Ladakh Marathon

Ladakh Marathon
The Ladakh Marathon logo
Date	5 - 8 September 2024, 11th edition
Location	Ladakh, India
Event type	Road race
Distance	Khardungla Challenge Ultra 72Km Silk Route Ultra 122Km Marathon Half Marathon 5km Run For Fun 11.2Km Run
Primary sponsor	None
Established	2012 (2012)
Course records	Men's: 2:56:51 (2019) Shabir Hussain Women's: 3:18:56 (2017) Jigmet Dolma
Official site	ladakhmarathon.com

The Ladakh Marathon is a marathon held in Leh, a town in the Indian Union Territory of Ladakh. It claims to be the highest marathon in the world, held at a height of 11,500 to 17,618 feet (3,505 to 5,370 m).^[1] The event's primary edition was held in 2012 and its latest edition was deferred to September 2022 due to COVID-19.^[2] In 2015 the marathon joined the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races.^[1] It is the fifth marathon from India to receive international recognition.^[3]

History

The marathon began as an ambitious initiative to encourage the youth living in "hostile weather conditions" following the devastation of the 2010 flash floods. Despite the region being an arid desert, the years leading up to the natural disaster saw more rainfall than the valley was used to.[1]

With the Khardung-La Challenge and the Silk Route Ultra runners going up to the height of 17,618 feet, the Ladakh Marathon claims to be the highest marathon route in the world.^[1]

Organisation

The Ladakh Marathon is organised by India's Rimo Expeditions with the support of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC).^[4] The 42 km run of the ninth edition was the qualifying race of series XIII of the Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group World Rankings.

With no sponsor at its helm, the Ladakh Marathon is supported by multiple partners, including Timing Technologies, Enerzal and Bisleri. In 2022 the Khardung-La Challenge partnered with Tata Consumer Products' Himalayan with the objective of spreading awareness about the local communities being affected by melting glaciers.[2]

Events

The Ladakh Marathon is divided into the four following categories:^[1][5]

1. 5 km - Run Ladakh For Fun: Starting from the N.D.S. Memorial Stadium the 05km route follows the Marathon course along the Leh-Manali highway till a little before the ITBP camp from where it makes a U-turn and retraces steps to the start point.
2. Half Marathon: Starting from the NDS Memorial Stadium, the 21km race follows the 42km route for about 1.5km. You then turn left at the Saboo gate and climb gently for 1.5km towards Saboo village. Leaving the Saboo road you turn right towards Mahabodhi Centre going downhill all the way till you reach the Leh-Manali highway. From here you follow the highway past H.H. the Dalai Lama’s residence for 2km and then take a loop to follow the Manali-Leh highway to the village of Choglamsar. Continue for another 6km to the finishing line close to the NDS Stadium.
3. Full Marathon: The 42 km race starts and ends in Leh town, passing through panoramic scenes via a route across the Indus River.
4. The Khardung La Challenge - Ultra Marathon: The 72 km race was the only ultramarathon of the event until the Silk Route Ultra. The Khardung La Challenge starts in the village of Khardung well before dawn, continues uphill on the way to Khardung La pass at a height of 17,618 ft. The changing altitudes, weather and geography of the race make it the "Mother of all Marathon races".^[5]
5. The Silk Route Ultra is the newest addition to the Ladakh Marathon. At a distance of 122 km, the Silk Route Ultra also begins at Nubra Valley's Kyagar Village, crosses Khardung La top, then finishes at Leh town.

Participants

In 2012, the first Ladakh Marathon had 1,500 participants. Since then, the number of participants has exponentially increased, with the consecutive editions hosting 2,200 and 3,000 participants respectively. The recent 2023 marathon included close to 6,000 participants from 27 states of India and from 23 different countries.^[6][4]

Acclimatization

The Ladakh Marathon is held at a height of 11,500 to 17,600 ft. Acclimatization is the foremost issue at this height. Altitude sickness can occur at this height due to lack of oxygen. The Ladakh Marathon has a long pre-marathon work-out schedule to train the participants, helping them acclimatizing to the high altitude and hilly conditions. As per the official website of the Ladakh Marathon, athletes participating in 72 km "Khardungla Challenge" should arrive at Leh at least two weeks before marathon day.^[7]

Race day photos

In the last 7 years of Ladakh Marathon, Khardungla Challenge & Silk Route Ultra, the organizers continued the partnership with marathon photography experts SplitSecondPix^[8] to provide photo technology for the event. A team of 25 photographers venture out into the extreme terrains of Ladakh to capture the action of the ultra marathon. Starting at 3am in Khardong village and temperatures of −10 °C to 17586 ft Khardung La pass and descending into the Leh Valley the photographers capture the timeless moments through its lenses. Participants can visit the event website or SplitSecondPix^[8] website to find these timeless photos on basis of their Bib number.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14]}

Winners

The Khardung La Challenge (72 km) Winners of 72 km "The Khardung La Challenge" also known as "Ultra-Marathon" are as follows.[4][3][15][16][17][18] Year Winner Nationality Time Runner up Third place 2012 Padam Limbu  India 08:52:20 Konchok Namgail – 2013 Rigzin Norbu  India 06:55:02 Tsering Gyatso Stanzin Wangyal 2014 Shabbir Hussain  India 06:35:00 Rigzin Norbu Tsering Gyatso 2015 Tsewang Todan  India 06:33:41 Rigzin Norbu Tsering Stobgais 2016 Tsewang Tokdan  India 06:53:35 Shabbir Hussain Mohamad Eliyas 2017 Shabir Hussain  India 06:23:50 Rigzin Narboo Tsering Stobgyas 2018 Shabir Hussain  India 06:50:38 Rigzin Narboo Karma Zopa 2019 Shabir Hussain  India 06:53:34 Stanzin Norboo Rigzin Narboo Since 2015, special 72 km Khardung La Challenge for women was started.

Women Khardung La Challenge 72 km winner Year Winner Nationality Time Runner-up Third place 2015 Skalzang Dolma  India 10:58:56 Khushboo Vaish Tsetan Lamo 2016 Sonam Chuskit  India 09:41:19 Divya Vasishta Pervin Batliwala 2017 Shikha Pahwa  India 11:05:37 Kavita Chatterjee Deepa Bhat 2018 Konchok Dolma  India 11:11:40 Silvia Amodio Rephica Pde 2019 Christena Walter  Ireland 10:32:44 Ashwini G Bhat Rephica Becky Pde

Marathon 42 km (Women)

Year Winner Nationality Time Runner-up Third place 2012 Jigmet Skitzom  India 4:51:30 Padma Lhamo Tsetan Dolkar 2013 Tsetan Dolkar  India 4:54:05 Sonam Chuskit Claudia Meier Judith Klemenz 2014 Sonam Chuskit  India 4:10:12 Namgail Lhamo Dechen Chuskit 2015 Tsetan Dolkar  India 3:40:37 Jigmet Dolma Katharina Leuthner 2016 Tsetan Dolkar  India 3:34:24 Shikha Pahwa Namgyal Lhamo 2017 Jigmet Dolma  India 3:18:56 Tsetan Dolkar Sonam Chuskit 2018 Jigmet Dolma  India 3:21:27 Tsetan Dolkar Sweta Kadian 2019 Jigmet Dolma  India 3:20:02 Tsetan Dolkar Namgyal Lhamo

Marathon 42 km (Men) Year Winner Nationality Time Runner up Third place 2012 Shreya Jain  India 3:36:18 Tsewang Thinlas Rigzin Angchuk 2013 Shabir Hussain  India 3:25:33 Jigmet Norboo Tashi Zangpo 2014 Shokat Ali  India 3:16:58 Jigmet Namgail Mustafa Ali 2015 Fayaz Ali  India 3:02:31 Padama Namgail Tsering Tondup 2016 Jigmet Namgial  India 3:12:06 Stanzin Nurbu Jigmet Norboo 2017 Shabir Hussain  India 3:06:07 Manzoor Hussain Jigmet Norboo 2018 Manzoor Hussain  India 3:13:06 Ajaz Hussain Jigmath Kunzang 2019 Shabir Hussain  India 2:56:51 Jigmet Norboo Manzoor Hussain

See also

• Chogyal

References