RUN: The Bhutan International Marathon / Half-Marathon

Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to participate in the Bhutan International Half-Marathon event, held in the Punakha valley in the west of the country. It must surely rank as one of the most beautiful runs in the world. There is also a full marathon which is run at the same time.

The half marathon starts in the Sirigang area and follows the Mo Chhu (Mother River) for 9km where you cross at a small bridge. The next kilometre or so is the slowest of the course as you climb along a rough single trail and then cross the long and rather scary suspension bridge over the Father River (Po Chhu). The next 6km is along a rocky dirt road on the eastern side of the Punatsang Chhu. You then cross over to the western side of the river and run back along the main Punakha black-top road to finish at the beautiful Punakha Dzong.

It’s hard to rate the difficulty of the half-marathon course. On the one hand, there is a net drop of 100m from start to finish and I also reckon the course is slightly short. But there are also quite a few nasty hills along the way and about a third of the route is on a rocky dirt road where I found it hard to find my rhythm. And even though the altitude isn’t high by Bhutanese standards, it will definitely hurt those runners who haven’t properly acclimatised.

The full marathon simply starts another 21km further up the Mo Chhu valley, in the Gasa region, and then follows the half-marathon route around Punakha. The altitude at the start line is above 1700m so there is a 500m drop over the course. But again, it’s not an easy run. For starters, the first 13km is mostly gravel and packed dirt. Kudos to all the marathon participants!

The run is held every year in late February, to coincide with the annual Bhutan International Festival which celebrates music acts, films, photography and plenty more. Sign up now for next year’s event!