- Joined
- Aug 28, 2010
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An awesome story "about a Nepali village girl who discovered that she was a mountain runner." She tried it on a whim last year, and quickly became an international star.
Rai was born 26 years ago in a three-house village perched on a mountain ridge in eastern Nepal. There was no running water or electricity... by age 8 she was getting water from the rivera long uphill slog carrying heavy buckets on the way backand accompanying her mother on the two-day trek to the nearest market.
I failed class eight [the equivalent of eighth grade], dropped out of school, and worked for two years trading rice, she said. I was pretty small then, and could only carry 28 kilograms [62 pounds]. The days were long, leaving at 4 a.m. to walk to the [trailhead], and returning home at 7 p.m. It was a life people consider hard, but now I think it was really good training!
Just 18 months ago, Rai didnt even know running on trails was a sport...
...she was out of money, about to abandon the whole Kathmandu venture and go back home. But friends suggested a new kind of race theyd heard about. Entry was free for Nepali women and participants got a T-shirt!
On March 22, 2014, she showed up at the Himalayan Outdoor Festival 50K (31 miles) trail race, organized by Trail Running Nepal, in a cotton T-shirt and track pants. Her longest run to date had been about 12 miles. Some nine hours later, enlivened by hail and torrential rain, shed discovered trail running and won her first race. She was the only Nepali in the small womens field, and the only female finisher...
A month later, she won an eight-stage race in the Mustang region of Nepal, and five months after that, traveled to Italyher first time leaving Nepalwhere she racked up two wins in as many weeks (victories at 57K and 83K). In her first year, she won 10 races, including the internationally competitive Asia Skyrunning 50K championship, and placed second twice.
Hong Kongbased trail runner Matt Moroz described an encounter with the flyweight Nepali: I didnt see her again until 38km, when she flew past me on a ridiculously technical descent. It was a joy to watch. She asked, 5km left brother? I hated telling her, More like 12. She didnt bat an eyelid, just carried on flying!!!...
quoted from
Meet Mira Rai -- Nepals first female sports star is a trailblazing global hero.
By Sarah Barker, Slate
Official trailer for the upcoming documentary about her:
[video]https://youtu.be/2PkoYwnSoFU[/video]
[video=youtube;2PkoYwnSoFU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PkoYwnSoFU&feature=youtu.be[/video]
"Overlooking home valley in the Bhojpur mountains":
"Cooking by solar light at home in Bhojpur mountains":
[Note the khukuri]
Rai was born 26 years ago in a three-house village perched on a mountain ridge in eastern Nepal. There was no running water or electricity... by age 8 she was getting water from the rivera long uphill slog carrying heavy buckets on the way backand accompanying her mother on the two-day trek to the nearest market.
I failed class eight [the equivalent of eighth grade], dropped out of school, and worked for two years trading rice, she said. I was pretty small then, and could only carry 28 kilograms [62 pounds]. The days were long, leaving at 4 a.m. to walk to the [trailhead], and returning home at 7 p.m. It was a life people consider hard, but now I think it was really good training!
Just 18 months ago, Rai didnt even know running on trails was a sport...
...she was out of money, about to abandon the whole Kathmandu venture and go back home. But friends suggested a new kind of race theyd heard about. Entry was free for Nepali women and participants got a T-shirt!
On March 22, 2014, she showed up at the Himalayan Outdoor Festival 50K (31 miles) trail race, organized by Trail Running Nepal, in a cotton T-shirt and track pants. Her longest run to date had been about 12 miles. Some nine hours later, enlivened by hail and torrential rain, shed discovered trail running and won her first race. She was the only Nepali in the small womens field, and the only female finisher...
A month later, she won an eight-stage race in the Mustang region of Nepal, and five months after that, traveled to Italyher first time leaving Nepalwhere she racked up two wins in as many weeks (victories at 57K and 83K). In her first year, she won 10 races, including the internationally competitive Asia Skyrunning 50K championship, and placed second twice.
Hong Kongbased trail runner Matt Moroz described an encounter with the flyweight Nepali: I didnt see her again until 38km, when she flew past me on a ridiculously technical descent. It was a joy to watch. She asked, 5km left brother? I hated telling her, More like 12. She didnt bat an eyelid, just carried on flying!!!...
quoted from
Meet Mira Rai -- Nepals first female sports star is a trailblazing global hero.
By Sarah Barker, Slate
Official trailer for the upcoming documentary about her:
[video]https://youtu.be/2PkoYwnSoFU[/video]
[video=youtube;2PkoYwnSoFU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PkoYwnSoFU&feature=youtu.be[/video]
"Overlooking home valley in the Bhojpur mountains":
"Cooking by solar light at home in Bhojpur mountains":
[Note the khukuri]
.
