The Hong Kong group helping former Nepali child soldier and top ultra-runner Mira Rai to lift women out of poverty
- Rai emerged as a trail running prodigy in 2014 and has won races around the world
- Now she wants to help other women like her and Hong Kong chapter of Asia Trail Girls is supporting her initiative
For years Nepali child soldier turned ultra-runner Mira Rai trained alone every morning, but now she leads other young women up and down the hills, hoping the sport can help them break cycles of poverty and discrimination.
Rai, born in a farmer’s home in eastern Nepal, emerged as a trail running prodigy in 2014 after her racing debut in a steep 50km race in Kathmandu.
Within a year she finished first at the 80km Mont Blanc Ultra in Chamonix, and was the second-placed woman in the Skyrunners World Series, garnering sponsorships including French sports manufacturer Salomon.
She went on to win races around the world, including the 120km Ben Nevis Ultra in Scotland in 2017, when she was named the National Geographic People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year for championing women in sports.
The same year, she began the Mira Rai Initiative, backed by a Hong Kong community group, to train young women like her from impoverished backgrounds.
“I don’t know where I would be if I wasn’t lucky enough to find support,” she said. “This sport can change lives for others like it did for me. That’s why I have to help.”
In deeply patriarchal Nepal, running is an unlikely career choice for girls, especially in rural communities – even though they grow up racing up and down hills to fetch water or to go to school.
