The 5th edition of the Manjushree Trail Race along the Kathmandu Valley Rim saw the same race winners as last year in the main distance categories, each essentially conforming their status among the elite crop of trail runners in Nepal. Reigning female ATM Champion Priya Rai ran her first race since winning the ATM title in September last year and once more showed her ever growing competitive form by going more than half an hour faster compared to herself a year ago on the 50km. Arjun Rai Kulung and Nirmala Rai both took second consecutive wins on the longest ultra, the 100 Miles, and Man Kumar confirmed his potential as a 2025 ATM title contender by taking the men’s 50km victory. 2023 female ATM Champion Rashila Tamang also showed good firm in winning the 100km as her first of two mandatory steps towards a wild card for this year’s ATM Championship Final in Vietnam in October. The men’s 100km, a distance that only provided a Grandmaster point to finishers and no championship points, saw Bishal Rai finishing first.

The Manjushree Trail Race 2025 enjoyed a much higher international participation rate than ever and established itself further as the leading trail event in the Himalayan country. The relatively easy event access of course helps with that, and the technical organisation, support and enthusiasm of the Nepalese trail communities - including those from Jumla in the far west of Nepal provides the extra boost that makes many runners want to return every year. MTR is far from an easy race, however. Elevation gain and technicality is serious, even for the 50km - as Priya Rai herself confirmed : “MTR for me is harder than the even higher altitude run at Jumla Rara Ultra”- (the second ATM points race event in Nepal this coming 10/11 May). Despite that, the DNF rate of the 100 Miles this year remained well below 50% , showing that runners have become aware and are better prepared than in previous years. The 100 Miles is a test of physical and mental strength and endurance, coping with significant temperature swings to boot. On the other hand, there is the exciting 50km that often leaves on-lookers speechless when witnessing the incredible speed at which the top runners negotiate the challenging single trails.

Arjun Rai Kulung won the 100 Miles for the second consecutive year, and did it 23 minutes faster! 525 ATM Championship points in the pocket for the Nepali long ultra star, who was 10th in last season’s ATM Championship Final at Borneo TMBT. Arjun should be able to do better this season. After a short nap at night, following which Ramesh Limbu came back to him, Arjun simply had too much pace for Limbu and the others. He finished in 26h29. Milan Kulun Rai was second in 28h15. Also Milan was an ATM Finalist last season. Third on the podium is Sher Tahur. A new name and one who ran a cleverly paced race. In fourth was Bijay Rana Magar, followed by Pritam Rai. India’s Shashwat Rao came sixth , Homraj Tamang seventh and early race leader Ramesh Limbu eventually finished in eight place.

In the women’s 100 miles, Nirmala Rai took control from the very beginning. Whereas a year ago, she ran together most of the day with Anita Rai, the latter this time was unable to match the pace of Nirmala. The winner’s finishing time was 33h29’50”, one-and-a-half hour quicker than in 2024! Incidentally, Nirmala Rai is the elder sister of Priya Rai. Kathmandu-based American Zoe Skoric claimed second place and Anita Rai settled for third place on the podium. For a long time, Ang Furba Sherpa looked like she was going to finish first runner-up to Nirmala, but she DNFd close to the end with what appeared like a knee injury. Fourth place went to Denmark's Stine Heiselberg, who has done. the MTR race since the first edition.

In the women’s 50km, it was victory time for Asia Trail Master champion Priya Rai. Despite her fever and flu earlier in the week, a still coughing Priya took the bull by the horns from the start and kept a small gap over 17-year-old Kalpana Budha from Jumla. Budha lost ground towards the end but still ran an astonishing race given her age, and held onto second place 30 minutes behind Priya. Raja Laxmi Rawal, winner of Malnad Ultra 50 in India, could never threaten for victory , reportedly suffering from a knee issue. Still, she gets another good 425 points haul with third place today and looks already set for a place in Team Nepal at this season’s Final in Vietnam. In fourth place there was another strong runner from Jumla, Sandipa Budha.

In the men’s 50km , Man Kumar took an impressive victory in approx 6h25! After a group of nine runners glued together for the first 10-15km, Kumar took the lead by himself just before half way the race. Afterwards , it turned out he had dropped some mandatory gear at the last water station 5km before the finish. The RD gave him 15 minutes time penalty, but that still was enough to keep victory over Lokendra Rai, ATM Finalist last year, finished 19 minutes behind Man Kumar and ran a great final 10km . Third on the podium was Jumla’s Dhir Badur Buddha, followed by Sher Bahaddur Buddha. Prabin Tamling was actually second across the line, but got penalised for lack of mandatory gear and dropped down to fifth place in the race result.

The next Nepalese event with points for the ATM Championship ranking on offer is Jumla Rara Ultra 50km on 10/11 May.

Arjun Rai Kulung took his second win in the 100 Miles category at MTR

Also for Nirmala Rai it was the second win in a row at MTR 100 Miles

ATM Champion Priya Rai took control of the women’s 50km race early on despite illness early in the week

Up-and-coming talent Man Kumar scored an impressive win in the men’s 50km

2023 ATM Champion Rashila Tamang looked at ease in winning the 100km of her own event

17-year-old Kalpana Buddha stunned everyone by finishing a wonderful second in the women’s 50km

Malnad Ultra 50 race winner Raja Laxmi Rawal, with knee issues, grabbed 3rd: her ATM Final ticket beckons

The fifth edition of the Manjushree Trail Race in Kathmandu, Nepal, shows an extensive and highly international start list for the various distance categories this coming weekend. It is the second year the event is part of the Asia Trail Master Championship and Grandmaster Quest calendar and following last year’s great runners’ feedback, ‘MTR’ is now a proper highlight of the Nepalese trail scene. Runners will hit the Kathmandu Valley Rim for a challenging race at altitude and with considerable elevation gain. Nearly all Nepalese trail stars will take part in either the 100 miles, 100km or 50km, of which the 100 Miles and the 50km are the two distances that offer points for the ATM Championship Ranking, which determines the qualifiers for the ATM Championship Final in Vietnam on 4 October. Given it’s still not so straightfoward for Nepalese runners to travel abroad, MTR and Jumla Rara Ultra in May are their two great opportunities to score as many points as possible.

While the 100 Milers already start their competition on Friday, a lot of attention will go to Saturday’s 50km race featuring reigning ATM women’s champion Priya Rai. After winning the title in impressive style at Borneo TMBT Ultra in September, it will be her first appearance on the ATM circuit since. Priya won the MTR 50 last year already, ahead of then-champion Rashila Tamang and Chhoki Sherpa, in what was - with hindsight - a first milestone in her development as a competitive trail runner in Asia and future ATM Champion. Now part of the T8 Team, Priya aims to qualify again for the Championship and defend her title in October. For this, she only needs to finish two ATM races this season, just like Rashila Tamang. Contrary to last year, there won’t be a dual between the two on Saturday, as Rashila has opted to run the 100km race. Nevertheless, several Nepalese and other runners will be trying to make a statement. Jumla’s Rajya Laxmi Rawal, for example. At 20 Rajya is even younger than Priya, and one of the next upcoming talents. In her home race Jumla Rara last year, she raised eyebrows by forcing Priya to dig very deep and scoring a superb second place in her debut. This season, Rajya has already scored her first ATM victory and she even did it abroad: she won the Malnad Ultra in Karnatika, India, last November - finishing third overall and proving she is not only skilled on mountain trails, but also fast on runable trails. Chhoki Sherpa is also in the 50k once again, and so is another very young talent, Mimu Budha.

The men’s 50km has Man Kumar on the start list. This exciting hopeful won the 100k last year, and is also working on his development as a competitive international runner. Very keen to get into Team Nepal at the ATM Championship Final, Man Kumar is likely the man to beat on Saturday. However, there’s also Lokendra Rai, who showed great speed at Borneo TMBT last September, before fading in the last 30km towards the finish. 50k could be more his thing , also he is still very young for a trail runner. Observers are also curious for the performance of Philippines’ John Mahinay in his ATM points race debut. Mahinay, from Davao, eyes the podium on Saturday and hopes for a breakthrough-performance on foreign soil.

The 100 Miles starts on Friday morning already and of course does the entire Valley Rim. Last year’s winners are back in action: Arjun Rai Kulung in the men’s and Nirmala Rai in the womens’s. They are the race favourites once again, but victory is anything but a done deal. Shashwat Rao leads an interesting contingent from India, and from Japan we have the experienced Yuta Matsuyama, a triple race winner in ATM and double ATM Finalist for Team Japan over the past few years. Nirmala Rai will probably meet up with Anita Rai again, like last year. A lot can happen in a 100 Miles race in the high mountains, and so the many ATM Grandmasters from Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Philippines on the start list may also have a chance for a podium spot.

ATM will be reporting live from Kathmandu as of Thursday, with pre-race photography by Adventure III, and video from the start and the races as of Friday morning local time.

Anita and Nirmala Rai will again face off on the 100 Miles this weekend

Arjun Rai Kulung will be aiming to score another win at MTR this weekend

India’s only ATM Grandmaster so far: Shashwat Rao

Priya Rai won the 50k last year ahead of Rashila Tamang and Chhoki Sherpa

After the success of last year’s edition, we are happy to announce that The Manjushree Trail Race in Kathmandu is keeping its place on the Asia Trail Master Championship calendar in 2025. Next year, the 4th edition of the event will take place a little earlier, from 14 to 16 March, and will again feature two categories offering championship points, the 100 Miles and the 50km. Runners focusing on the Grandmaster Quest can of course consider the 100km category along with the 100 Miles.

The longest distance of the event takes runners on the Kathmandu Valley Rim, which is named after the god Manjushree. As the official website says: ‘The race route takes runners along the famous Kathmandu valley rim ridge line and across the seven peaks that surround the valley. As part of this, the racecourse also crosses the two national park (Nagarjun and Shivapuri) that border the valley. Over 85% of the route is single track, where it sometimes takes hours before runners come across a little settlement. Even though you are technically still within the Kathmandu valley, you will feel like you are far away from urbanization many times during the race.’ Looking at the course map, you see one big natural loop that measures 175 kilometres (so it’s actually longer than 100 miles). The names of the seven peaks are Jamacho, Shivapuri, Nagarkot, Pulchowki, Champadevi, Basmandur and Chandragiri. It’s a clean oval loop, but with a total elevation gain of over 12000hm, this is a race runners need to be physically and mentally prepared for. The race starts on Friday early morning and the cut-off time at the finish will be reached after 52 hours.

The 50 km race will start from Badikhel, above Godavari, and join the trail of the 100 miles and 100km. Participants will go to the start venue by shuttle bus from Kathmandu city in the morning to take flag off at 7am.

In the 2024 edition we discovered several of the talented local Nepali who later managed to qualify for the ATM Championship Final at Borneo TMBT last September. Our now ATM Female Champion Priya Rai won the 50km race ahead of Rashila Tamang and Chhoki Sherpa. Arjun Rai Kulung won the 100 miles for men, Nirmala Rai for women.

International runners can stay in Kathmandu City, as the event venue is not far away and reachable by shuttle.

Registration for The Manjushree Trail Race is already open via the official website linked below.

Already then on the 50km, Priya Rai was faster than then-champion Rashila Tamang

The 3rd edition of The Manjushree Trail in Kathmandu, Nepal, was a great trail running festival with a bright future ahead. Part of the Asia Trail Master Championship series for the first time, MTR saw some amazing runs by especially local trail talents of whom we are bound to hear more in the forthcoming weeks and months. With three points race on the programme, 100miles, 100km and 50km, there were quite a lot of race protagonists. Arguably standing out were Arjun Rai Kulung as the faster-than-ever winner of the men’s 100 miles after a great battle with the UK’s surprising Alistair Masson, and Priya Rai winning and finishing ahead of reigning ATM Champion Rashila Tamang on the women’s 50km.

The 100 Miles started already on Friday morning at around sunrise. Last year’s winner Arjun Rai Kulung and his expected challenger Ramesh Limbu were quickest in the first few hours, with Alistair Masson and Roland Hunter chasing them. In the women’s competition, two runners immediately took command and would continue to do for the whole race: Anita Rai and Nirmala Rai. The very young (U24) Ang Furba Sherpa and UK’s Sally Moulds were the other two brave women on the Miler, and they would also finish as third and fourth. Saturday daytime turned out to be more hot and humid than anticipated, affecting many runners. Ramesh Limbu suffered the most, and would eventually even DNF with dehydration signs. Arjun appeared in control, but was probably also surprised when - after taking a nap at CP 12 on Saturday night - he found out that Alistair Masson was already quite a long way further up the trail around the Kathmandu Valley Rim. It added spice to the race, the more because as far as anyone could tell, Masson was an unknown entity on the 100 miles and even more so in Nepal. Arjun Rai Kulung kept his head cool and composed and managed to bridge the gap to Masson in the early morning at CP14. Moreover, Arjun felt he could still beat his best time set last year and pushed on to victory in 26h52. Masson was unable to follow that pace, yet finished a great second about one-and-a-half hours later. In the battle for third, Hunter still got caught by Bijay Magar and even lost the podium in the final kilometers by a mere two minutes. Next was Nirmala Rai, who outpaced Anita Rai towards the end to win the women’s race in 34h34’. The gap at the finish was just over one hour.

The 100km was dominated by Man Kumar Rokka Magar in 14h45. Furpa Singi Tamang took second two hours later, and Abinash Devkota third a few minutes afterwards. The women’s 100km went to Padam Kumari Sunwar in a narrow finish with (another) Anita Rai .

The medium distance of 50km had a tight race in the men’s, won eventually by Harilal Singh ahead of Nimsang Limboo in 7h17. Dipesh Tamang was the third man on the podium in 8h04.

The women’s 50km had a pleasant surprise before the start as reigning ATM Champion Rashila Tamang, who is also involved in the event management team of Manjushree Trail, decided to have a go at it. Rashila injured her thigh muscle in the dying moments of Lantau 70 in Hong Kong a few weeks ago and was still plastered up. Nevertheless, she had a more than decent run to secure her wild card for this season’s ATM Championship Final (former champions receive a wild card as soon as they finish 2 ATM races in the current season regardless of race results). Not being at her best level, she had to settle for second place, however, as Priya Rai turned out to be too powerful last weekend. Priya is not unknown on the international scene and was also a training mate of Hau Ha last year, but MTR 50 was her debut in our ATM series. A debut in great style, finishing fifth overall and 50 minutes ahead of Rashila Tamang and Chhoki Sherpa, the latter scoring her second ATM podium after Koboi Malaya Classic in Malaysia a year ago.

Several of Nepal’s competitive runners will now make the long transfer to the west of their country, in order to take part in the 50km race Jumla Rara Ultra next weekend. In order to qualify for the ATM Championship Final, runners must finish two ATM races as a minimum requirement.

Priya Rai made a fantastic ATM debut, winning the 50km ahead of Rashila Tamang and Chhoki Sherpa

Still visibly ‘damaged’ from Lantau 70, Rashila Tamang nevertheless managed to take 2nd place and obtain her wild card for this season’s ATM Championship Final as reigning champion

Arjun Rai Kulung had a bit of a challenge from Alistair Masson and initially Ramesh Limbu, but won the 100 miles in a new course record time

The surprise of the day on the 100 Miles: UK’s Alistair Masson

Anita Rai and Nirmala Rai dominated the female 100miles. Nirmala scored the win, eventually

Padam Kumari was a convincing winner of the female 100km race

Man Kumar won the men’s 100km

Starting on Friday morning, trail runners will be competing along the famous Kathmandu Valley ridge line during the third edition of the Manjushree Trail Race, an event that is quickly gaining reputation and developing itself as the main international trail event in Nepal. Riding the wave of Rashila Tamang’s popular victory in last year’s Asia Trail Master Championship, the ‘MTR’ is also the first Nepalese points race in ATM since 2018’s Ultra Trail Nepal. Participants can score points on the 100 Miles, 100km or 50km in their attempt to qualify for this year’s ATM Final in Malaysia on 14 September. Runners aiming for Grandmaster points of course need to focus on the 100km or 100 miles only.

The MTR 100 miler looks very appealing to ultra distance enthusiasts. As the official website says: ‘The race route takes runners along the famous Kathmandu valley rim ridge line and across the seven peaks that surround the valley. As part of this, the racecourse also crosses the two national park (Nagarjun and Shivapuri) that border the valley. Over 85% of the route is single track, where it sometimes takes hours before runners come across a little settlement. Even though you are technically still within the Kathmandu valley, you will feel like you are far away from urbanization many times during the race.’ Looking at the course map, you see one big natural loop that measures 175 kilometres (so it’s actually longer than 100 miles). The names of the seven peaks are Jamacho, Shivapuri, Nagarkot, Pulchowki, Champadevi, Basmandur and Chandragiri. It’s a clean oval loop, but with a total elevation gain of over 12000hm, this is a race runners need to be physically and mentally prepared for. The race starts on Friday early morning and the cut-off time at the finish will be reached after 52 hours.

There’s quite a few runners taking up this challenge, mostly Nepalese themselves. We are bound to get to know some new names this weekend. But also familiar ATM competitors such as 4-star Grandmaster Masafumi Yamamoto, 2022 ATM Final qualifier Thang Huu Hoang from Vietnam and Indonesia’s 2023 ATM Finalist Qheiza Wiranda Edelwise feature on the start list of the ‘miler’.

As always, more people consider the 100km or 50km enough for their liking and we will see larger fields with a number of well-known Asian and Asia-based runners. Hong Kong’s Fuk Cheung Tsang and USA’s Chris Miller have had great results in ATM races before. Singapore’s Vincere Zeng is a double ATM Finalist and Himalaya mountain lover per excellence. On the 50km she will be up against Priya Rai , who until recently was a teammate and training partner of 2022 ATM Champion Hau Ha. Being neighbours to Nepal, we also find a lot of runners from India on the start list, including those who did well in Malnad Ultra in Karnatika, the ATM points race near Bangalore in November.

As of Friday morning, you can follow the action with our multimedia coverage live from Kathmandu, provided to us by Adventure III. As usual, tune in to ATM Facebook for ‘first news’, highlights will also appear on our ATM Instagram and ATM YouTube.

Follow the action as of Friday via our usual channels, with live updates via ATM Facebook

This is a natural 100 Miles course

Indonesia’s Qheiza Wiranda Edelwise will be in action in Nepal this weekend

Singapore’s Vincere Zeng is no stranger to Nepal and the Himalaya. She climbed Everest last year

We are very happy to announce that The Manjushree Trail Race and Jumla Rara Ultra in Nepal have been added to the 2024 Asia Trail Master Championship calendar on back-to-back weekends in early April. It is the first time since 2018 trail runners can score points for our ATM Championship in Nepal, and a logistical cooperation between the two events will even make it feasible to run both races in one trip to the Himalayan country. The Manjushree Trail Race takes place near country capital Kathmandu and on the famous Kathmandu Valley Rim, whereas the Jumla Rara Ultra event is set in the far west of Nepal, from Jumla to the Rara Lake - considered a hidden gem. Race dates are 5/6 April and 13 April , respectively.

For more on Jumla Rara Ultra, please go and read here

The 3rd edition of the Manjushree Trail Race event features four race distance categories, of which the 100 Miles, 100 km and 55km offer points for the ATM Championship ranking. Runners aiming for Grandmaster points of course need to focus on the 100km or 100 miles only. The 100 miler is a special one here and not only because it’s the only real one in Nepal. As the official website says: ‘The race route takes runners along the famous Kathmandu valley rim ridge line and across the seven peaks that surround the valley. As part of this, the racecourse also crosses the two national park (Nagarjun and Shivapuri) that border the valley. Over 85% of the route is single track, where it sometimes takes hours before runners come across a little settlement. Even though you are technically still within the Kathmandu valley, you will feel like you are far away from urbanization many times during the race.’ Looking at the course map, you see one big natural loop that measures 175 kilometres (so it’s actually longer than 100 miles). The names of the seven peaks are Jamacho, Shivapuri, Nagarkot, Pulchowki, Champadevi, Basmandur and Chandragiri. Total elevation gain is estimated at over 12000hm, meaning this is a race you need to be physically and mentally prepared for. The race starts on Friday early morning and the cut-off time at the finish will be reached after 52 hours.

The MTR 100 km and 55km races will have different start and finish locations along the same route as the 100 miler. The 100km will have an evening start and has a cut-off time of 26 hours, which considering the overall altitude and elevation gain is indeed quite tight. Note that pacers are allowed for the 100k participants from the start till dawn the next morning. Details can be obtained via the very informative official MTR website. The 55km race will start at 7am in the early morning on Saturday and finish 16 hours later. As much as a running competition, MTR will be an adventure and provide people with a lifetime of memories.

Where does the name Manjushree comes from? The website exlains: ‘The Kathmandu Valley Rim 100 miler is named after the god Manjushree. According to the legend, It is believed that Manjushree arrived at the edge of the valley while being on a pilgrimage, encountering a large lake that once filled the valley. Upon arrival, the god saw a lotus flower in the centre of the lake, which emitted brilliant radiance. Having walked around the valley rim, the god reached Chovar, where Manjushree used its flaming sword to cut a gorge, allowing the lake to drain and the Kathmandu valley to appear. The place where the lotus flower settled became allegedly became the Swayambhunath Stupa and with the valley being no longer under water, it became habitable and Kathmandu was founded. This has left Manjushree in a way to be the patron of the valley and to leave tales of the route the god walked before cleaving the rim and allowing the land to emerge. There are different opinions on what the exact route is that Manjushree travelled and so the Manjushree trail race is in no way trying to exactly replicate this or claiming to be a pilgrimage in anyway. Rather than that, it is inspired by the legend and therefore has chosen to honor this in its name and logo.’

This event has not suddenly emerged from nowhere. MTR is the result of years of work by trail pioneers even including international stars such as Lizzy Hawker and Seth Wolphin. Also. our reigning female Asia Trail Master Champion Rashila Tamang is a proud member of the MTR Team. The 2024 edition is already the third and the previous two have received widespread praise.

You can find all details on the event via the official website, as well as the registration facilities. Please note that after the event, transportation will be organised for local and international runners to travel to West Nepal for the Jumla Rara Ultra 50km race the weekend after on Saturday, 13 April.