Two youths from Kalimpong district’s Jaldhaka, which is along the India-Bhutan border, ran 1,800 kilometres in 43 days to reach Kedarnath in Uttarakhand.

Anuj Sharma, 23, and Norden Tamang, 27, reached Kedarnath on May 20 after having started from Jholung in Jaldhaka on April 8.

While Anuj, who has just completed his postgraduation, hails from Jholung village, Norden who works in a private firm, comes from a village called 45 Block.

“We first started running during the lockdown,” said Anuj. “We slowly built our stamina and endurance levels.”

Running in recent years has taken the hills by storm. The two runners have been participating regularly in marathons across the hills.

“Recently, during a marathon in Kalimpong, I stood third. Anuj stood fifth,” said Norden.

After this, the duo decided to run to Kedarnath, the holy town in Uttarakhand.

“We had heard stories of people cycling or even walking to the place but we wanted to run and cover the distance to encourage and inspire youth to take to a healthy lifestyle,” said Norden.

The duo, after starting from Jholung in Kalimpong district, reached Siliguri and then entered Nepal before finally crossing over to India to reach Kedarnath from Rudraprayag.

“The run in Nepal was tough as the temperatures were as high as 41 degree Celsius. Of the 43 days, we could not run for three days,” said Jorden.

The two largely ran alone. “We should have taken along a back-up team to help us,” said Anuj, who added that members of the Jhaldhaka Runners visited them twice in Nepal to cheer them on during the run.

Initially, the youths ran with a backpack weighing about 4 kilograms, which included their food and clothes. “After some time, we reduced it to around 2.5 kilograms as it was difficult to run with that weight,” said Norden.

The duo covered anything between 40 to 50 kilometers every day, depending on the accommodation available. “We had planned the trip about six months back,” said Norden.

The duo incurred an expense of about Rs 1 lakh. “Apart from Jaldhaka Runners, people of the area supported us,” said Anuj.

The runners from relatively obscure villages said that they were overwhelmed with the response they received in India and Nepal.

“Everyone, from army personnel in both countries to mayors of different
cities, interacted with us.
It was an enriching experience,” said Norden, speaking over the phone from
Kedarnath.

Many supporters also reached Kedarnath to welcome them, he added. “It was a great feeling, honestly,” he said.