Warrington resident Jacqueline Manson has run ultramarathons all over the world — including in the Sahara desert and the Amazon rainforest — but the latest six-day race she finished about three weeks ago held new challenges she had never encountered before.
"The race was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I just really wasn’t that prepared because I couldn’t do a lot of training with a little baby."
The race route took Ms Manson 160km through trails around the Himalayas and into the base camp for Mount Everest, up to heights of 4100m, 376m higher than New Zealand’s highest point on Mount Cook.
Temperatures dropped very low and competitors were told to pack sleeping bags that could withstand minus 10°C.
Ms Manson often woke up with everything frozen and the inside of her tent damp from condensation.
"I couldn’t go to Nepal any earlier to acclimatise to the altitude because I have a new baby — that kicked my butt a wee bit."
Ms Manson experienced dizziness most days, with face swelling, a "funny tummy" and altitude sickness due to the extreme heights, all while carrying a pack of 8.5kg, the heaviest of any of the 33 competitors.
In total, she lost about 5kg during the six days.
"It was very character building — a lot of it was mental because I couldn’t rely on how fit I was. Because I wasn’t that fit, I got fitter as I went."
As nowhere local came close to the altitudes of the Himalayas, the best substitute was a couple of days in Wānaka when her partner was home to take care of their baby.
"I wasn’t pretty and I wasn’t fast, but I finished."
Ms Manson was the first New Zealander to finish the ultramarathon.
The challenging marathon did not deter her from future ultramarathons, and she had a road map of the next 10 years of races already, Ms Manson said.
"One a year, that’s my plan."
