Laguna Phuket International Marathon
A yearly event enjoyed by both locals and foreign participants form more than 30 countries. The runners can admire Phuket's beautiful natural landscapes and beaches - pity, however, that they'll be running past it all
How true! I didn't see anything except dark shadows during the first two hours, and then all I was concerned with were the water stations!
Dog Tales
No, this is not an official magazine for any airline that I know of. But just an interesting episode to share with you readers:
It would have been about the 12k mark. It was dark, and I was trying to see if there were a runner in front of me. But to no avail. I'd just passed a very dark stretch ... and recited Proverbs 23 to myself to stay focussed, when I heard a woman shouting out. I don't understand Thai, but it sounded very urgent.
Didn't sound like cheering to me. The shouting continued for several more seconds. I hastened my pace. And garnered the courage to glance behind. There I saw it.
It was a dog, running after me. Before I knew what to do, the woman shouted again. And I was smart enough to know that I cannot outrun a dog. So I prayed again.
Thank God, I didn't hear any footfall behind me!
And thank you, dear lady for rearing an obedient dog. But keep it leashed next time!
Snippets
1. 311 runners participated in the full marathon. 430 ran the half and 500 completed 10 km. About 100 Singapore runners participated this year, of which 40% ran the marathon.
2. My polar read 41.5 km, but this course is sanctioned by the Association of International Marathons and Road Races (AIMS). Not sure what is causing the discrepancy.
3. It is lonely running in a small field event! But the villagers who encouraged us more than made up for this.
4. 3k into the run, and I was doing vanguard duties. I was thinking that I must be doing something wrong. It took kilometers to pass the next runner ahead of me. Talk about small field.
5. The return leg was different! Scores of faster runners overtook me. No complaints about being lonely then!
6. There was this Japanese runner who took two photos of me at the turnaround. Hope he wins the photo competition!
7. Missed the band and cheer leaders who were at the race last year. Or is it simply that I came back so late?
8. Placed 179th out of 311 marathon finishers and 53rd out of 93 in the 40 - 49 male category.
9. The top three runners finished sub-3 hours.
10. The last finisher came in at 7:32 - great perseverance!
11. Met CATWOMAN on the flight back. More about CATWOMAN in a subsequent post!
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