At least seven runners from the city are back in the heat and dust of sweltering Mumbai, after finishing the full marathon (42.2 km) at Pangong Lake, located in the Leh district of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir. Pangong is one of the most famous lakes in Ladakh.
TemperaturesThe full marathon race was run on Monday, February 24 at the Lake, made even more famous by the movie `3 Idiots`. Dr Neel Ashar one of the runners who battled intense conditions to complete in 6.08 minutes said, "You can say this was the world`s highest full marathon.
Pangong Lake has hosted half marathons for the past two years, in 2025 they made their hosting debut for the full distance."Ashar, who is a dentist practising in a western suburb said like most other runners, "this race went beyond timings. It was a brilliant experience.
The challenge came in the form of weather from minus 15 degrees Celsius to minus 8 degrees Celsius and then going to minus 20 degrees Celsius during the last few km of the race. Some of us were wearing special shoes from Sweden. A lot of runners were wearing cleats (like spikes) to prevent slipping on ice.
We also had at least three to four layers of clothing to battle the cold. The `adversary` then was not just the challenging route but other factors. In the end, post-race, most of us were over the moon and then chilling out, literally and figuratively," he laughed.
GoalsPangong Lake has a scenic beauty that, "no picture postcard can do justice to," said the runners as they reca.