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‘Three lessons I learned running the Everest Marathon’ – Mel Fey

Posted on 21/06/2016 by
ITC Tourism Education Team Leader Mel Fey strikes a pose on her trek up to Base Camp.

ITC Tourism Education Team Leader Mel Fey strikes a pose on her trek up to Everest Base Camp.

ITC Tourism Education Team Leader Mel Fey recently ran the Everest Marathon in Nepal; a 42.2km high-altitude run from Base Camp to Namche Bazaar. Below, she shares three life lessons she learned during this incredible, challenging, life-changing experience.

1. You’re always capable of more than you think you are

You read stories all the time of amazing people who, sometimes against all odds, achieve amazing goals. And you might think, “Oh, but I couldn’t do that…”

I’m here to tell you that you can. Don’t sell yourself short. You can achieve anything you want to. You cannot possibly just sit and wait for the impossible to happen without a little hard work.  I always say ‘you cannot make diamonds without a little pressure’.  You need to prepare, work hard or train and participate.

You may not win the race like me but you certainly win in achieving the goals of your dreams.

2. You really do have to work hard

If you think that you can walk through life with opportunities being handed to you, then you need to reassess the way you’re thinking. You have to work hard. But I think success feels better when you’ve worked really hard for it, because you can look back on what you’ve achieved, and know that you did everything you could to get to that end goal.

Hard work is something that I find rewarding, because it makes the feeling of achievement so much better, and so much more worth it.

3. Never forget to look up

This is advice from my late grandmother. She always said to me: “never forget to look up”. She’s so right. Throughout my entire journey in Nepal, I kept hearing that in the back of my mind… it was a reminder to stop and look around, to take in my surroundings, and really experience the opportunities in front of me.

The challenge is to not forget where you’re at… to appreciate the present moment. If you can keep your eyes wide open throughout your journey, whatever it may be, then you’ll be able to get out there and grasp opportunities as they come up.

You can spend a lot of time organising a trip, or training for an event, or studying for a course, but the most important thing is to enjoy the journey along the way.

Everest base camp view

Want to hear more about Mel’s inspiring journey? We are very excited to announce that she will be speaking at this year’s Graduation Ceremony in August. Watch this space!!

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