Lizzy Hawker had just finished running a nine-stage race through some of Nepal’s wildest trails when she learned that her flight back to Katmandu, about 200 miles away, was canceled because of bad weather.

So, rather than wait for the next flight, she ran there.

There were no cheering fans, other competitors or prizes. Instead, Hawker, a 36-year-old British ultrarunner, was intent on beating her time over the same route from 2007, which was 74 hours 36 minutes nonstop. Few cared if she broke her record or abandoned her effort. The competition was with herself.

“I try to focus on running the very best that I can, literally moment by moment,” Hawker said. “If I’m in pain or tired, I don’t have to fight it. I can be in myself, in the environment. It’s amazing what you can do running moment to moment.”

About halfway through the run, where her route turned from trail to road, Hawker met her friend Roger Henke from Katmandu and three other Nepalese runners. Their van held food, water and a back seat for napping. Late in the second day, Hawker was nauseated and having problems with coordination, Henke said.