Andrea Macdonald, founder of ideaXme, interviews Mira Rai, award-winning and record-breaking Sky Runner, Ultra Runner and Trail Runner for Salomon. Mira’s accolades include the prestigious National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, 2017 and Asia Game Changer award 2018.
Mira Rai and Preeti Khattri
She uses her “athlete’s voice” and sports expertise as founder of the Mira Rai Initiative to empower the women of Nepal. Rai does so in collaboration with Preeti Khattri, a mechanical engineer-turned-trail runner whom she met at a race in 2015 and who is also interviewed here.
Rai has been featured in both national and international media, to become both a national and international hero. In a patriarchal society, she has been an inspiration to many girls across the remote villages of Nepal and invites people and organizations across the world to join her in supporting this important initiative.
Resilience
Mira Rai’s story is one of resilience and determination. As a young child, she helped her mother to carry and sell kilos of rice and water, often trekking long distances to do so. At the age of 14 she joined the Maoist army as a child soldier, not for political reasons, but rather as a means to feed and support her family.
Everything changed when she won a 50k race, with no water, no food, and without even realising that it was an official race. Mira then went on to become a record breaking runner competing across the world. She came first and broke records in the Ben Nevis Ultra and Mont Blanc 80k. Preeti says this must have come naturally to her in the beginning, due to her history of trekking with kilos of rice and wares on her back whilst supporting her family.
From Injury to Inspiration
In early 2016, Mira suffered a knee injury during a competition in the United Kingdom and had to take some time off from international competition to recover. During that time, she turned her attention to promoting trail running across Nepal and helping to train other promising young female athletes from rural Nepal to complete on the international stage. She has organized many trail races in Kathmandu, and also in her native Bhojpur, to promote the sport among Nepali youth.
Speaking on her source of resilience and strength, Mira reveals, “My secret is to keep moving; what you want to do, we must do ourselves, from the heart.”
The Mira Rai Initiative
Mira and Preeti continue to work on the Mira Rai Initiative together with the aim of creating opportunities and scholarships for young women athletes in Nepal to train, broaden their horizons, experience different lifestyles, and share their stories and culture with others. Since the organisation’s inception, they have also started programmes for tourist runners to visit Nepal and train.
Both Mira and Preeti cite renowned-race organiser Richard Ball as a major source of support throughout their careers as athletes.
“I’m very thankful; he is like my godfather,” Mira says, “It’s amazing that he’s given me this opportunity.”
“In our lifetimes, we meet certain people who change the course of our life…for me, he’s a best friend, he’s a godfather, he gave me so many opportunities,” says Preeti, “It made me strong as a woman, strong as a leader. He pushed me a lot to break my boundaries and break my comfort zone.”
“I’m super grateful,” Mira beams.
Knowing the importance and impact of the opportunities that supporters like Richard Ball and their families had on their lives, they now want to do their part to create opportunities for other young female athletes.
In this interview:
Mira and Preeti expand upon their experience as runners, Mira’s record-breaking races, and her training and recovery process. They go on to explain the nomination and award process of Mira’s most recent awards, and more about the work they are doing with the Mira Rai Initiative. They also share some technical tips for aspiring runners.
The Mira Rai Initiative is currently looking for an organisation to financially support their initiatives in Nepal to continue their mission of empowering female athletes.
If you liked this interview, be sure to check out our interview with Olympian Mica Moore!
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