Nepali trail runners script history in Vietnam
Nepali runners claim gold and silver in both men’s and women’s races in Vietnam, with 19-year-old Kalpana Budha becoming the youngest podium finisher in ATM history.
Nepal’s Sunsari Rokaya and Kalpana Budha were ranked below 30 among hundreds of women trail runners competing in the Asia Trail Master (ATM) Championship before the final event of Season 11, which kicked off in October last year and concluded on Saturday.
But Sunsari and Kalpana punched way above their class when the race ended, becoming the first two runners to complete the 75 km long course of the ATM Championship Final along the scenic Mù Cang Chải, a highland district in Yên Bái province of Vietnam.
Sunsari and Kalpana were only a few seconds apart when they finished the race. When the organisers felt that Sunsari and Kalpana could cross the finish line together, they had suggested the Nepali team not to do so.
“The Nepali team has been told that there can be only one winner,” a commentator said in a live video by Asia Trail Master when Sunsari and Kalpana completed the race. “There can be only one champion.”
Sunsari and Kalpana were separated by seven seconds into the finish line. Sunsari finished in 9 hours, 32 minutes and 25 seconds, while Kalpana in 9 hours, 32 minutes and 33.1 seconds.
“I want to thank everyone who supported me throughout this journey and the brothers who helped me along the race course today,” Sunsari said after the race.
Sunsari, 24, was not the first Nepali to win an ATM race. Rashila Tamang had done it in Indonesia in 2023, and Priya Rai won it twice—ATM-71.4km in Hong Kong in March and ATM-85km in Malaysia in September 2024.
Meanwhile, Kalpana, 19, becomes the youngest ever runner in ATM history to claim a podium finish.
“The race was very well organised,” Kalpana said after the medal ceremony. “For instance, the availability of water and food.”
Sunsari and Kalpana come from rural parts of Nepal. Sunsari is from Dolpa and Kalpana from Jumla.
Sunsari and Kalpana were not the only Nepalis to win medals in Vietnam on Saturday.
A total of nine Nepali trail runners had travelled to Vietnam for the championship.
Of them, two other Nepali male runners—Homlal Shrestha and Gopal Tamang—also came in first and second in their respective category.
Homlal and Gopal won the men’s and overall categories of the ATM Championship Final. Homlal completed the race in 7 hours, 14 minutes and 17.9 seconds, while Gopal followed 15 minutes later. Sunsari and Kalpana were 18th and 19th overall.
“What an impressive and also unexpected top performance from the 42-year-old Shrestha, essentially a road marathon runner,” wrote ATM. “The first Nepali male runner to win the Championship. He went ahead by himself before km 40 and despite having never done a 70k race before kept increasing his lead over his compatriot Gopal Tamang.”
Nepal could have swept all three finishes in the men’s category. However, Dhir Bahadur Budha and Bishal Rai could not stay consistent along the hot and difficult course.
Dhir Bahadur finished eighth (8:05:28.7) and Bishal finished tenth (8:21:40.2).
Similarly, Rajya Laxmi Rawal was sixth among women runners, completing the run at 11:00:35.6. Ang Furba Sherpa (11:59:37.5) was 10 th in the list.
Pancharam Budha was the final and ninth runner from Nepal who competed in the championship. He finished 23 rd overall, completing the race in 9:52:26.
Nayak Paudel covers sports for The Kathmandu Post. He previously worked at the Post (2018–19) and spent over five years at The Rising Nepal. His reporting spans crime, health, education, and social issues.