ChheChee Sherpa Moves Into The Lead and Hernando Holds On

Press Release / 13.11.2017

Luis Alberto Hernando kept the race leader position for the 3rd consecutive day today, but it was Nepali runner Suman Kulung who won the race and narrowed the gap in the overall standings. Portuguese runner Ester Alves lost the lead in the women’s category.

Some runners described today as more difficult than the epic stage of the previous day and more complex, mainly due to the increase in mileage, and because the passage of days begins to be noticed in their legs after passing the mid-point of the competition.

During the night, the thermometer dropped to minus 7 degrees Celsius in the camp and the 37.4 km of trail today was no turkey snot. The athletes made a very technical descent inside a forest from almost 4,000m altitude down to 3,000m to reach the first control point.

Suman Kulung (Traça Esquí I Esports De Muntanya) came in first place and Luis Alberto Hernando (Adidas) came second 3 minutes later. The Nepalese runner led through all the control points to get his first stage victory and Luis Alberto Hernando fought with all his strength to prevent him from getting too far ahead.

Hernando arrived at the finish line 8 minutes 31 seconds after him and is still leading. Kulung is now second overall, 7 minutes 55 seconds behind, and this adds more excitement to the second half of the race. The two of them arrived exhausted after pushing their bodies to the limit. Kulung was racing to win the stage and take the lead; Hernando racing not to lose it.

Jordi Gamito (The Elements) finished third and is fourth overall. The local runners dominated the third stage. In addition to Suman Kulung's triumph, his compatriot in the women's category ChheChee Sherpa gave an exhibition performance.

She won the stage and the leadership of the Everest Trail Race presented by The Elements Pure Coconut Water after recovering more than 36 minutes from Portuguese runner Ester Alves, who lead the first two days.

The day had 4,110m of descent and she highlighted one of 10km until shortly before arriving at the village of Kharikhola, where the third camp of the Everest Trail Race has been established.

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