Seventeen Athletes Prepare for Bhutan’s 2026 Snowman Race

Seventeen athletes start Bhutan’s third Snowman Race on 24 October, running more than 185 km from Laya to Bumthang over passes above 5,000 metres.

Seventeen runners will start the third Snowman Race on 24 October in Laya, a highland village in northern Bhutan. Over five days they will run more than 185 kilometres and cross mountain passes above 5,000 metres before finishing in Bumthang, in central Bhutan. The field is made up of 11 international and six Bhutanese athletes, nine men and eight women. It includes world champions, record holders and runners raised in the highlands the course passes through.

Organisers describe the Snowman Race as one of the toughest endurance races in the world. It was created to draw international attention to climate change and its effects on the Himalayan environment.

A Race Built Around a Climate Message

The race follows part of the Snowman Trek, a high-altitude route through Bhutan’s northern wilderness. On foot, the full Snowman Trek takes trekkers close to a month. From Laya, the race heads east through the remote Lunana region, an area of glaciers and glacial lakes, before descending to Bumthang.

The first edition was held in October 2022, after a postponement caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Organisers presented it as a way to raise awareness of climate change by bringing elite athletes to one of the regions most exposed to it. Bhutanese runners Gawa Zangpo and Karma Yangden won the men’s and women’s titles that year. The second edition, in 2024, was won by Sangay Wangchuk of Bhutan and Rosanna Buchauer.

This year’s race starts during the Royal Highland Festival in Laya. His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck started the annual festival in 2016 to celebrate the culture and livelihoods of Bhutan’s highland communities. Runners will finish at the National Day ground beside Wangduechhoeling Palace in Bumthang, the birthplace of His Majesty King Ugyen Wangchuck, the First King.

Returning Runners Come Back With a Purpose

American ultrarunner Luke Nelson is racing for the third time, having taken part in 2022 and 2024. Outside racing, he is a physician assistant specialising in wilderness medicine and a backcountry search and rescue team leader. He sees the race as a way to keep drawing attention to change in the Himalayas.

“I’m returning to the Snowman Race for the third time to continue to be a witness for climate change and to see what more I can learn through deeper experiences here in Bhutan,” Nelson said.

Five others are returning:

• Gabe Joyes (United States) finished sixth at the inaugural race.
• Cody Lind (United States) placed seventh at UTMB Mont-Blanc in 2024. He raced in the 2024 edition.
• Tashi Norbu (Bhutan) finished second overall in 2024 and won a stage on the fourth day.
• Pema Choki (Bhutan) is from Laya, where the race starts. She finished second among the women in 2024.
• Choki Dorji (Bhutan) has podium finishes at the Bhutan International Marathon. He ran in the first edition.

Altitude Is the Main Test for First-Timers

For many in the field, the biggest unknown is altitude. Italian runner Roberto Mastrotto has won long European mountain races, including the 170-kilometre Adamello Ultra Trail in 2021. He said the Himalayas will be a different kind of test.

“For sure, it will be amazing and also very challenging, mainly for me because of the altitude that is very different from what I can normally find in the Italian Alps,” Mastrotto said.

South African Megan Mackenzie has won the South African Long Distance Trail Championship several times and was the first woman home at the 2026 Ultra-Trail Drakensberg. She has raced in the Himalayas once before.

“I think this Snowman Race will probably be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Mackenzie said.

Other first-time international entrants include:

• Max King (United States), the 2011 World Mountain Running Champion and 2014 IAU 100 km World Champion
• Rachel Entrekin (United States), a two-time winner of the Cocodona 250, a 250-mile race in Arizona
• Olivia Amber (United States), a professional trail runner and former college Nordic skier
• Nancy Jiang (New Zealand), winner of the Tarawera Ultra-Trail 102 km
• Anurag Nallavelli (India), who has climbed two 8,000-metre peaks without supplemental oxygen
• Soňa Kopčoková (Slovakia), the first Slovak woman to complete the 400-kilometre Ultra Gobi

Bhutanese Runners Selected at Home

Bhutan’s national runners earned their places through a selection process that began in May with a 37-kilometre race from Thimphu to Paro. Jamphel Choda, the 2025 Laya Run champion, won that race to secure his first Snowman Race start. Dawa Chozom and Sangay Yuden were the fastest women. Both have podium finishes at the Bhutan Coronation Marathon.

What Comes Next

The race runs over five days from 24 October. Weather and altitude will shape the outcome as much as speed: at these heights, cold, thin air and changing conditions can force adjustments to camps and stages. Results will show whether experience on the course gives returning runners an edge. The organisers will measure the race’s wider success by how much attention it draws to the changes taking place in the Himalayas.