Nawang Tsering: How a Zanskari emerged as a world class trail runner

“I couldn’t see anyone in front of me and had no idea about the position I was running in. All I remember was working my way past hundreds of runners on a narrow trail, before finally settling in to run on my own. I was really surprised to learn where I had finished," Tsering, 26, says.

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The result has a lot to do with his familiarity with mountain trails. His early years were spent running up and down the mountain slopes while at play around his home in Lingshed, a remote village in the Zanskar Valley. At the age of four, he left to study at Lamdon Model Senior Secondary School in Leh. With no road connection between Zanskar and Leh at the time, he would hike 2-3 days to and back for vacations, depending on the conditions and speed. Today, jeep track connects Lingshed to Leh today, a distance of around 220km via Khalsi.

“My home was so far away that there were summer and winter vacations when I just stayed at the hostel instead of visiting my family. I knew nobody in Leh—just the principal at Lamdon, Eashay Tundup, who had brought me there and has supported me over the years," Tsering says.

While at school, he would play the odd game of cricket or football. But in 2012, he first learned that his friend at the hostel, Jigmet Nurboo, was waking up at odd hours to train for marathons. Over time, he noticed Nurboo wearing new shoes and shiny singlets, and returning with stories from various races across the country. Tsering knew he wanted the same life.

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“It was really inspiring to hear his experiences and to see how he was shaping up as an athlete. I realised that if I ran well, I too could get those opportunities. It was enough reason to start practicing," Tsering says.

By 2014, Tsering was training and racing in Ladakh. He initially ran in a humble pair of canvas shoes, until Nurboo loaned him his shoes. When Tsering finished second in a 5km race organised by the Indian Army in Leh, he decided to attempt a longer run. At a 12km race a few months later, he finished second again.

Tsering’s breakthrough race was the half marathon at the Ladakh Marathon in 2015 where he finished second. It was where he was first spotted by Chewang Motup, race director of the Ladakh Marathon, who took him under his wing. “The Ladakh Marathon was primarily started in 2012 to encourage local talent. We give podium finishers the opportunity to travel to races across India and compete against top runners," Motup says.

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That year, Mumbai-based coach Savio D’Souza started working with Ladakhi runners. D’Souza would travel to Leh for a few weeks and supervise their routine. He would then hand out customised training plans and monitor their progress remotely. In 2016, Tsering took top spot in the half marathon category at the Ladakh Marathon, which he would then go on to win on another two occasions. The same year, he managed his first podium finish outside Ladakh when he placed third in the open category of the Tata Steel Kolkata 25k.

In 2022, Tsering switched over to the full marathon distance, winning the Ladakh Marathon and defending the title for another two years. But he soon realised that his timing wasn’t on par with what other India marathoners were clocking. On Motup’s suggestion, Tsering decided to run a 44km high altitude race in Dras—he took top spot in 2 hours 49 minutes.

“I knew he was cut out for endurance, so I asked him to consider switching over to ultra marathons. He was open to the idea and we decided to target the race in Thailand," Motup says.

“I had spent a lot of time as a kid walking across mountains to get back to my village. So I knew what it was like to be on trails, though I never thought I would be running there one day," Tsering adds.

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After clinching a hat-trick of wins at the Ladakh Marathon in September, Tsering started working towards the 100km ultra trail race. He didn’t have a specific training plan, and simply switched a lot of his daily routine from the road to the trails around Leh, while hitting a weekly mileage of 120-150km. On a few occasions, he ran the trekking routes between Stok and Rumbak (around 25km) and a longer effort of around 60km between Chilling and Sumdo, going as high as 16,500 feet along the way. After two months of preparation, he was off to Thailand for the race.

“Since I had run many marathons in the past, I just approached it as (a marathon with) an additional 50km. But when I went on a route recce, I realised it wasn’t going to be as simple.For instance, my training was all about zigzagging up an incline, but this course had one straight slope heading up the mountain and another going all the way down, just relentless climbs and descents one after the other," he says.

With no ITRA points under him (runners collect these points based on their performance in different races approved by the International Trail Running Association), Tsering had to start his race in the second wave at the back of the pack, and spent a long time getting past other runners. The steep uphills tested him, as did the hot, humid weather. He had soon separated from another Indian runner, Shabbir Hussain, and set off on his own. By the 44km mark, he had broken into the top-15 of the race.“All I had in mind was to get to the finish, given all that was invested in me. Now that I know what to expect, I want to go back next year and put in a better performance," he says.

The result qualifies him for the renowned UTMB race in Chamonix, France, next August. With the right support over the next few months, Tsering is sure to set new benchmarks for Indian ultra running.

Shail Desai is a Mumbai-based freelance writer.

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