Training Race in a Beautiful Place!

I had such a great weekend racing and exploring in one of my new favorite regions of Thailand and I can't wait to tell you about it! Hiroshi, the Japanese teacher at our school, told Eric and I about a race at the beginning of the semester and after seeing that the entry fee for a 10k was only 300 baht ($10) we registered without hesitation. The race was put on by Northface and was part of the Northface 100k series. Our friends, Andrew and Jane, who we camped with the weekend before decided to join us for the trip (but not for the race since registration was closed the week before), making it 100 times more enjoyable with their company and the fact that they were able to rent a car so we had the freedom of our own wheels!

Andrew and Jane picked us up in the Crown (which I should've taken a picture of), which was referred to as the hooptie for the rest of the weekend and we were off! I cannot describe the feeling of freedom that having your own car brings in Thailand, but let's just say it is worth paying twice as much to rent a car over public transportation (although we actually saved money on transportation by renting the car). I was very impressed with Andrew's driving skills considering Thai cars have the steering wheel on the right side and traffic goes the opposite direction from what Americans are used to. Add in some crazy U turns on freeways, trucks flying past stacked 3 times their height, monkeys and stray dogs hanging out in the road, and people crossing right in front of you and you've got a challenge in front of you. However, we made it to our general destination with only a few wrong turns!

Eric and I woke up at pitch dark o'clock (5am) to get to the start of the race, which was at a resort in the beautiful countryside about 30 minutes from where we were staying. Surprisingly we found our way there without making any wrong turns due to the incredibly well marked signs and directions to the resort. It seemed like a lot of the runners (half Thais and half foreingers about) were from Bangkok, which was evident when we drove the hooptie into the parking lot filled with fancy clean cars. I was not expecting such a well organized race since organization, directions, punctuality, etc are scarce in Thailand, but this was probably the most legitimate race I have ever ran! And to top it off, it was the most beautiful race I have ever ran!

We checked in a little before 6 am and were given our nice event shirts (already making the 300 baht worth it) and warmed up around the venue while the 25k runners started their race (the 50 and 100k racers had left much earlier). We were called to the start line a little before 6:30 and the other runners were a hilarious mix of foreigners (probably many of them teachers like us), young Thai runners that actually looked like athletes, and the other Thais who look more like the people I see running in Suphan who probably run 15 minutes miles on average. This included an older woman who ran with her tiny dog on a lease wearing a dress (the dog was wearing a dress, not her). Eric and I were near the front of the start line and speculated whether the group in front of us knew proper running ettiquette when it comes to slow people crowding the start line. We were blessed by a monk before the start and the gun went off! As expected, this group did not know proper ettiquette and started the race at the 15 minute mile pace. We found our way around them and relaxed into a good pace for the two of us.

We ran through farms and beautiful fields at the foot of some small moutains and ran as the sun rose in front of and then over us. Eric and I were amazed by the region and were really grateful for the beauty of the course which started on paved road, then became a dirt road, then some sections of single track (that made us both wish we had mountain bikes here), by some ponds and temples, and back to the resort. The only downside was the smell of burning trash that lingered from the night before. I felt better and better as we ran (Eric feeling the inverse) and had a little bit of competition the last kilometer of the race as another American girl passed by me. Don't worry, I hung with her and then passed her at the end and almost caught up to an energetic Thai guy in front of me! A finisher medal was placed around my neck and I was told that I was an inspiration (Thais really love boosting my ego!) I ran 51 minutes even, which is slower than I wanted, but I was perfectly happy considering how enjoyable the race was (and I beat Eric).

It turned out that both Eric and I got 2nd in our age groups and I got 3rd overall for woman! We were awarded our trophies and laughed at the assembly of the tops of the trophies--Eric's runner had boobs and mine did not. At the finish of the race there were two elephants congratulating finishers, classic Thai dancing done by extremely made up little girls and some Thai drumming from some little Thai boys. It was very cute and what was even better was the amount of free food! They had fried rice, pad thai, tons of fruit, and sports drinks for finishers. We probably didn't earn everything we ate and received, but loaded up nonetheless! Seriously, the best 300 baht I ever spent.

These are Thais favorite poses: "I so cute" and "I smart"

After stuffing ourselves and taking pictures at the finish, we headed back to the hotel to meet Jane and Andrew to continue our adventurous weekend. We drove the hooptie into Khao Yai National Park, which is the biggets national park in Thailand, and set up camp at a very crowded but nice camp site. Eric and I were pretty beat from the early morning and the race so we all did a short (1km) hike to a pretty awesome water fall and just hung out and climbed around for the afternoon. The evening was spent trying to make a fire (Eric and Andrew tried and eventually did make a fire while Jane and I layed around and talked) and fearing the monkeys that were way to used to being fed by humans. The next day we went on a bit of a longer hike where within the first five minutes we saw a sloth bear and huge wild elephant tracks. That was pretty much all the wildlife we saw besides some more monkey (waaaay cooler to see them in the wild than stealing your snacks at your campsite), but there were crazy trees and vines everywhere and it was an amazing hike through the jungle. It ended at an open field with a lookout tower about 1km from the main road so we hung out and then hitched a ride back to the park headquarters where our car was parked.

 

We drove home back through the hilariously gimmicky area outside of the park that is known as Thailand's little Switzerland. It included hundreds of resorts and silly roadside restaurants or attractions that evidently some tourist are into. It was a really great weekend and the 10k gave me a lot of confidence for my half marathon in May! If you would like to contribute to my Run Vietnam for Literacy campaign in honor of my second place finish, please do so here!