Pangong frozen lake marathon, themed ‘The Last Run’ sets the Guinness World record as the World’s highest frozen lake half marathon on February 20. 

A total of 75 athletes from different parts of the world participated in the 21.9 km half marathon. The marathon commenced from Lukung village and concluded at Maan village. The frozen lake marathon is being held in India for the first time. The Pangong Frozen lake marathon was organised by the Adventure Sports Foundation of Ladakh (ASFL) in collaboration with Ladakh Autonomous Hill Council, Leh. 

Talking about the objective and idea to host the Pangong Frozen Lake Marathon, ASFL Founder, Chamba Tsetan said, “The idea came after seeing an Antarctic ice marathon on TV, I and my friend felt this can be hosted on Pangong lake during winter and started working on it”.

“Keeping the fragile environment in mind we tried to host the event as per the carrying capacity of the region. The marathon runners are kept limited, no plastic bottles are used during the event and all the guests are accommodated in the homestays.”, he added.

He termed the marathon runners, participating from different states of India and the countries of the world, as the ambassadors of sustainable tourism being promoted in Ladakh.

Men's division winners of the Pangong Frozen Lake Half Marathon were Rigzen Gurmet (Bib No. 139), Muneeb (Bib No. 147), and Arshad (164), with times of 1:54:24, 1:59:03, and 2:00:19 respectively. On the other hand in the women’s category Tsering Zangmo (175) completed the marathon in 2:38:40; Padma Rigzin (177) with a timing of 2:46:57, and Chuskit Angmo (195) finished the marathon at 3:00:22 timing. 

Chief Guest of the occasion, Tashi Gyalson, CEC, Hill Council, and Leh congratulated everyone for Ladakh scripting a historic moment by setting a Guinness World Record. He lauded the collective effort of every stakeholder in making the event a grand success. 

He added that the Pangong Marathon is in sync with the vision and goal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vibrant Village Programme which aims to develop the border villages. He added that the Hill Council and ASFL share similar goals concerning the environment and the Pangong Frozen Lake Marathon showcases a sustainable and responsible marathon, promoting winter tourism in the already world-famous tourist destination, boosting the local homestays along with zero-waste concept to provide round-the-year stable livelihood in the rural border villages.

He assured that the Hill Council will promote the Pangong Marathon responsibly within the carrying capacity of the surroundings, making it one of the most attractive and sought-out international events, and also assured to support all endeavors to promote rural tourism by strengthening homestays and enhancing livelihood opportunities.

Councillor, Konchok Stanzin said, “Pangong Lake is one of the famous tourist destinations in Ladakh, and in summer tourists from different parts of the world visit to witness the beautiful lake. Tourism has become one of the prime sources of income for the people of the villages. To make it more beneficial to the people we started looking for the winter tourism potential and many proposals were sent to the department earlier but got no positive response. Our youths came forward and shared the proposal of conducting a frozen lake marathon and that’s how the whole story of the Pangong frozen lake marathon started”.

“Pangong being situated at the LAC border, holding a such big event is also important from the strategic point of view’, he added.

He further added that such events will also boost the idea of the border and rural tourism.

An Ice-Hockey exhibition match was played between the Lalok and Chushul teams along with colourful cultural performances by the villagers and the children from the nearby villages.

Executive Councillor, RDD, Tashi Namgyal spoke about the initiatives to develop border villages and promotion of sustainable tourism.

DC Leh, Shrikant Suse added that the Pangong Frozen Lake Marathon, organised as a part of the Vibrant Village Programme of GoI, aims to promote sustainable winter tourism in the border villages to accelerate the pace of development. He also hoped that the issues and concerns of the border villages of the district will be alleviated and it will develop holistically.

Various stalls highlighting the region's specialty in terms of cuisine, handloom, and handicraft products were also displayed.