Jungle boy running in Nepal : 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!