Marathon monks trade their robes for running shoes

Swapping their maroon robes for running shoes, seven Buddhist monks take off at a sprint across the hills surrounding their remote village in the foothills of Nepal’s Himalayas. They are aspiring ultra-marathon runners, hoping the sport will put their remote village on the map and provide the funds needed to rebuild homes destroyed by a massive earthquake nearly three years ago. “We found out that we can get many opportunities through running and hope to do something from our monk team - make a name for our village and bring development here. That is why we are running,” says Man Bahadur Lama, 21, the fastest of the group.

posted Tuesday March 6th