote villages especially in the area of maternity and infant health. Active Hearts also assist small communities in building infrastructure projects such as shelter, safe irrigation for food and clean water.

If you'd like to donate to this great cause you can make donations to Active Hearts Charity 

https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/activeheartsfoundation   

You can choose to leave your name or not, but please make sure you mention The Tenzing Memorial Marathon! It will be fantastic to see how much we can raise!

Any donations would be hugely appreciated. The Active Hearts Foundation will also be launching a new website in the next few weeks and I'll make sure to send the link out. You'll be able to follow the charity  projects that are happening around Nepal. 

Local Nepali lady showing me how to train!

Well that's it for now. Time to crank up my training!!!

Here we gooooooo!!!

Training run in Lyttleton, Christchurch, NZ