Mount Everest Challenge Marathon and 100 mile Himalayan Stage Race.

My life is a running adventure having completed 277 marathons and ultras from the baking heat of the Marathon Des Sables in the Sahara to the frozen wastelands of Antarctica. But there is one race, which nearly took my life and that, was The Himalayan 100 Mile Stage Race, which I completed in November 2000. To test my endurance and stamina levels, I ran 5 marathons before my departure. On one of these marathons in France, I was involved in a car accident. I crawled out of the wreckage, thumbed a lift and ran my marathon!

I arrived at Delhi on Friday 3rd November 2000 with six other frightened competitors from the UK. I tried to reassure them that it was only a marathon and not to worry.

Next day, we took a flight from Delhi to Bagdogra, North Eastern India. We were transferred by bus to Mirik on the Himalayan foothills. This was hell. A journey through narrow, bumpy and twisting mountainous pot-holed roads with sheer drops of several thousand feet. Humorous signs along the narrow mountain roads stated "If you want to donate blood do it in the clinic not on the road" and "Don't lose your nerves around the bends".

Mirik is a mountain town encapsulated in a time warp. Close by is Kanchenjunga Mountain, the third highest in the world.

On Monday 6th November, a bus took us to Maneybhanjang, a small village with wooden buildings at the bottom of a valley. The race started here which was in 5 daily stages. There were 63 competitors from all over the world.

Stage One was 24 miles between Maneybhanjang to Sandakphu situated on a mountaintop. The cobble stone course ascended from 6,000ft to 12,000ft with temperatures varying from 25C to –5C. I finished fifth in 5 hours 6 minutes.

Sandakphu consisted of three main rusting, corrugated huts, which accommodated the competitors. Runners took quick body washes from buckets of lukewarm water in freezing conditions. Toilet facilities consisted of a hole in the ground. It was a quick squat and aim. Nighttime was a disaster as there was no electricity.

It was too cold to sleep at night despite having layers of thermals on and being inside a zero rated sleeping bag. Our hearts were now beating much faster gasping for the thin oxygen. One of the competitors, Johno from London opened the hut door one night as he thought someone outside was banging to get in. It was his heart thumping!!

Stage Two. Competitors were up at 5-00am. It was cold and foggy with a hard frost over night. I expected to see Del Boy and Rodney as “Batman and Robin” to come dashing through the rolling mists. This stage was 20 miles, an ‘out and back’ undulating course from Sandakphu to Molle, another mountain peak. I finished fifth in 3 hours 19 minutes.

Stage Three – Everest Challenge Marathon. I was up under the starry freezing sky at 4-00am. It was a cloudless night. Dawn was approaching. The pale pink glow of the early rising huge red sun reflected on the snow of the Himalayan mountains. The four highest snowcapped mountains of Everest, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse and Makalu were visible.

The 26-mile marathon descended from Sandakphu to Rimbik. It was –7C. The first ten miles undulated between Sandakphu and Molle at 12,000 feet. The next 8 miles was an ‘out and back’ course from Molle to Phulet, another mountain peak. Back at Molle, the course started on a cobblestone path, which descended 6,000 feet in 6 miles along a dangerous dried up gorge. Temperatures rose rapidly to 30C and I ran bare-chested. I felt like Tarzan as I entered a tropical forest. I badly sprained both ankles as loose boulders gave way under my feet. My pace dropped as pain set in.

At the end of the dense forest I came to a village at the bottom of a valley. I crossed an old iron bridge with a raging river several hundred feet below. Fear set in as I thought, “I could be lost” or “I could end up as someone’s dinner”!

After a few miles, I joined a road that took me to Rimbik, a mountain village that was our base for the next 2 nights. I finished ninth in 6 hours 3 minutes. A local doctor strapped up both my ankles and put me on painkillers. He said with his head bobbing from side to side, “No more running for you”. I quipped, “On your rickshaw, I’m not quitting”.

Stage Four. I decided to run in a pair of Sandals, as I could not get my swollen feet into my running shoes. This stage was only 13 miles from Rimbik to Palmajua, mainly on undulating asphalted roads with a few steep climbs. Waterfalls cascaded from pine-covered mountains. I finished sixth in 1 hour 48 minutes. A bus took us back to Rimbik.

Stage Five. The same bus took us to Palmajua where we had finished the day before. The final stage was 17 miles from Palmajua to Manybhanjang on asphalted roads. The first 7 miles of the course was uphill and the remainder downhill. I finished in 2 hours 31 minutes in 5th place. My total racing time for the 5 days was 18 hours 47 minutes and my overall position was 6th place.

Finishers received trophies and certificates. The overall winner was Stefan Schlett, Germany who finished in 16 hours 28 minutes.

Next day Saturday 12th November was spent on transfers to Delhi. Our BA plane was delayed due to technical problems. “Lufthansa is always on time and never breaks down”, Stefan quoted as he bid us farewell to catch his flight to Germany. Shortly after I arrived home, I was diagnosed with malaria, which nearly killed me. My fitness through running saved me. My health slowly got better and I am back running marathons again. I have raised over 500,000-00 Us Dollars for charity from marathons and was awarded an MBE by Prince Charles in 2000.