Patna: Sabita Mahato of Bihar's Chhapra who became the first woman cyclist in the world to travel on the world's highest road Umling La, created a new record this year by running upto this point.
Cyclist Sabita, a resident of Panapur village of Chhapra, has now become the first woman in the world to run upto Umling La, the highest motorable pass. She ran from Manali to Umling La in 19 days. Starting her race from Manali on August 19, she covered around 570 km to reach Umling La on September 5.
Sabita said that reaching the world's highest motorable pass Umling La is no less than conquering a challenge. Umling La is 19024 feet from sea level. Ignoring all difficulties, Sabita started her race from Manali. After covering 100 kilometers, she started having breathing problems. The weather too posed a lot of trouble because at times there would be heavy rainfall.
"I did not pay attention to the difficulties and instead focused on my journey. Finally, I reached Umling La, the highest motorable road in the world. During these 19 days of my race, I encountered new challenges every day. I overcame all the difficulties and moved ahead. I used to run for eight hours every day. In the evenings, I used to stop at some dhaba or an Army cantonment area," Sabita said.
Last year, Sabita had cycled to Umling La. In 2022, she started her journey from Delhi on June 5. On June 28, she created history by reaching Umling La on bicycle.
Sabita said she was very happy to be the first woman to reach the world's highest motorable pass by cycling and now by running. The Sulabh International Social Service Organisation has made a huge contribution in her mission.
She said that she was yet to fulfill her dream of hoisting the Tricolour on Mount Everest. She said that she needs help from the government as well as the common people to fulfill her dream.
Sabita said that her motto in life is to make women empowered. Hailing from a lower middle-class family, she faced many hurdles in fulfilling her dreams. "My dream is not just to establish myself as a mountaineer, cyclist and runner but, to make women empowered," she added.
Also Read: Mountaineer Santosh Yadav to be first woman chief guest at RSS' Dussehra event in Nagpur
Sabita is the first woman to cover 29 states in 173 days by cycling alone. Between 2016 and 2019, she climbed many mountains above 7000 meters. In 2019, she climbed Mount Trishul (7120 meters) in Garhwal and in 2022, she cycled to Umling La.
