The North Face® Athlete, Elizabeth Hawker, set a new World Record on Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu Ultra-Run
The North Face®, the world’s premier supplier of authentic, innovative and technically advanced outdoor apparel, equipment and footwear, today announced that its sponsored ultra-runner Elizabeth “Lizzy” Hawker successfully concluded her double feat of summiting Ama Dablam (6,848 metres/22,467 feet) followed by a world-record breaking run from Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu in just over three days.
Fresh from her September 2007 success as the overall winner of the inaugural Mountain Marathon Cup, she spent approximately three weeks acclimatising and climbing Ama Dablam steadily by the traditional SW ridge, renowned for its altitude, singular beauty and sheer exposure. On Saturday October 20th, together with her team mates, she made a successful bid for the summit.
She and her two fellow runners (Mark Hartell and Sephen Pyke) then trekked to Everest Base Camp in preparation for the historic run, departing Base Camp on Thursday, October 25th as planned. The route carried her across 302 kilometres (188 miles) with over 10,000 meters (32,800 vertical feet) of ascent and 14,000 metres (46,000 vertical feet) of descent. Lizzy and one of her team mates (Stephen Pyke) finally reached the national sports stadium in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, in a new record time of 3 days 2 hours and 35 minutes of running. The previous world record was held by Kumar Limbu, a Nepalese runner, who accomplished the feat in 2000 in three days, seven hours and 10 minutes.
