Manjushree Trail Race in Kathmandu on 17-19 April
One month later than usual due to upcoming elections, the popular Manjushree Trail Race in and around Nepal’s capital city of Kathmandu has been scheduled for the weekend of 17 to 19 April 2026. The event will again feature two categories offering Asia Trail Master championship points, the 100 Miles and the 50km. Runners focusing on the Grandmaster Quest can of course consider the 100km category along with the 100 Miles.
The longest distance of the event takes runners on the Kathmandu Valley Rim, which is named after the god Manjushree. As the official website says: ‘The race route takes runners along the famous Kathmandu valley rim ridge line and across the seven peaks that surround the valley. As part of this, the racecourse also crosses the two national park (Nagarjun and Shivapuri) that border the valley. Over 85% of the route is single track, where it sometimes takes hours before runners come across a little settlement. Even though you are technically still within the Kathmandu valley, you will feel like you are far away from urbanization many times during the race.’ Looking at the course map, you see one big natural loop that measures 175 kilometres (so it’s actually longer than 100 miles). The names of the seven peaks are Jamacho, Shivapuri, Nagarkot, Pulchowki, Champadevi, Basmandur and Chandragiri. It’s a clean oval loop, but with a total elevation gain of over 12000hm, this is a race runners need to be physically and mentally prepared for. The race starts at 8am on Friday morning and the cut-off time at the finish will be reached after 52 hours. The venue for start and finish is Single Tree.
The 50 km race will start from Badikhel, above Godavari, and join the trail of the 100 miles and 100km. Participants will go to the start venue by shuttle bus from Kathmandu city in the morning to take flag off at 8 am. The cut-off time is 14 hours. The course is challenging and technical for a 50km, even though it is essentially a daytime race. Last year, Priya Rai and Man Kumar took the victories in the women’s and men’s categories.
Registration is open and can be accessed via the official website linked below. Please note that upon successful registration, you will receive an email from the event crew with details on travel and accommodation packages, should you require these. In any case, it is possible to stay in Kathmandu City and head out to the race start/finish venue from there by taxi/motorbike.
