Blind Bulgarian Runner Defies Sleep and Exhaustion in ‘Everesting’ Climbing Challenge 

Victor Asenov, a visually impaired ultramarathon runner, walks next to his guide dog Taddy as he attempts to cover the same elevation as Mount Everest, an activity known as "Everesting", by running up and down the Black Peak summit of the Vitosha mountain, to raise awareness of a guide dog school, near Sofia, Bulgaria, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Victor Asenov, a visually impaired ultramarathon runner, walks next to his guide dog Taddy as he attempts to cover the same elevation as Mount Everest, an activity known as "Everesting", by running up and down the Black Peak summit of the Vitosha mountain, to raise awareness of a guide dog school, near Sofia, Bulgaria, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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Blind Bulgarian Runner Defies Sleep and Exhaustion in ‘Everesting’ Climbing Challenge 

Victor Asenov, a visually impaired ultramarathon runner, walks next to his guide dog Taddy as he attempts to cover the same elevation as Mount Everest, an activity known as "Everesting", by running up and down the Black Peak summit of the Vitosha mountain, to raise awareness of a guide dog school, near Sofia, Bulgaria, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Victor Asenov, a visually impaired ultramarathon runner, walks next to his guide dog Taddy as he attempts to cover the same elevation as Mount Everest, an activity known as "Everesting", by running up and down the Black Peak summit of the Vitosha mountain, to raise awareness of a guide dog school, near Sofia, Bulgaria, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)

Blind Bulgarian ultramarathon runner Victor Asenov defied sleeplessness and exhaustion to repeatedly scale Vitosha mountain near Sofia non-stop for nearly two days last week, climbing the equivalent of the height of Mount Everest in one of the toughest challenges of its kind in the world.

With his guide dog Taddy, Asenov, one of a handful of blind ultramarathon runners in Europe, set off from a mountain hut for the Black Peak summit of Vitosha, some 2,290 meters above the capital, at 0932 am (0732 GMT) on Friday to raise awareness about the training of guide dogs.

Going without sleep for 46 hours and stopping only for food, he climbed 8,848 meters in total - the height of Mount Everest - by running up and down to the peak 19 times, before finishing at 0740 am (0540 GMT) on Sunday.

"The requirement is not to sleep, so you can't do it by climbing once and then (continue) the next day. You have to do it 19 times in a row," Asenov said before his endurance challenge raising funds for a guide dog school at the Eyes on Four Paws Foundation in Sofia, the only school of its kind in the Balkans region.

Asenov says Taddy was trained for the city, but he has taught her how to help him navigate treacherous trails in the mountains. "I have already shown her how she can guide me when I am not running, when I am purely hiking in the mountains."

Pacers escorted Asenov throughout the challenge, and their encouragement helped him to fight off the physical and mental fatigue and make it to the finish line, he says.

"Sometimes I even have these moment of weakness, I want to give up and just at that moment I need the person who is with me and who is running, who is my pacer - to give me some support, to tell me: Vicky, come on, you can do it."



India’s Monsoon Rains Arrive 8 Days Early, Earliest in 16 Years

Dark monsoon clouds hover over the city skyline in Mumbai on May 22, 2025. (AFP)
Dark monsoon clouds hover over the city skyline in Mumbai on May 22, 2025. (AFP)
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India’s Monsoon Rains Arrive 8 Days Early, Earliest in 16 Years

Dark monsoon clouds hover over the city skyline in Mumbai on May 22, 2025. (AFP)
Dark monsoon clouds hover over the city skyline in Mumbai on May 22, 2025. (AFP)

Monsoon rains hit the coast of India's southernmost state of Kerala on Saturday, eight days earlier than usual, marking the earliest arrival in 16 years and providing the promise of a bumper harvest and relief from a grueling heatwave.

The monsoon, the lifeblood of the country's $4 trillion economy, delivers nearly 70% of the rain that India needs to water farms and replenish aquifers and reservoirs. Nearly half of India's farmland, without any irrigation cover, depends on the annual June-September rains to grow a number of crops.

Summer rains usually begin to lash Kerala around June 1 before spreading nationwide by mid-July, allowing farmers to plant crops such as rice, corn, cotton, soybeans and sugarcane.

The onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala on May 24 is its earliest onset since May 23, 2009, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Saturday.

The monsoon has covered Kerala and parts of neighboring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, as well as parts of the northeastern state of Mizoram, the IMD said.

Conditions are favorable for the monsoon's further spread into Goa, parts of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, the northeastern states, West Bengal, and the remaining parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the next 2 to 3 days.

Surplus pre-monsoon rainfall and an early monsoon onset will help farmers, especially in the southern and central states, to sow summer crops earlier than usual, said Ashwini Bansod, vice president for commodities research at Phillip Capital India, a Mumbai-based brokerage.

"Abundant soil moisture and early sowing could potentially boost crop yields," Bansod said.

Last year, the monsoon reached the coast of Kerala on May 30, and overall summer rains were the highest since 2020, supporting recovery from a drought in 2023.

The IMD last month forecast above-average monsoon rains for the second straight year in 2025.

The department defines average or normal rainfall as ranging between 96% and 104% of a 50-year average of 87 cm (35 inches) for the four-month season.