Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon is a high altitude running event held every May 29th in the vicinity of Mount Everest, Solukhumbu, Nepal. The scenic course of both starts at the Mt. Everest Base Camp, goes through the high sherpa trails of Khumbu valley, ending at Namche Bazar. Participants can choose among three distance options: a 60-km ultramarathon, a 42-km classic marathon, and a 21-km half-marathon. The full marathon has the same start and finish as the ultramarathon; the half-marathon starts in Dingboche and ends likewise at Namche Bazar. The event has been held annually under the management of the Nepal Tourism Board. The marathon is dedicated to the historical ascent on Mt. Everest on 29th May 1953 by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary.
Since this marathon starts at 5365 m above the sea level, it is considered to be one of the most robust world's races that needs a lot of training with high-altitude running. Two hundred fifty participants of this race range from professional athletes to new runners. Everybody is required to pass a medical checkup and spend from 1 to 5 days in the mountains for acclimatisation. Al valid health insurance is also a must.
The first Everest Marathon was organised in 1994 by a Nepal based travel company Himalayan Expeditions. Since then, it has been held annually on May 29 except for 2015 when the race was postponed because of a devastating earthquake that hit Nepal.
