National Geographic has announced the winner of the 2017 Adventurer of the Year this morning. Every year Nat Geo searches for top adventurers who are selected for his or her extraordinary achievement in exploration, adventure sports, conservation, or humanitarianism- it's a well known contest in the adventure world that draws hundreds of thousands of votes each year.
The winner of the 2017 Adventurer of the Year People’s Choice award is Nepali trail runner, Mira Rai. Rai is a high-elevation racing phenom in Nepal who hosted a run in her hometown to encourage women to get involved in the sport. Mira hopes that it will give Nepali women an avenue for “self-expression and the confidence to do anything.” To Rai, “Sport isn’t just a break from daily life but a break from stereotypes, and that is really a big adventure.”