Greenwave Oxygen Run (10K) in Bangkok, Thailand
*This article was written for Medina County Road Runner Club newsletter*
On December 17th 2016, I had a chance to run a
charity race in Bangkok, Thailand. I usually go back to Thailand once a year to
visit family and friends. If you are interested in visiting Thailand, the best time
of the year is from November to February because it is considered “winter” there.
When I say winter, I mean 70-85 degrees. The hottest month will be April and
the temperature could rise to 100 degrees.
This year I signed up for a 10K at the Greenwave Oxygen Run
that donated part of the profit to the National Institute of Child Health. The
race was organized by a popular radio station and several “Thai celebrities”
were running the race. There were two distances - a 5K (called micro marathon)
and a 10K (called mini marathon). That might have answered my question why many
people told me they run a “marathon”.
The race started at 6am (yes, you read it correctly) to
avoid the heat. It was about 70 degrees when I started. Unlike other races in
the US that I have run, they had someone led runners in multiple warm-up
exercises accompanied by loud music. One thing I noticed was some runners had
their full make up on. I assumed that was for race photos. After 10 minutes of
warm-up, stretching exercises, we took off. The 10K group started first
followed by the 5K runners/walkers. I ran this race 2 days after I arrived in
Bangkok and only had 4 hours of sleep the night before. So, I could say that I
did not feel 100% at the start. I knew I was there for the experience.
The race was out-and-back in a park so we did not have to
worry about traffic (yay). There were water stations at every 2 km(1.24 miles).
No Gatorade. On the way back to the finish line, I saw several “celebrities”
who were also running the race. Occasionally, they had to stop in the middle of
the course and take pictures with other fans (who were also running the race).
Imagine you see Matt Damon or Oprah running next to you in a race. Would you
stop to take a picture with them in the middle of the race? I found it somewhat
annoying. I finished under an hour, which was faster than I expected
considering how tired and jetlagged I was.
Post-race food and drink were incredible. There were 5-6 different
food/drink stations (no beer!) in the all-you-can-eat style including Thai
chicken rice, BBQ rice, congee, fried dough, soy milk, etc. One thing I learned
from eavesdropping conversations around me. People judged the quality of a race
by the post-race food and drink, not the number of water stations or crowd
support. The picture below shows the chicken rice station.
For a 15-dollar entry fee, I received a finisher medal, a
t-shirt, free goodies in the race packet, and unlimited post-race food and
drink. They were also giving away prizes and free goodies after the last runner
came in but I did not stay for that.
Overall, I was impressed with the post-race food more than
the race itself. Because it was a fun run, there was no official chip time. My
goal is to run a race in Thailand every time I go back and write an article
about my race experience in case some of you are interested in visiting or
running in Thailand J
Sydney
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