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