Race report by Lawrence Bate

Surely you’d have done the same thing in my position?!

We (me and Cath) had had our holiday planned for a while – fly into Bangkok and then head up into Laos for some trekking. But I was curious: were there any races while we were out there? OMG – the Bangkok Marathon was on a couple of days after we arrived. And it was starting at 12.30am to avoid the worst of the heat. Never mind the fact that it was still going to be hot and humid, and the course was basically an out-and-back along a dual carriageway. And I hadn’t done any marathon-specific training since the spring. It was a one-off opportunity.

I just got my entry in before the deadline – all that I need to do was pack a pair of road shoes and my Striders vest (shorts and socks were already on the packing list).

Onto the night of 16/17 November. No need for much of a warm up as I was sweating quite a bit just sitting around chatting to a few other runners, many of whom had also entered on the spur of the moment.

There’s not really very much to say about the course. After a mile or so passing some of the main tourist sites it was out onto the elevated expressway and then it was basically out for 8 miles or so, do a U-turn and come back for a couple of miles, do another U-turn and retrace your steps before hopping onto the other side of the road to do the same in reverse!! Supporter count for about 24 miles was zero but at least there were frequent water stations and you could see / wave to runners heading in the opposite direction.

What was good was that the half marathon started about 2½ hours after the marathon and did the same route without heading out quite so far, so there was a point towards the end where I was being “overtaken” by the elite half marathon runners and had to admire how easy they made it look.

My plan had been to take it easy and target 9 min / miles to get in just under 4 hours, and make sure I took on plenty of water and rehydration capsules as well as a gel every 5 miles. And unlike previous marathons, I actually managed to stick pretty well to the plan. The upshot was that from mile 20 I got progressively quicker each mile finishing at 8:40 pace for a total time of 3:58:30; very pleasing given the circumstances.

The 10K runners were just about to start but I just felt like having a rest on the grass, chatting with a few of the other finishers and then working out the best way to get back at 5.30am to where we were staying.

So, another marathon completed but definitely a first in such conditions – a few weeks of travelling and then it’s back to the UK in time for the Bowstones fell race and the Round Sheffield Run. Suspect it won’t be quite as warm for either of these, but definitely a bit hillier!

Striders Results: