Sue's Ramblings: Laguna Phuket International Marathon 2013

Date: 9 June 2013

Venue: Phuket, Thailand

Distance: 10.5km (Garmin: 10.3km)

Timing: 54:12 (Gun); 54:01 (Chip); 54:03 (Garmin)

Pace: 5:15 min/km (Garmin)

Result: 7th (AG); 108th (overall) (all results here)

Previous years recap here: 2009, 2011, 2012

Ok, this is probably getting a tad boring (for both of us) since this is the fourth sequel. I’m thinking of bullet points on what’s different this year – the main one being I blew up in the final stages. Totally my own doing. Guilty as charged. Runs are very much mental and on Sunday, I didn’t have the fortitude to hold it together. Ok, enough of pity party. Let’s roll.

Same organizer, same venue, same route.

Route map from their webbie is probably clearer than my feeble attempt at the race expo

What I liked:

a) Well put up event.

b) Race results up by noon.

c) Hydration points every 1.5-2km stocked with water (think Thai races don’t generally provide isotonics?) and at the finish, water and cans of isotonic (or at least it looks like it).

d) Distance markers every km and since this was a measured course (AIMS certified) and I probably ran better tangents, they weren’t that far off.

e) Thai hospitality at its best – post run grub of plain congee, fried rice, fried noodles and fruits and exclusively for runners since the area was cordoned off.

f) Volunteers helping runners to remove the timing chip – another example of Thai hospitality at its best.

g) Massage if you so fancy.

h) Feeling like a million bucks crossing the line coz the announcer calls out your name.

i) This year’s expo appears larger and they had some great names – SKINS and Timex. Also participating were organizers for the Standard Chartered Bangkok Marathon, River Kwai, Thonsur Bakur and the Japanese race.

Could have been better:

a) Not closed to traffic but given that this was basically around the Laguna compound, traffic was very light and I didn’t feel threatened at any point. This probably boils down to the attitudes of motorists – just a vast difference from that here!

b) The pasta party this year wasn’t very inspiring – just a teenage band belting out a few numbers. I remembered last year’s va-va-vroom and being graced by Miss Thailand. My pet peeve on this: zero vegan options! Or close to zero unless you count the few lettuce leaves and fruits on hand. Thank goodness, I explained my predicament to the chef who then whipped up a tomato pasta for me. Nope, there was no option to select meal preference at registration. Some of the dishes took uber long to be replenished as well. Not forgetting that the tent was neither air-conditioned nor were there any fans whizzing.

Ok, not sure who this year's Ambassador is...sorry!

c) Hmm…the crowd seem smaller this year – last year, the queue at the buffet line snaked around a bit. Perhaps this is due to the more expensive registration fees for overseas runners? (Local residents pay a nominal fee)

Photo log:

Swag