ANGKOR WAT INTERNATIONAL HALF MARATHOn
December 2017
If I’m racing overseas I might as well make it to a go-to race and have a vacation too. I have been planning to run in Angkor War for quite some time so I made sure I register for this year’s leg. This race is generally more expensive than the rate I have been paying for international races, but I understand that this race is in support of the bomb victims in Siem Reap.
I’ve never been in Cambodia before, I just got my passport renewed, and I am traveling solo on a country which I do not understand the language or handwriting—challenge accepted!
I booked a hotel and got a direct flight, and made reservations to have me picked up upon arrival (I didn’t want to have communication or transportation problems at 12 midnight in a foreign country). I requested for a taxi or hotel car service but I instead was advised that the hotel’s tuktuk would pick me up. I might have been expecting too much but I actually did enjoy the tuktuk ride, which became my means of transportation over the next few days (aside from long walks).
We were informed a few days before the race that they were changing the route—we will no longer race in Angkor Wat due to a religious event which will take place on that day also in Angkor Wat. We were instead to start in Bayon Temple. I availed of a race route inspection the next day after picking up my race kit, since it would be my first time to race there and I needed to prepare mentally and emotionally. It was fun being in a tour group comprised of foreign nationals and it made me feel like I was an international athlete! It was a good lesson as well on the history of the Khmer and I used the opportunity to take photos, since I will not be able to do so during the race.
And so came race day. It was early, still dark and there were a lot of people. Man, this is really an international race. There were so many athletes of various nationalities doing their own preparations. I have to say though, this is the first time I have seen a portable toilet with an actual working ceramic toilet. I have gotten so used to plastic ones that this one just amazed me.
I am used to running with heat and humidity but the thing with Cambodia weather is I was not sweating—I just felt parched all the time, which means I am getting dehydrated without me noticing. I had to make sure I kept drinking water. There were water stations along the route but they were handing out water bottles and there were no big plastic bottles where I can refill my bottle with. I had to either run with the bottle or stop to refill my own flask. Still, none of this mattered when I saw the happy smiles of the locals cheering for the runners, with kids extending their hands so you can give them a high five. They have no idea how much they keep our spirits up! I am forever thankful!
I finally finished the race and it was within my expected time. What an amazing feeling! I also saw a few other Filipinos after the race and we took a group photo with the national flag—truly, we felt like international athletes.
For race day, I arranged for the hotel tuktuk to bring me to the race venue and to also pick me up after the day. I purchased a local sim and made sure to contact him and here we encounter the good old communication barrier—he couldn’t find me, I couldn’t find him, we could not understand each other. He was giving me directions to go to an area across a particular artifact but this is Angkor Thom—everything to me looked like an artifact! So after 30 minutes I saw like hundreds of tuktuks parked in a lot (yeah, across an artifact) and good thing I remember how my ride looked like. So I stayed there and contacted the driver who might be looking for me, only to find out that he will have his brunch first. So I waited in the tuktuk for an hour and he finally arrived. All I know is I’m just grateful I have transportation going back to the hotel and I should not complain—this is all part of the experience.
Throughout my racecation I also went to other places around Siem Reap. Dining in Pubstreet, visiting the Angkor Wat museum and shopping in the Old Market were default, but I also took time to take a Khmer cooking class, a yin yoga class, workout in a local gym and visit the Catholic church (never race without worshipping and praying!).
One thing I missed out? Go to the actual Angkor Wat! I thought I would race there so I no longer made an itinerary for it, but since they moved the race venue… yeah.
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This was a wonderful experience and I will have fond memories of Siem Reap, from the people to the food to the culture.
