Tauranga woman to run 200km in Himalayas for animal centre

INSPIRING: Lesley Mochan, 52, will run the trail for six days next month. PHOTO/JOHN BORREN

Taking on some of the world's most challenging long-distance running races is no sweat for 52-year-old Lesley Mochan, who will run 200km in the Himalayas next month.

The Tauranga woman finished the world's highest marathon on Mt Everest in 2007 before setting her sights on the The Last Secret event in Bhutan, a small country at the east end of the Himalayas.

A friend recommended the race to her.

She will run the trail for six days, starting on May 29 and staying in farmhouses more than a century old or in a monastery at 3500m.

Each day will involve 15km to 54km of running, the shorter distances at higher altitudes

The event is organised by Global Limits, the website of which says runners can "finish the race at the most spectacular and mystic monastery on earth, hanging in the cliffs at an altitude of 3000m with an outstanding view to the Paro Valley, the Taktshang Goemba, also known as 'The Tiger's Nest'."

It was more about experiencing the culture and the scenery than the running, Ms Mochan said.

"It's not so much about the running. It's about being in these amazing places.

"You go where the general population can't go and because you're running your covering more ground than if you were hiking," she told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend.

"I'm just looking forward to the scenery and meeting the local people." She had progressed to adventure racing after many years competing in triathalon, multisport, marathons and ultra-marathons but said she could not get enough of off-road running.

But this would be her longest event yet.

"This is a real test for myself, seeing how my body goes day to day.

"I'm not thinking about it as a whole. I'm breaking it up to one day at a time. Every day is going to be a new adventure so I just want to take it all in."

She will be fundraising for the Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre, which she had been supporting since the Everest Marathon, eight years ago.

She had volunteered at the centre after the marathon and would return in June to volunteer after her 200km race.

Animals in developing countries lived a much worse life than the fortunate pets in New Zealand, she said, and her help would control the number of street animals and immunise them against rabies, which, in turn, would benefit the local community.