Nepal is an excellent destination for trail running, now more than ever. It has a huge network of inter-village trails, and unlike many other countries, you can pretty much roam everywhere and anywhere, as long as you are respectful and friendly. Because of this culture of foot trails, there are myriad sleeping options in small, simple hotels which are almost everywhere. And if there are no hotels, then someone would welcome you into their home. The established tourist regions make this all much easier, with signposted trails and many excellent lodges.
So if you are planning to come to Nepal and want to trail run, where should you start?
Going solo?
It is totally possible to do this on your own. There is plenty of information on the internet about solo trekking, and you can do this in a faster, lighter manner.
You will be limited to non-restricted areas, that require a guide and a minimum of two “trekkers”. Of course you must take great care, especially in remote or high areas. Carry a bivi bag always, take a local NTC sim card, do not underestimate altitude acclimatization / acclimation – do it properly.
Local running groups
A reliable group to run with on Saturday is the Himalayan Hash House Harriers: https://himalayanhash.run/ – they often don’t know where the run is going to be until a few days before, but contact them and they will help you get a ride with someone or help you get a taxi to the right place.
Snail Trail Series https://www.instagram.com/snailtrailseries/?hl=en is also very worth looking up.
Here are other running groups on Facebook. You can post your request here, and you may or may not get responses.
- Kathmandu Trail Running Group
- Kathmandu Running Club
- Lalitpur Trail Running Club – south of the city
- Nepal Dynamic Running Club – south of the city
Favorite running routes
Much has changed in Kathmandu over the years and many running routes have been degraded through city growth road building. Our previous list of favorite runs no longer applies!
If you are in Kathmandu for a short time, reliable options are, running to the top of Jamacho, or Shivapuri. You can follow parts of the route of the Stupa to Stupa Race, or the Manjushree Trail race.
If you are in a different part of the city, contact us for ideas.
Running guides
It’s a great idea. You will make the most of your time, run the best possible routes, be able to communicate with the locals through your guide, and give someone a day’s (or more) work! See the running guides page.
Organised running events
There are more events than ever now as you will see on our events pages, and more diversity.
Local races: there are local one day events all over the country, and this will make for a great adventure, with travel and cultural experience along with friendship and challenge.
Fast packing: again several options for longer trips into the mountains. Read this guide about fastpacking in Nepal, and see this list of fastpacking events.
Stage races: Stage races in Nepal are a huge amount of fun, well they can be if the stages are well designed not to be purely exhausting for all but the elite!
See the full list of trail running events in Nepal that we know about here.
Do you have questions? Send us an email!
Looking for people who experienced the earthquake in April/May 2015. I am looking for people who would be willing to help write a chapter of a book about people who experienced the earthquake in Nepal. I was teaching in Koshidekha in April and have a story to tell. If you have a story to tell as well and would be interested in this collaborative project, please send me an email.
I want to be part of trailrunningnepal might want to create & organize events like such but no idea where do i start.
But before that can anybody tell me how can i get or be a member of trailrunningnepal so i could support you guys.