Published Tuesday, November 13 in The Province, written by Jack Keating

Pushpa Chandra will soon lace up her running shoes to take part in the world’s highest marathon on Mount Everest. The Vancouver naturopathic doctor has run marathons for the past 20 years, including the prestigious Boston and New York races, but there’s been nothing to compare with her next effort. Chandra, 49, will run in temperatures averaging -20 C.

She’ll start close to the Everest Base Camp (5,184 metres) and finishes 42 kilometres later over rough mountain trails at the Sherpa town of Namache Bazaar (3,446 m).

“It’s a body-mind, endurance challenge,” Chandra said of the Dec. 5 race that starts at 7 a.m. and is expected to take up to seven hours to finish.

“It’s pushing your limits.”

Chandra runs an average of two to four hours per day.

“Once a week, I run eight hours straight for the day,” she said. “I start in Horseshoe Bay and finish in Deep Cove, and that’s 50 kilometres.”

Chandra, five feet four inches tall and 106 pounds, wanted to celebrate her 50th birthday by doing something unique and to help raise funds for the women of Nepal.

The marathon is preceded by 16 days of trekking through the Himalayan foothills for six to seven hours a day and camping out in sub-zero temperatures.

“There is only half as much oxygen and no supplementary oxygen is allowed. It’s always going to be sub-zero,” she said.

The route will be treacherous.

“It’s going to be dangerous,” she said, noting that 10 doctors are going on the trip.

“There’s a danger of tripping and falling,” she said, adding, “It’s as safe as your common sense. You have to use your common sense.”

She hopes to raise $10,000. Her website is www.drpushpa.com.