The race itself was fantastic. There's nothing more magical than seeing and running through historical monumental establishments and edifices. Another great feature was that everyone living in surrounding villages came out to watch. Many were running along with us and cheering for us. It was a great festival for them as well, especially for the kids who were high-fiving all the runners. The race was also in conjunction with the wheelchair race so I saw a few runners help to push and motivate the wheelchair racers which was also a nice interaction to see.
There were of course a few major issues that the race itself needs to work on! 1) few of the porto potties broke and let's say things were overflowing. That was not a nice sight to see before the race 2) There are no visible restrooms along the course 3) They actually started the race EARLY. This was a first considering most races get delayed due to logistics. I believe there was an announcement but it wasn't made very clearly and many racers were still waiting in line for the restrooms when it started or were simply confused about what was happening. There was no time to panic. I had to be sangfroid and rushed myself and my coworker over to the starting line immediately. Thankfully, we had microchips so the race was calculated whenever we stepped over the start line. Nevertheless, I had to do a lot of catching up to the other runners since I started about 3 minutes late than the other runners. In the beginning I was stemmed by a raft of slower runners which I am still a bit bitter about!
Nevertheless the course itself was nice as it was almost entirely flat. The forest, temples, and monuments created a nice shade for most of the course which was a blessing as the sun factor is quite big in Cambodian weather. I'm glad my coworker and I trained in the searing local weather since it prepared us so much for race day itself. The temperature was actually only. about 20-25 degrees which is chilly in Cambodian standards. Nevertheless as many of the runners overwhelmingly came from colder climates, it seemed like they were struggling in the warmer weather. I wished I had a long sleeve running under the tree-shaded areas yet I saw many runners sweating profusely which was a surprise!
The runners themselves equally galvanized me during the race. Since the race was sponsored by Japanese organizations, needless to say there were many Japanese runner tour groups that arrived to participate in the race. Being the tech-savvy and running crazy Japanese people as they are, many were in professional high tech running attire and running with their latest DSLR models around their necks as well. Mind you, I was running quite fast but these runners ran along with me, stopped every half mile or so to take photos for a few seconds, and then start sprinting again. It was an amazing simultaneous running/photo taking session. It also made me embarrassed as a fellow Japanese person for not taking any pictures during the race!
Results: 1:41:27
I'm a bit sad I couldn't go under 1:40 but not bad considering I started the race 3 minutes late, had a stomach ache most of the race, and couldn't adequately train in the best environment!
Rather I'm proud of myself I got through my training as best as possible all while juggling my job, studying for the GRE and Khmer, and adjusting myself to a totally new country. I was demur at first whether to participate in such a big race but I'm so glad I did. Also as the race benefits disabled people from land mines, it was a good way to give back to a great cause. It's especially important since about 5% of the population is said to be affected by landmines. Moreover, it was a sentimental climax to end my first session in Cambodia which I have grew very fond of in the last 3 months!
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