SLO County runner to compete in ‘world’s toughest race’ — 126 miles through the Himalayas
Twenty-nine extreme runners will compete next week in a five-day ultra-marathon across the Himalayas that’s being called “the world’s toughest race” — and a San Luis Obispo athlete is among them.
The Kingdom of Bhutan will host its first-ever Snowman Race from Oct. 13-17, bringing together some of the world’s most adventurous extreme runners for a high-altitude competition through the eastern Himalayan mountain range.
Gabe Garcia, chief financial officer at Morris & Garritano Insurance in San Luis Obispo, is one of more than two dozen competitors who will take part in the race, which will take runners through “the last untouched landscapes of the Himalayan ranges,” according to the race website.
The race is nearly five times the distance of a normal marathon. It spans roughly 126 miles of alpine wilderness and has an average elevation of more than 14,000 feet, with some peaks reaching almost 18,000 feet, according to the website.
The route follows “a historic high-altitude trekking route of Snowman Trek,” which normally takes up to 20 days to complete. That trek “has been conquered by fewer people than Mt. Everest,” according to the website.
According to the website, the race is meant to “bring the world’s attention to climate change, one of the defining issues of our times, and its impacts particularly on the lives of people living in fragile mountain ecosystems.”
Who is SLO man running ultra-marathon through Himalayas?
Garcia declined to speak with The Tribune in advance of the race as he prepares, but according to his bio on the race website, he began running in his early 20s as “a stress relief from the rigors of being a CPA during tax season.”
Garcia, 47, has to date completed roughly 20 marathon races, according to his bio.
His goals in running the Snowman Race are to “represent the everyday non-elite, middle-of-the-pack runner who simply has a passion for running despite being far off the podium, to highlight the notion that individual choices of everyone matter in the global climate change crisis and to demonstrate to his children that big mountains or big obstacles can be overcome through hard work and dedication,” according to his bio.
To follow the race, visit @snowmanrace on Instagram and Twitter. To follow Garcia’s progress, visit trackleaders.com/snowman22 or his Instagram at @gabe_garcia1111.
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