Running up high | Maiidan | wavemag.com.np

In May 2005, 25-year-old Deepak Rai changed his life. A participation in the third Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon 2005 turned this paddy farmer into a runner. Rai beat out 100 people from three countries to come in third, clocking 4 hr:23 min:23 sec in the full-length marathon (42.195 km).

"It was my first race ever and I was very encouraged by the result," says Rai, who went on to win the event the next year in 2006. He swept the marathon again this year, leaving behind 130 runners from 14 countries. In three short years, Rai has become a sorting hero and earned some decent money.

But what made this happen?

"A friend of mine in the army, Rakesh Rai of Dharan, told me about this event and also encouraged me to participate in it," explains Rai, who grew up in the mountains of Solukhumbu. "I started running with him in 2004 to prepare myself." This initial training, says Rai was invaluable in helping him understand the terrain, and build up both stamina and speed.

Encouraged by his first performance, Rai ran the Everest Sky Friendship Half-Marathon from Namche to Thame in 2005, and came in second there. He won the third race he ran that same year, the Everest Marathon from Gorakshep to Namche. The rest is the stuff of sporting dreams. Rai wants to win the sixth Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon next year and so join our own Hari Rokaya in the Guinness book of records.

This farmer-runner is in the capital now, training for the district-level Open Running Championship to be held in August in Morang. He runs 25 laps around the stadium everyday. "I am being trained by my guru Laxman Basnet and hope to win this event too," he smiles.

To be a good runner in Nepal, Rai believes strongly that you have to train in places like Namche. "The weather, topography, and altitude help improve stamina," he explains. What you can't do up there is work on speed, which is why Rai is down in the capital right now.

Rai has never been so confident as he is now. And, he admits freely, he is glad that the rewards are also financial. "The first year I got Rs 10,000 for coming in third," he says. "Last year, I won Rs 50,000, and this year it was $1,000." For Rai, who has no formal education and a small landholding, this is good money.

Rai's abilities found an outlet. You have to wonder about all the other undiscovered talents in the hinterlands of the country.