Renowned Brazilian athlete Bernardo Fonseca has landed in Nepal to participate for the first time in the Everest Extreme Ultra Marathon that will be held on May 29, 2014.

The Ultra Marathon, which stretches 60 km from Everest Base Camp, is the highest altitude ultra-race in the world. It crisscrosses high glacier moraine valley to uphill trail running from Phortse to Nhala. The marathon will conclude at Namche.

Speaking at a press conference organized on Friday by Himalayan Expedition, Bernardo said he was excited to compete in one of the toughest ultra races in the world.“I have running experiences in Antarctica and Sahara desert.” says Bernado. Though it is impossible to beat Sherpas, it will be a good experience, Bernado added.

The 33-year-old Brazilian is the winner of the Antarctic Ice Marathon & 100k ultra race and holds the world record of 12 hours 41 minutes 52 seconds in the ultra race. Besides this, he has also participated in numerous other ultra races, including the 206-km Sahara ultra marathon.

The participants will run together with 42.2 km Tenzing Hillary Everest runners. Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon is also scheduled on the same day since last 12 years.

The marathon will see maximum 25 runners including both national and international participants.

Meanwhile, some 10 international participants including Bernardo have already registered their names for the marathon, informed Shekhar Pandey of Himalayan Expeditions.

However, registrations for Nepalis will end on May 20, 2014, Pandey informed.