Mountain heroes meet the sea

They make Forrest Gump look ordinary For they run marathons where only eagles dare And now these 10 young men and women all winners at the first ever Ladakh Marathon the highest altitude marathon in the world run at an average altitude of 11562 feet have come down to sea level to compete in the Mumbai Marathon 2013 along with nearly 40000 other contestants on January 20 What makes their attempt to compete and win the marathon even more stunning though is the fact that they are dealing with a temperature change of close to 50 degrees ldquoItrsquos close to minus 15 in Ladakh now and here in Mumbai itrsquos 32 degreesrdquo said Cheang Motup Goba the brain behind the Ladakh Marathon and the man instrumental for bringing the 10 athletesu00a0to Mumbai Eight of the 10 marathon winners at the firstever Ladakh Marathon the highest altitude marathon in the world mdash run at an average altitude of 11562 feet mdash have come down to sea level to compete in the Mumbai Marathon 2013 along with nearly 40000 other contestants on January 20 PicNeha Parekh Predictably then Konchok Namgail Stanzin Norboo Jigmet Sketzom Tsetan Dolker and their mates are excited They have never seen let alone run in such heat and humidity Yet their confidence and commitment is admirable The Ladakh marathon is run at 3524 metres 11562 feet and the train runs across the Khardung La Challenge crossing one of the worldrsquos highest passes at 5602 metres 18380 feet Speaking to Sunday MiDDAY Goba who owns an adventure travel company as well said ldquoThe idea to organize the Ladakh Marathon 2012 was to show to the world that Ladakh had fought back from the devastating flash floods of August 2010 when 255 people died and over 200 people went missingrdquo A mountaineer by profession Goba had won a crosscountry competition during his school days and wanted to participate the 1984 Rath marathon in Delhi but due to lack of support and networking he missed the opportunity This he says is his way of making sure the next generation does not miss out Goba added he is in touch with many likeminded mountaineers based in Mumbai and also Dr Aashish Contractor the Medical Director at the StanChart Marathon who encouraged him to get the winners to Mumbai ldquoSince the Ladakh marathon did not have any prize money we promised the participants that the winners would be taken to participate in the Mumbai Marathon We are happy that we could stick to our commitment and this will be a regular practice hereafterrdquo he added The youngsters too were all geared up Sporting a yellow Tshirt that advertised the Ladakh marathon 30 yearold Konchok Namgail the winner of the Khardung La Challenge a 72km race that included a stretch over the worldrsquos highest pass said ldquoWe are thankful to Goba for getting us to Mumbai We have heard a lot about Mumbai but are visiting for the first time Some of Bollywoodrsquos biggest recent hits like 3 Idiots and Jab Tak Hai Jaan were shot in Ladakh We will surely do our best in the Mumbai marathon to uphold Ladakhrsquos bannerrdquo In Mumbai The team is working hard to overcome their inexperience They arrived in Mumbai on Friday January 11 a full nine days in advance Two more girls will arrive on today Friends have arranged their stay in an apartment in Bandra ldquoWe want the kids to get accustomed to the humidity since they come from a place where the temperature is as low as minus 20 degree at nightrdquo explained Goba He has also managed to use his network in the city and has been assured a trainer who will give important tips to the participants before the marathon On Saturday evening Goba took the team to purchase shoes and shorts since marathons in Ladakhrsquos cold are run wearing heavy tracksuits On Sunday morning the team will go on a 17 km practice run from Bandra to Churchgate and then go sailing to Alibag for a sight seeing tour On January 18 the team would run the entire stretch to improve their timing Know team Ladakh Konchok Namgail 30 winner mdash 72km special marathon Stanzin Norboo 18 Tsering Gyatso 19 winner mdash full marathon Tsetan Dolker 18 Jigmet Dolma 18 Jigmet Sketzom 19u00a0