Tenzing Hillary Everest (Qomolangma) Marathon will be held in northeastern Nepal on Tuesday, a press release issued by Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon-2007 Organizing Committee said on Monday.

This marathon was named as Tenzing Hillary Everest (Qomolangma) Marathon to pay tribute to Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Edmund Hillary, the first persons to summit Mt. Qomolangma in May 29, 1953.

The marathon is getting popular every year bearing its past legacy the most challenging and world's highest marathon in the world, the release said.

Altogether there are more than 130 participants in this marathon. As many as 53 foreign participants from Australia, Austria, Finland, Czech Republic, Thailand, Switzerland, Ireland, France, Japan, Germany, Britain, the United States and Netherlands are taking part in the marathon.

According to the release, the starting line of the marathon is at Everest (Qomolangma) Expedition Base camp at altitude 5,356 meters, and the finish is at the Sherpa town of Namche Bazaar in Solukhunbu district at 3,446 meters, some 200km northeast of Kathmandu. The course of the marathon is measured some 42km over rough mountain trails. It is the world's most spectacular and extreme race.

This marathon passes through the traditional route to Mt.

Qomolangma pioneered by Late Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Edmund Hillary when they climbed the peak in 1953.

The first Tenzing Hillary Everest (Qomolangma) Marathon was held in 2003.
 
(Xinhua News Agency May 29, 2007)