Bhutanese runners came on top as the results of the Snowman Race were officially declared today at Chamkar in Bumthang. Bhutanese athletes won the top three positions in both the male and female categories. Gawa Zangpo is the overall winner finishing the five-day ultra-marathon in less than 32 hours.
28-year-old Gawa Zangpo finished the race in 31 hours 53 minutes and 26 seconds, almost 2 hours and 25 minutes ahead of Sangay Wangchuk who came second. Sangay finished third. All of them work in the armed forces.
“All the international participants are top athletes, so I didn’t expect to win it at all. However, as we were selected through a rigorous selection process to represent Bhutan, I hoped to finish second or third. Winning it is the icing on the cake,” said Gawa Zangpo, overall winner of the Snowman Race.
“I think the high elevation of the race course coupled with very cold and windy conditions could have made the race difficult for our international friends,” said Sangay, the second runner-up.
In the female category, Karma Yangden from Laya in Gasa stood first finishing the race in about 48 hours. Kinzang Lhamo and Lhamo bagged the second and the third positions respectively.
“When I first joined the race, I didn’t expect to win it. Let alone the first position, I didn’t even expect myself to finish in the top five. I was more worried about how I would finish the race, as I have never done a five-day marathon before. I struggled a bit on the road on the first day and then I had a rough time scaling the mountains on the third day,” said Karma Yangden, winner in the Female category.
All the participants were awarded certificates. Winners in both categories were awarded a cash prize of Nu 200,000 each. The second and third position holders were given Nu 100,000 and Nu 50,000 respectively.
After the prize-awarding event, the runners and dignitaries nurtured the avenue plantation along the Chamkhar-Dekiling bypass.
“We know climate change is happening and it is coming in various forms. So we must look back and say we have done this and we can reverse this. And this is what we are doing, nourishing the trees. We are saying sorry to the tree. The tree is supposed to be growing to give us fruits. That’s what we need to do,” said Simon Mtuy, an athlete from Tanzania.
“We have to tell the next generation the dangers of climate change. Maybe as these trees grow the next generation should grow in strength to fight the climate change situation,” said Wataru Iino, an athlete from Japan.
As the first-ever Snowman Race came to an end yesterday, it saw 17 runners completing the five-day ultra-marathon at Chamkhar in Bumthang.
Dubbed one of the toughest races in the world, it challenged the world’s fittest and most elite runners to help raise awareness of the impacts of climate change.
Kipchu, Bumthang
