13 Dec Five days of beauty and brutal climbs in Nepal’s garden of dreams
Running for five days and 123 miles through the beautiful, but – to say the least – undulating, hills of the Himalayas is not easy.
It is fair to say those who took part in our Capital to Country Multi-Day Ultra were tired by the end of it. Some might even say dog tired.
That’s because the local hounds were a near constant feature of this year’s run through Nepal, running incredible distances themselves and even becoming part of camp life in the evenings.
But before I get too far ahead of myself, let me just rewind back to the last week of November and the start of Capital to Country 2024. I still find it hard to believe that it has been more than a year since we took a magnificent seven runners over to run through the mystical and magical South Asian country of Nepal.
Everything we do at Go Beyond is about pushing boundaries, testing the limits of both our runners and ourselves. That’s why we wanted to add an international event to our roster.
The result was Capital to Country, an event one runner last year called a ‘cross between MDS and UTMB’ – not a bad comparison, but we like to think that Capital to Country comes with a more relaxed vibe, one where every day is a challenge but we’re not going to disqualify you for buying water from a shop!
This year’s event saw the Magnificent Seven replaced by the Fab Four, as Louise, Richard, Avi and Matt joined us to take on what is a genuine physical challenge in a unique environment.
As well as challenging their bodies, we like to give our runners the chance to immerse themselves in the local culture and Capital to Country takes in a host of temples and holy sites along the way, including areas tourists don’t usually see.
We began this year’s trip in the familiar surroundings of the winding streets of Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital, with pre-ultra shopping topping the agenda alongside a visit to the city’s famous monkey temple.
The World Heritage Site of the Monkey Temple, or Swayambhunath, is based in the west of Kathmandu City. It has been home to monkeys for centuries, many of whom wait patiently to pounce on the food and drink of tourists – and ultra runners – foolish enough to leave anything close to their grasp.
There are a few pre-ultra steps to get over on the way up to the temple, but the views over the city are well worth it. These sights and sounds are the last our runners would take in of city life for the next five days.
Race day one features 27 miles, departing from the ancient district of Sankhu, with the route following jeep tracks cut in the hillsides and passing through incredible tree covered hills and around breathtaking drops.
On a beautiful sunny day, complete with amazing views of the snow-capped mountains, our four competitors finished within 45 minutes of each other.
But it was on the day two that they were joined by the first of our ultra dogs, as one happy hound took to the trails for 18 miles of running through the hillsides. The dogs in Nepal are largely strays but many are friendly. Interestingly, they possess a revered status as they are considered to be sacred messengers of Yama, the god of death, and there is an annual Hindu festival which honours them.
We honoured ‘Ultra Dog’ in our own way – with a well-deserved bone!
As for the running, day two started in cool, damp conditions as our route climbed out of the valley from our campsite. The temperatures were soon on the increase though on what turned out to be a crazy day of urban running, with cleared landslides and roadworks adding to the fun.
This is a race which is more than worth the steep ascents it traverses through, and comes with the extra advantage of being truly sustainable and providing a boost to what is a precious local economy.
Our runners stayed in pre-prepared campsites for the first three nights, before enjoying the relative luxury of a village bunk house or tents on nights four and five.
But sometimes whatever you do is not enough for some people, er… dogs! As we lined up for day three, we had our first – and only – Capital to Country drop out.
Running ultra marathons is hard and not everyone can hack multi-day events – including our friend ‘Ultra Dog’. Despite appearing at the start line, he was a non-starter. Maybe the hound’s reticence had been down to the fact this was the longest day of the event, clocking in at 30 challenging miles.
Our runners took the extra distance in their tired but happy stride though, safely negotiating what was a hot day in the knowledge the next one was the shortest of the event.
Day four may consist of a mere 19 miles but it is no less challenging, playing host to the toughest hill of the five days. We also witnessed the impact of some previous heavy rainfall in Nepal, which had washed away large sections of the road. This meant the course had to be re-routed over a suspension bridge, and eventually up a long and sandy uphill.
Fortunately, for our tired runners they had been joined by a second running dog. This particular pooch covered all 19 miles – and he was ready and raring to go when it came to the start of day five, our final section of the adventure.
Somewhere along the way the he had gained the name Alan. The purposeful pooch seemed quite content with it.
The runners’ final big effort saw them enjoy an incredible loop around the village camp, as they climbed up to over 6,000 feet to take in amazing views that included a waterfall.
Everyone made it back safely, even Alan, with 123 miles of stunning scenery, to-die-for temples and immersive culture behind them.
We are so proud to be able to put this event on, and it was another five days of brilliant ultra running with some lovely people and great support from our Nepalese crew.
Throughout the event, our fantastic local race manager and his team, who know the area like the back of their hands, took care of the runners. We only take a small team from England with us, along with minimal equipment and trackers that we can’t source in Nepal. Everything else is bought locally, with the overall aim being to give something back to Nepal in a positive way.
Capital to Country finishes with a drive back to Kathmandu and the chance to explore the city, including the famed Garden of Dreams, which is championed as one of the most serene and beautiful enclaves in Kathmandu.
Of course, anyone paying attention already knows Nepal’s real ‘dream garden’ can only be found by getting out of the city and taking in the incredible culture and scenery found in the Himalayan foothills.
Capital to Country: The Spiritual Race That ‘Combines UTMB and the Marathon des Sables’
Read all about our 123-mile, five day ultra marathon adventure in Run, Tri, Bike magazine by clicking here.