ARJUN Kulung Rai stepped onto the course of the 2013 Everest Marathon with worn-out shoes and socks. Rai, then 18, had no professional training or prior experience on the race track.
He was working as a full-time porter around the Everest Base Camp. Before the race, his first ever, he was a nobody for other racers at the marathon — just another face in the crowd. But he raised eyebrows at the end of the 42-km Full Marathon after he finished sixth, a remarkable feat for an absolute beginner. He was a somebody now, a force to be reckoned with.
“It felt like I was one with the air when I had no weights on my back,” Rai, now 30, recalls that race, seated at the runner-themed 888 Cafe near Bauddha in Kathmandu.
“I decided to take part in the Everest Marathon after seeing people running without weights and getting rewarded more handsomely while I kept hauling 100 kilograms of daily load,” he says.
But Rai, coming from a humble family, returned to portering despite establishing himself as a naturally talented runner in his first attempt. “It took me over five years to return to running,” Rai said. “Things do not go your way when you are just a porter.”
As he talked to the Post, he showed no signs that he had won the 100-miler at the 4th Manjushree Trail Race (MTR) two days ago, clocking 26 hours, 29 minutes and 25 seconds.
It was not a new win for Rai, now one of Nepal’s most successful trail runners, because it was the third time he won the MTR 100-miler. This was also beside his wins in several other extreme marathons.
“The race route takes runners along the Kathmandu Valley rim ridge line and across the seven hills that surround the Valley \[Jamacho, Shivapuri, Nagarkot, Phulchoki, Champadevi, Bhasmasur and Chandragiri\],” MTR describes the 100-miler on their website.
“The Manjushree trail covers a total distance of 175.18 km, with an incline of 12,695 metres.”
Furthermore, he has been improving his timing with every win. He finished the race with a timing of 31:10:57 at first. When he returned after a gap in 2024, he bettered the timing to 26:52:56. This time, he was around 23 minutes faster, clocking 26:29:25. “I didn’t hope to win this edition because I was not completely fit,” said Rai.
_Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2025_