How ‘adventurer of the year’ Mira Rai went from child soldier to ultrarunner

Mira Rai featured on PRI’s program “The World” that airs on NPR (National Public Radio). Listen to the story below.

Three years ago hardly anyone had heard of Mira Rai and now she has won hearts of thousands if not millions. She has become one of the best long-distance, high-elevation mountain runners in the world. She didn’t even know that mountain trail running was a sport. At the age of 14, she joined Maoist in hopes to make money and help her family. It was during that time where she learned Karate, and got better at running.

She told PRI “In my village, girls weren’t a priority. But the Maoists always talked about equality, which was something I wanted in my own life. So I left my education and joined them because I thought I could become something through the training. And I did end up learning many new skills.”

Fast-forward to 2014, she ran her first Ultra Marathon without even realizing that it was actually a race (50km), where she ended up winning in the female division. Since then she has won races in Mont-Blanc (France),Italy, and Hongkong. She is planning to run again in Mont-Blanc in summer of 2017.

Mira was also voted as the “National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year” in January, 2017 at the age of 29. She was also chosen to be on May issue of Outside Outline Magazine along with 9 other icons including Lindsey Vonn, Diana Nyad, Emily Erickson, Erin Trieb, Abby Wambach, Melissa Arnot, Garrison & Dixon, and Tara Houska.