ABOUT THE LADAKH MARATHON
The Ladakh Marathon is the highest and amongst the toughest marathons. Out of the six races, the event offers two ultra races – the 72 km Khardung La Challenge (5370 m) which is presently the World’s Highest Ultra Marathon and the 122 km Silk Route Ultra which will be the epitome of high altitude running testing the limits of human endurance.
Unlike other marathons, the Ladakh Marathon requires participants to arrive in Leh atleast a week in advance to acclimatise for race day. You are running at 3500 m above sea level so it is imperative that you get acclimatised to the high altitude.
The various races take place in and around Leh, the historic capital of Ladakh and offer participants the unique opportunity to run with local people of Ladakh through the most beautiful landscape offering stunning vistas of mountains, rivers and valleys. It will leave you with lifelong memories and a chance to say you ran the Ladakh Marathon .
Ladakh Marathon became a full member of AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Distance Races) in 2015 and has been profiled in various International Sports magazines and listed as being amongst the most beautiful breathtaking and awe-inspiring marathons in the world.
DEAR RUNNERS
August 10, 2020
Leh, Ladakh
Dear Runners,
The 9th edition of the Ladakh Marathon scheduled for 10 – 13 September has been cancelled because of the COVID-19. All six races – Marathon, Half Marathon, 10 km, 5 km, 72 km ultra Khardungla Challenge and 122 km Silk Route Ultra stand cancelled for the year 2020.
The Ladakh Marathon which takes place at an altitude of 11000 ft and above has emerged as one of the most prestigious high altitude races on the Marathon Calendar of the world, famous for its spectacular landscape and has also gained a reputation as one of the toughest marathon event on the planet. The 9th edition would have been even more special as the Ladakh Marathon had become a Qualifying Event of series XIII of the Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group World Rankings. However, we also cannot simply ignore a global crisis of such proportion.
Like previous editions, this small community of ours was greatly looking forward to welcoming runners from around the world. However Ladakh is witnessing a surge in the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases. Also, the border areas of Ladakh have witnessed a tense situation in recent times. After undertaking a risk-assessment exercise a collective decision was taken to cancel the 9th edition of the Ladakh Marathon as the well-being of our runners, the residents of Ladakh, our volunteers and staff remains our top priority.
All confirmed registrations for the 9th edition of the Ladakh Marathon have been automatically transferred for a period of two years to 2021-2022.
The foundation of the Ladakh Marathon itself is one of resilience, facing challenges and community effort. We will emerge collectively stronger from this challenge of Covid-19, until then stay safe and keep running.
Jullay,
Chewang Motup Goba
(Race Director – Ladakh Marathon)
