Placed at the beginning of the track to Numbur base camp, Pungmuche is the starting line for the 3rd stage at Everest Trail  Race by The Elements. The stage has 30 km and an accumulated elevation of 5.396m. It has more elevation drop than elevation gain (+ 2232 m, - 3164 m.). The stage was along rural zones with huge access difficulties, making even harder the challenge for the organization. It is the stage with the biggest accumulated elevation of all race which will be reaching the end on Saturday at Lukla. Runners have started the stage along a short section with many uphill’s and downhill’s. Right after the Tibetan camp at Tumtencholing at km1, they started their way to km5 along awesome woods. Right after, at the small village called Tognasa with no more than three houses. No one there is used to fins runners or sportive people carrying everything needed to survive in Nepal for 6 days. Organisation provides food, drink and tent. The rest of the material has to be carried by each runner. Their bag should also include their compulsory material. From first CP they had followed a path along rural zones, far from known and crowed doubles tracks. Their route was a “leg killer” due to its uphill’s and downhill’s. Hewa is the small village where the last downhill has started. The last part of the stage was an uphill for 4km with 500m-elevation gain. At the end of the stage runners had to face a last and very hard “bonus track”. Runners are extremely tired and it is hard for them to achieve this last objective and this feeling was easy to feel at the finish line where first tears for emotion have shown up.

Today third consecutive for the Catalan athlete Anna Comet (The Elements Coconut Water) and for the local Suman Kulung. At the finish line Comet light up how technic the stage was. The runner from Vic completed the stage in 4h41:54, 36 minutes before the second lady Manuela Vilaseca (The Elements Coconut Water). 3rd position was for Núria Domínguez who got to Kharikhola 11 minutes after Vilaseca. The first man to get to Karikhola where the camp is settled next to a Buddhist monastery was the Nepalian Suman Kulung after 3:49:53 of pushing himself. Hans Smerdsrod from Norway got to the finish line on second position half hour later. Gerard Morales (The Elements Coconut Water) was chasing him and got to the monastery just 2 minutes after Smerdsrod. When it comes to general results Anna Comet is the ladies leader with 1hour 38 minutes and 45 seconds in front of her team mate Manu Vilaseca. Nuria Domínguez (Tuga) is the third in the list and she is just 13 minutes behind. Kulung is men leader and Gerard Morales is on second place with a difference of and hour and 18 minutes.  Smerdsrod follows him at 18 minutes. While in Solokhumbo runners are sharing experiences at the camp in Karikhola, registrations for 2020 edition have already been opened. The 10th edition will happen between the 6th and the 18th of November. Registrations are now available on the website of the race: 

www.everesttrailrace.com.