Nepal 2009

Arriving in Kathmandu in the middle of the night was probably a bit of a blessing as i had no idea of what to expect fro Nepal's capital city. Even still it was a hair raising "taxi" ride to the guest house I had been recommended. The driver have absolutely no regard for the official road rules and there seems to be an unwritten code of he who beeps his horn the most and loudest has right of way and woe be tide to any pedestrians that are in the way!

The next few days were amazing. I spent most of the time with the children and staff from the orphanage and it was great to see where the money we raised went to such a great place. The children were all so happy, healthy and doing really well at there respective schools. they also all had impeccable manners and were so appreciative of any little thing that was done for them.

Just to spend time with them and see the dedication they put into their school work/home work and the way they all helped out around the place without having to be pushed to do things was great - it was a real family atmosphere on a grand scale!

Here are a couple of photos of them in there school uniforms.

They were also preparing for a concert where they were putting on a dance show in a big hall. unfortunately I was due to be trekking to the start of the marathon when the concert was on.

Apparently someone who attended the concert was involved in the media and film industry and has invited the girls to be in an upcoming movie which will be a real buzz for them!

It was also fantastic working with Indira Ranamager from PA Nepal who runs everything in Nepal on behalf of the "Orphan Help Centre". We had a great day where we went and checked out another children's home that she runs in Sankhu a small town about 30km out of Kathmandu to give children a realistic and balanced upbringing teaching them further life skills and practical skills such as tending crops, cooking etc. There is also a school on site that she has set up and allows all the local children to attend at no cost and even provides uniforms for them at no cost - it was so reassuring to meet Indira and see the genuine love for the children and passion for the cause as there are a lot of organisations over there that treat foreign aid and funding as a business with no concern for the welfare of the children at all!

It is great to work alongside other people with a total passion for the youth as they are our future and it is critical that we invest in them and help them get not justa formal education but the life skills to achieve their goals. Many children coast along in a formal educational environment but have plenty to offer outside of academia. One of my favourite quotes comes from one of NewZealands most famous "ordinary men" Sir Edmund Hillary - "People do not decide to become extrodinary. They decide to accomplish extrodinary things". My trip to Nepal has cemented one viewpoint -We need to look past the academic abilities in todays youth
and inspire them to achieve personal goals no matter how big or small. We need to give them the tools to succeed in life on a personal level and believe in themselves. Once they have that belief and skills to help them on their way many of the other successes will follow (including academic ones).

Anyway I do digress

Here are a couple of shots of the Sankhu school and children's home.

I did manage a night out in Nepal as there was a leaving party for one of the orphanage volunteers friends which i tagged along to and ended up having a few shots of the local moonshine called Roxy which is distilled from rice or maize and absolutely knocks your socks off! We ended up with some friendly locals who wanted to show us around and a really good timewhen clulminated in a dodgy casino playing Blackjack with a couple of members of the local mafia and thankfully got on with them really well - even got a phone number to call for if I ever got in trouble so they could "make the trouble go away!" After much protesting they finally let me go and I crawled out of the casino at 7:30 in the morning and went to meet my new friends and travelling companions for the Marathon. Unfortunately I think this was the night I ate something a little dodgy that would lead to the worst case of diarrhea I have ever had that would continue t haunt me for the next 16 days all the way through to the marathon and beyond - now I really do believe in karma!

The Shanker was a fairly impressive old world styled Hotel and a great setting to meet all the other crazy foreign entrants in the Tenzing Hillary Marathon.

The next couple of weeks were spent trekking from Lukla to Everest Base Camp where the Marathon started and was an amazing experience. Again just to be in a country where those with so little are all so giving and accomodating was incredible.

For a good look my photos from my trip CLICK HERE to be taken to an online photo gallery.

Race Day - A brief overview

Well I can honestly say I am glad its over!

After a sleepless night at Everest base camp listening to the avalanches all around and on the Khumbu ice fall/glacier I was up at 4:15am.

The night was so cold that bottles of water inside the tents froze - along with the occupants.

Unfortunately for me I still had bad case of diarrhea and two weeks of this had still left me fairly weak.

I managed a couple of cups of sweetened tea for breakfast at 5.00am while trying to thaw out.

Everest Base Camp, whilst a fairly inhospitable place is in an incredibly awe inspiring setting. I watched a group of porters making there way up the Khumbu Ice fall just minutes after an avalanche had torn thought the same spot and I have an entirely new appreciation for what they do - everything has to be carried by hand from toilet paper to stoves.

The race itself is in an amazing setting and it is hard not to stop and soak up the surroundings.

The first 10km was run through snow and ice in freezing temperatures and from there it is a large succession of climbs and ascents all seeming almost vertical and none easy.

Being so weak on the day I knew i wasn't going to break any records so I set out at what I thought an easy pace and managed to maintain it for the first 3 hours. After that I ran out of energy completely. I couldn't eat, found it hard to take on fluids and really started suffering.

The steepness of the ups and downs really take it out of you and by the 30km mark i had basically no fluids left in my system but continued to have issues and began vomiting on the trail side.

Approx 10 of the last 12km are uphill and in the state I was in it was absolute torture but I made it and many thanks must go to Bill from the USA who stuck with me from the 27km mark right to the finish. Bill is a veteran of over 100 marathons and 15 iron man races.

I managed to crawl over the finish line in 9hrs and 49 mins - the winning time was about 3hrs 40mins - a local of course. Just to prove us westerners can run the first two westerners home came in in about 6hrs 28mins and 6hrs 40mins with the second westerner home (Nathan from England) running his first ever Marathon - Nutter!!!)

All said and done am I glad I came - ABSOLUTELY! The rose tinted glasses are already on and as far as the overall experience goes this still has to be one of the most rewarding things I have done in my life. Just to know that i can run the highest and hardest marathon in the world in the physical condition I was in really makes me proud of the mental strength it took to carry on and finish what i set out to.

Am i considering coming back to see if i an better my time? NOPE - I think right now I am more interested in tasting a good steak, beds with sheets and western styled sit down toilets!

Will publish further details and photos when I get home in about a week.