Chewang Motup Goba, the man behind the upcoming Ladakh Marathon, described as the “World’s Highest Marathon”, says that what stays with him the most is this: “Seeing a first-time runner at the start, unsure of what lies ahead, and then seeing that same person cross the finish line. Somewhere along the way, they discover what they are capable of, and they also discover Ladakh,” says the Chairperson of High Altitude Sports Foundation, which organises and promotes the run.
The 13th edition of this four-day event, taking place between September 10 and 13, will comprise six major races of varying lengths, including the 122-km Silk Route Ultra, the 72-km Khardung La Challenge, a full and half marathon, and shorter 11.2 km and 5 km runs. It is expected to bring together over 10,000 visitors from 28 Indian States and 6 Union Territories, as well as international runners and boasts a prize pool of ₹ 1 crore. “After 13 editions, seeing runners from 28 countries and six continents, and from almost every part of India, is something we can be proud of,” he says.
We ask five participants, at different stages of their running journeys, how they are preparing for the high-altitude challenge — and to share the tips they have learnt along the way.
Sparsh Jain, New Delhi
Sparsh Jain
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As a former cricketer, running was always a key part of Sparsh Jain’s training routine. “Earlier, it just used to be a 10- 12 km run for fitness; I never worried about pace or time,” he says. Then, in 2023, after completing his first half-marathon, he started taking interest in running events, mostly half or full marathons.
That same year, he first came to Ladakh to run a half-marathon and found himself at the finish line of the gruelling 72-km Khardung La Challenge, one of the six toughest races in the Ladakh Marathon. His experience at that finish line was life-changing, and he fell in love with the idea of ultra-races, any footrace exceeding the traditional marathon distance of 42 km. “I knew I had to feel it myself once,” says the Delhi-based business owner, who went on to complete two different ultras in Ladakh: the Khardung La Challenge in 2024 and the Silk Route Ultra in 2025, finishing the first in 10 hours, 33 minutes and 24 seconds and the second in 20 hours, 48 minutes and 43 seconds, respectively.
Now, he is all set to do the Khardung La Challenge again, says Sparsh, who has been working with a running coach, doing elevation training on the flyovers in Delhi, and occasionally heading down to Rishikesh to train on the hills. He also participates in running events like the Lake to Lake Ultra in Chandigarh and Tuffman Mashobra as part of his training plan, he says. He focuses on strength, conditioning and mobility, interspersing three run days with three strength days.
He says that the Ladakh Marathon has taught him to stay humble. “There are times when you feel like you’ve done a lot and can do anything. But when you come back here, you realise that, no, there is still a lot to do,” says Sparsh.
Oliver Jones, Bengaluru
Oliver Jones
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Oliver Jones began running in 2020, mostly because his wife told him she loved the sport when they first met. “I wanted to spend more time with her, so I said that I loved it too,” says the Welsh entrepreneur, now based in Bengaluru. They began running in the city’s parks and gardens for a while before they started registering for races, recounts Oliver. “Once we started racing, we found that we were able to travel India a lot more, and had more excuses to see every city. And running a marathon in every city forced us to understand it on its own terms,” he feels.
Ultra races take you beyond the metros and into the “greater India,” says Oliver, who, along with his partner, has participated in the Ladakh Marathon before, completing a full marathon in 2025 in 3 hours, 46 minutes, and 4 seconds.
This year, he and his partner have registered for the 72-km Khardung La Challenge, “the longest run we have ever raced.”
The duo have been training for the event by incorporating hill running — “at weekends, we go up and down Nandi Hills” — and hypoxic training in swimming pools, “to get used to exerting yourself with less oxygen.” They also work out in their home gym three days a week, focusing especially on lower body strengthening, and consult physiotherapists, “who would help us prepare for the race as well, working on our strength and flexibility and identifying our weaknesses,” says Oliver.
He thinks of the “Khardung La race as the ultimate conclusion, when you start racing in India: it is one of the highest ones, seems like the most daunting, challenging one and you really have to overcome your fears to complete it.”
Namghyal Lhamo, Ladakh
Namghyal Lhamo
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Namghyal Lhamo has an advantage: she comes from the village of Domkhar Gongma in Ladakh, about 120 km from Leh, and is more accustomed to the region’s thinner air. “We, too, struggle with breathing a little bit, but it is not as bad as for people from outside Ladakh,” she says.
While she ran in school and won contests, her first marathon was in 2014 in Ladakh, says Namghyal, an SPO with the Ladakh Police force. She went on to complete many other marathons, then shifted to ultras in 2022, participating in and winning the Khardong La Challenge four times in a row, her personal best timing being 8 hours, 12 minutes, and 42 seconds in 2023. Now, for the first time, she is embarking on the Silk Route Ultra, a 122-km-long route open only to people who have participated in the Khardong La Challenge for several years.
As part of her training, she does a long run once a week, plus two more sessions at the stadium, then builds strength at home since “with my job, I don’t often find time to go to the gym,” she says. Her diet consists mostly of home-cooked meals. “Nothing special, but rarely any junk,” says Namghyal, admitting to being a bit nervous about the upcoming race. She adds with quiet confidence, “I have practised well for it and hope that I will finish the race and be on the podium. Let us see.”
Sufiya Sufi, Manali
Sufiya Sufi
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Sufiya Sufi is still on a high from her recent running achievement: a 5000-km-long stretch between Kanyakumari and the Karakonam pass, which she completed earlier this year, in 86 days and 2 hours. “I have not fully recovered, but the 122-km-long Silk Route run is very close to my heart. I have done it three times already,” says the multiple Guinness World Record holder, one of India’s most well-known endurance athletes.
Having attended the Ladakh Marathon for over five years now, she knows firsthand that running in the mountains is very different from the plains. “You have to be there for long and train there as much as possible,” says Sufiya, who arrived in Ladakh on the 27th to do exactly this. Also, on her Kanyakumari-Karakonam run, she had already spent 15-20 days running in the Ladakh region, so “my body has adapted a lot,” says the former aviation sector professional, who began her running journey in 2017, after the night shifts at her job started affecting her health. “I started running three kilometres for fitness, and then it became my passion,” she says.
When she trains for a particular event, like the Ladakh Marathon, she mostly focuses on rehab, functional exercises, and meditation rather than mileage. “Though I include a weekly long run, which could be 40, 50, 60 or 70 kms, depending on what the next challenge is,” says Sufiya, the winner of the Silk Route run last year, who took 19 hours and 12 minutes to finish it. She adds, “Ladakh is my favourite place to run, actually. I just love it, because it is not only a marathon but a festival for everyone.”
Dr Lakshmi Roopesh, Bengaluru
Dr Lakshmi Roopesh
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When Dr Lakshmi Roopesh began running, back in 2017, “I could not even run 100 meters,” says the Bengaluru-based dentist. She has come a long way since then, with a few full marathons and even a couple of ultras of around 50 kilometres under her belt. This year, for the first time, she will be trying to run 72, as part of the Khardung La Challenge at the Ladakh Marathon.
“It is not just a run, but a challenge,” says Dr Lakshmi, who has done both a half and a full marathon here already, completing them in 2 hours and 51 minutes and 5 hours and 39 minutes, respectively. According to her, the Ladakh Marathon is hard because of factors such as the low concentration of oxygen in the region, the quick altitude gain and strict cutoff times.
But as someone who has dreamed of doing it since 2023, when she witnessed the excitement at the finish line of the Khardung La Challenge, she has done everything possible to succeed, starting with signing up with one of the country’s best-known ultra-running coaches, an accomplished runner himself, Manish Jaiswal.
She also regularly works on her strength and conditioning, receiving personal coaching from a physiotherapist and working closely with a nutritionist, says Lakshmi, who sees the upcoming run as a way to test her limits. “What I am looking forward to is what the mountains will teach me on this journey. They have their own way of telling you things about life.”
