Sunmaya Budha: From Nepal to conquering Asia

While many of the sportspersons in Nepal go unnoticed, there are many who have represented the country and have made it proud. From numbers of cricketers, footballers, to even runners.

Hari Bahadur Rokay, who won the ‘Everest Marathon’ three times, has left his print in the Guinness Book of World Records. With the success he has also been helping many emerging talents of Nepal such as Sunmaya Budha.

Budha, one of the runners who trained at the Karnali Sports Club in Jumla, has now become a popular name in the international arena. Born in Jumla, she has come a long way with her hardwork and dedication.

In the second edition of UTMB Ultra Trail Running competition held in Thailand with over 2,000 runners on the trails around Thailand’s highest peak, she was able to become the first among the female participants. She had completed the 110 km race in 14 hours 54 minutes and 1 second.

She is also known as Nepal's best female ultra-runner after claiming the third position among all in Thailand representing the North face Adventure Team.

Being on the trail after a year and her first competition after getting signed by her new team, North Face Adventure Team, Budha claims that it was one of the biggest achievements of her career as she was not only able to beat another Nepali ultra-runner, Meera Rai by two hours who had claimed the second position among female runners but also almost caught up to Cedric Golea from France who had claimed the second position in the male.

Cedric, who claimed the 28th position of the overall UTMB, is the de facto World Championships of Ultra Trail running. He was able to hold off Budha at the last 1 km and by just 4 seconds.

Sunmaya reveals, “I am so happy with what I have achieved with the support of my team before and during the race. I will always be thankful to my sponsors ‘The North Face and Coros’ and the people who have helped me since I started trail running in Nepal. ”

Ryan S. Blair, Director of The North Face Adventure Team commenting on Budha’s performance said, “We have enjoyed working with Sunmaya closely these past 8 months and are very proud of her. There was a masterclass performance and she showed her learning abilities during the nutrition, hydration and pacing strategies required for success at this longer distance run. ”

Starting her journey 10 years ago from Jumla, Budha had trained with Olympian Hari Bahadur Rokaya. In 2012, she bagged three golds for district, regional and national running competitions that were 500 to 15000 meters.

She also won competitions like Dharan Marathon, Jumla Marathon, Tenzing Hillary Race, Jumla Rara Ultra Race, and Golden World Trail.

Apart from Nepal, she has also participated in competitions organized in China, Hong Kong, France and other countries.

Budha now runs every day according to the training plan provided by the North face Adventure Team, a professional trail running and adventure racing team managed by Asia Pacific Adventure based in Hong Kong. One day she runs up to 6 hours and focuses on her diet plans, no junk or greasy food.

While her parents were not happy with her professional choices, they are now stunned by their daughter's continued success and growth.

No matter what happens in the future, Budha says that this is just the beginning of her career and she will keep running until her body lets her. She also plans to help the emerging talents of the nation.

Budha, who is going to her home district Jumla soon, said that she is now getting ready for another international competition in August.

The Karnali state government has just announced a cash prize of Rs 200,000 for her ultimate success.