The Catalan runner achieves the desired victory that he missed yesterday by 27 seconds and beats Suman Kulung, who maintains the lead
Phurwa Sherpa wins the stage for the fourth consecutive day in the women’s category and Sonia Martín remains second in the general classification
Another day spent in the office with the best views in the world for Suman Kulung, Marc Ollé and the rest of the participants in this 11th edition of the Everest Trail Race by TUGA ACTIVE WEAR in the Himalayan mountains. As usual, each stage is a give and take between Ollé and Kulung with a slight advantage for the Nepalese runner who has led the race since the first day. The fourth day of 27 km and 3,700 meters of accumulated unevenness It has started from Kharikhola and ended in Phakding. To give the runners an idea of the hardness of the race black paw of the competition it took just over 4 hours to complete the 27 km route.
As soon as they left the camp, the runners crossed a small, very old bridge to begin the hard, direct and sustained climb to Karila with a positive gradient of more than 1,000 meters over varied terrain. This year, due to a major landslide on the descent of Karila, the runners had to face a dangerous descent of more than 2 km of pure mud.
After the second checkpoint in the town of Chaurikharka at 2,600 meters above sea level, the runners, as in the previous edition, abandoned the classic trekking route to the Everest base camp, to head towards a rural area, away from traffic. trekkers and much longer and more demanding in relation to the slope than in past editions. From Segma through spectacular forests and 5km of varied terrain, Marc Ollé has arrived in first position and only 39 seconds behind him today’s pursuer Suman Kulung.
Accordion day between the two of them where Marc’s difference has reached 3 minutes after CP2. “I gave the maximum gas I had on the descent and on the last strong climb before arriving here. I have gotten to be about 3 minutes in front of him.“But Kulung cut me back during the last 5 km, which seemed very long,” explained Ollé upon reaching the finish line. With 2 stages left to finish the Everest Trail Race by TUGA ACTIVE WEAR, leader Suman Kulung (Tuga Active Wear) has a difference of 3 minutes and 45 seconds with Ollé. Gerard Morales (Trace) maintains third position overall.
In the women’s category, the Nepalese Phurwa Sherpa, the undisputed leader of this edition, has won again. In second position and following a little the liturgy of the last few days, the Spanish Sonia Martín has reached the second finish line (Trangoworld), 6 minutes 17 seconds from Nepal. Repeating again in one more stage, the also Spanish Nuria Domínguez finished third.
“It is a spectacular race because of the place you are in and the scenery in which you move. Trying to enjoy each day to the fullest and counting down. The strength is diminishing. “You can see the unevenness in the legs going up and down,” Nuria pointed out after arriving in Phakding. Sherpa, Martín and Domínguez occupy the podium of the general classification of the Everest Trail Race. The temperature that during the day reaches 20 degrees drops to 2-3 degrees when the runnerswith more and more accumulated fatigue, sleep well protected in their tents.