Marathon to be organized at Annapurna base camp

Myagdi (Beni), May 26: A marathon race competition is to be held at the Annapurna Base Camp as part of the commemoration of the diamond jubilee of climbing Annapurna I (8091 meters).

The Annapurna Rural Municipality is organizing the 'diamond jubilee festival' on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the first ascent on Mt Annapurna and the 30-kilometre-long marathon will be a part of the event. 

Bharat Kumar Pun, the chairperson of the Annapurna Rural Municipality, said that a marathon running competition will be held from the Annapurna Base Camp located at the Rural Municipality-4 to Narchyang village on June 3.

About 60 people are expected to participate in the marathon competition.

The Rural Municipality Chair Pun stated that a marathon running competition will be held at a high altitude in the district for the first time as part of the Annapurna Diamond Jubilee Festival being celebrated with various programmes from May 30 to June 4.

The event includes the unveiling of the statue of the first climber Maurice Herzog, Louis Lachenal, and the Nepali climber Sonam Wangchuk Sherpa, as well as the inauguration of the open museum built at the base camp and the Maurice Herzog trekking route connecting Narchyang to the base camp.

French mountaineer Herzog, along with Louis Lachenal and two Nepali Sherpas, successfully climbed the Annapurna I on June 3, 1950. The ascent of Mt Annapurna is considered a historic day in the climbing history of Nepal. (RSS)