Everest Marathon 2024

Everest Marathon is the high-altitude adventure sport held on 29th May every year to celebrate the successful and glorious ascent of Mt. Everest by the Late Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary on 29th May 1953 in Solukhumbu district of Nepal.

After the 2015 Earthquake in Nepal, the new height of Mount Everest has increased to 8848.86m. To celebrate the rise of Mount Everest height, the 2024 Marathon will run as the “New Higher Mount Everest Marathon”.

The Everest Marathon 2024 is quite special, this event is organized to celebrate the the 70^th anniversary of the successful ascent of Mount Everest by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary. The 60km ultra-marathon run will be extended to 70km from this year. The Event is officially admired and recognized by the Nepal Government as a part of the annual tourism calendar. To honor the first successful ascent of the highest peak in the world by the late Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary, this event was officially named the Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon.

History of the Everest Marathon

This event was first officially organized by Tony Hunt in 1985. It was arranged in coordination with Bufo Ventures with Jan Turner as Race Director in 1987 and 1989. The event was organized biannually until 2003. Later on, a rival event was organized under the supervision of the Himalayan Expedition in order to promote tourism in Nepal.

 The Marathon is usually organized around Autumn in the months of October or November.

The Everest Marathon has three categories. They are:

Half Marathon

Highlights of Half Marathon

• It is accessible to foreigner-only
• Unique Way to Experience the Everest Region
• Great view during trials 

Half Marathon Elevation Chart

Half Marathon is the shortest distance marathon in the Everest Marathon, which is a sum of the three seven digits (7+7+7). It might not sound much but, since the Everest region of Nepal is highly influenced by Buddhism, there are high spiritual meanings in Buddhism.

According to Buddhist philosophy, it is believed that Buddha walked seven steps right after he was conceived. Right after seven days of giving birth Queen Maya Devi died. Following up with another event, in the seventh year of his meditation, Sakya Prince Siddhartha Gautam Buddha got enlightenment in Bodhgaya.

The Marathon run starts from Dingboche and ends at Namche Bazar. The Marathon trail is a classic Everest Base Camp trek trail. The Marathon track is mostly downhill.

Full Marathon which is 42.195km

Highlights of Full Marathon

• Highest Marathon in the world
• The starting point is Everest Base Camp
• The race track passes through many religious monuments

This 42.195km Marathon starts from the Everest Base Camp and ends at Namche Bazar. The participants will camp at Everest Base Camp before the race day. The long track descends through Gorakhshep and heads towards Namche Bazar.

Every year hundreds of participants run the full Marathon in Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon.

Full Marathon Elevation chart

Extreme Ultra Marathon which is 70km

Highlights of Extreme Ultra Marathon

• World’s Highest Marathon Event
• Everest Base Camp as a starting point
• One of the most challenging uphill routes
• Unique route than of classic Everest Base Camp trek

Extreme Ultra Marathon Elevation Chart

This exclusive 70km Marathon is for extreme adventure lovers. Starting from Everest Base Camp it finishes at Namche Bazar. The race track is a little bit different; the Extreme Ultra Marathon moves from Everest Base Camp following Thukla, Chhukung, and Nha la towards Namche Bazar making it an exclusive adventurous run. 

How hard is the Everest Marathon?

The starting point of the Everest Marathon is 5364m above sea level, which makes it one of the highest and toughest races in the world. The race starts from Everest Base Camp and follows the traditional Sherpa trails of the Khumbu region.

Running at such a high altitude is quite a challenging task. Covering 42.195km on the trails of Himalayan is a tough achievement to achieve. So, we highly recommend only people with good physical capability to attempt this marathon.

Who won the Everest Marathon 2022?

Mr. Tirtha Bahadur Tamang won Everest Marathon 2022. He completed the race trail in 3 hours 51 minutes and 9 seconds.