A New High

Having walked for 37 hours,34 minutes and 37 seconds in low-oxygen zones with only a three-hour break,Sharon Gayter’s head spins and legs hurt. The 47-year-old international ultra-distance athlete from England has won the second edition of ‘La Ultra – The High’,one of the toughest and highest marathons in the world,which was held in Leh and Ladakh earlier this month. “La Ultra marathon was by far the toughest experience. But it was a challenge I wanted to complete for myself in order to see if there is any race out there that is too tough to finish,” says Gayter,who had a brief stop over in Chandigarh while coming back from Leh. The marathon involved crossing two highest motarable mountain passes,Khardung La and Tanglang La,both above 17,500 feet.

A friend’s e-mail mentioning that this run was tougher than ‘Badwater’,the marathon known as the toughest in the world,urged Gayter to sign up immediately. “Only one person could finish this run in its first edition. I found that extremely challenging and inspiring,’’ reflects Gayter,who is a lecturer in Sports Science at Teesside University.

Gayter is taken as much by the scenic beauty of the country as she is perturbed by the weather conditions and high altitude. She says that she covered the terrain with short walks to the top and ran most of the way to Leh. “The darkness was tough,especially running along the river. It’s then that I took two short breaks. Daylight at Rumptse brought renewed energy,but the last 10 kms to the top were incredibly hard,” recalls Gayter.

While Gayter has been trekking in the UK for many years now and has participated in London Marathon apart from being declared as the national champion in a 100 kms and 24-hour event,“this one surpasses it all,” she says. Some days after her victory,Gayter was in the recovery mode and relives the winning moment time and again,“It was raining,cold,dark and the first thought was about being warm rather than getting the medal,’’ reminisces Gayter,who is all set to represent England in the Commonwealth Championship’s 24-hour race in September.