The previous night's snowfall and dense fog obscured the panorama
surrounding our huddled mass. Were it not for our fleece caps,
numbers pinned on bright windbreakers and running shoes, our shivering
group could just as easily have been waiting for a morning train.
We anxiously awaited the start of our journey down the mountain,
shouting our race numbers at the marshal conducting roll call.
A few hours earlier and 10,000 feet above, a dozen climbers started
in the opposite direction for the summit of Mount Everest, the
highest mountain on earth.
Several years ago a friend convinced me to try the Chicago Marathon.
What started on tree-lined boulevards eventually led me across
Arctic tundra, through French vineyards, along African shantytowns
and over glaciers in Antarctica. The joy of connecting with interesting
people in wondrous places, combined with a self-indulgent "runners
high," had me hooked on marathons. I spent all my vacation time,
money and countless hours of training toward a goal of running
one on each of the seven continents.
As the starter shouted "GO!" 50 fearless runners bounded down
the glacier. Like most of the other runners, I made it less than
100 yards before nearly collapsing, gasping for air, my head throbbing,
heart pounding. An elevation of 17,000 feet, subzero temperatures,
snow-covered boulders the size of cars and solid ice made walking
a better strategy. Completely acclimatized to the elevation and
terrain, the Nepali runners, meanwhile, disappeared gracefully
into the freezing mist. Several miles down the mountain, I approached
a boulder-strewn field dotted with stone cairns, connected by
strings of colorful Buddhist prayer flags. These memorials had
inscriptions eulogizing young and adventurous souls who perished
attempting to summit the world's highest peaks. A chill way beyond
freezing shot through me as I was struck by the awesome power
and danger of this high sanctuary.
The group came from all over the world -- a deep-sea cable repairman
from Portugal, oil platform operator from Great Britain, a postman
from Scotland, a kayaking guide from New Zealand, and me, an environmental
engineer from Chicago. We came to the Himalayas to trek through
sheer, rocky glaciers and summit peaks with names like Gokyo Ri
and Kala Pattar. Maoist insurgents had destabilized the region
and hampered our progress, but the group's incredible spirit and
cleverness overcame all obstacles. We shared everything from tents
and utensils to laughs and dreams in the weeks leading up to the
day we'd race each other 26.2 miles down from the Mount Everest
Base Camp.
The sun rose over jagged ridges as we descended through the
Khumbu Glacier, which looks like a gigantic, elevated expressway
of rocks. The sounds of buckling ice, distant avalanches, rockslides
and glacial streams accompanied the rhythm of feet skidding and
scratching along the trail. "Running" the Everest Marathon is
a bit of an overstatement; it was more like a continuous series
of slips, trips and falls. We used our hands, elbows, knees and
sometimes cheeks to navigate the steep, slippery yak trails. Tiny
villages offered tea shops serving hot tea and candy to weary
trekkers, who shook their heads in disbelief as we strode past.
Below 14,000 feet, ice and boulders were replaced with dust
and porters, some carrying almost 100 pounds of lumber or bricks
balanced on their backs. The footpath tracked sheer cliffs overlooking
rhododendron forests blooming brilliantly with pink and white
flowers. It crisscrossed the Dudh Kosi river gorge on swaying
footbridges suspended by thin cables over the rushing torrent
hundreds of feet below. School children passed by (some going
in the same direction!), introducing themselves in perfect English
and firing off questions. As I approached the finish line, dozens
ran alongside me, excitedly shouting and waving their arms. As
they turned around to run back out to meet the next runner, I
laughed -- they were obviously hooked on the energy of the marathon
as well.
* * *
Paul Ruesch is an environmental engineer with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 5. Everest was his 10th marathon; in
April he plans to run in the North Pole Marathon.
