Marathon Angkor

[Pierpont Oldham]

TheAngkor Empire Marathon, organized by Cambodia Event Organizer, is the second edition of this recent event located in Siem Reap in north-western Cambodia. Distances of 3 Km, 10.5 Km, 21.1 Km and the full marathon distance of 42.195 Km are available.

The course is in the Angkor Wat which is a temple complex and the largest religious monument in the world. During the race, runners pass many historical monuments; start and finish is established in Angkor Wat Ruins in front of the Central Sanctuary of Angkor Wat. Come join this amazing marathon event and experience the beautiful route through a truly historic site!

Specially established in Angkor Wat Ruins in front of the Central Sanctuary of Angkor Wat (Start & Finish Line). The Royal Palace of the siem Reap Town, and across the river and run along the river after that turn right go to National Road 6, turn left to Apsara Road, Passing Prasat Kravan - Prasat Bat Chun - Banteay Kdey and Sra Srong, Passing the rice field to go Pre Rup, Prasat Leak Neang,turn right to khmer traditional village and go to u-turn near Banteay Sare Temple, come back East Mebon, Tasom, Neak Poan Preah Khan, Kroal Romes, North Gate, Elephant Terrace, - Baphoun - Bayon - South Gate - Basie Cham Krong - Phom Bakheng - Ta Phrom Kei - and back to the front of the Central Sanctuary of Angkor Wat (Finish Line).

Course is acknowledged by AIMS and IAAF. Running course will be marked the number of every 5 kilometre. ChampionChip Check Point will be at Angkor Thom (Bayon Temple), and each U-turn.

Course 21K

Specially established in Angkor Wat Ruins in front of the Central Sanctuary of Angkor Wat (Start & Finish Line). Go to U-turn near the check point, Passing Prasat Kravan - Prasat Bat Chun - Banteay Kdey - Ta Prohm - Baphoun - Bayon - South Gate - Basie Cham Krong - Phom Bakheng - Ta Phrom Kei - and back to the front of the Central Sanctuary of Angkor Wat (Finish Line).

The Angkor Wat Marathons are the annual marathons held in Angkor, Cambodia. There are two marathons from Angkor recognised by the Association of International Marathons and Road Races namely Angkor Wat International Half Marathon and Angkor Empire Marathon.[1] Angkor Wat International Half marathon has been held annually since 1996. Angkor Empire Marathon is the first full marathon from Cambodia held since 2014.[2][3] The event is organized by National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC). According to its official website, the purpose of the event is to "support a ban on the manufacture and inhumane use of antipersonnel mines".[4][5]

The Angkor Wat International Half Marathon was first organized in 1996 by Yuko Arimori, the first Japanese woman to win a marathon medal in the Olympics.[5] The motto of the marathon is "Building a better future. Aid for the children and disabled in Cambodia". It is organized by National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, Association of Athletics Federations Cambodia and Cambodian Events Organizer Co. Ltd. The marathon is recognized by Association of International Marathons and Road Races and the Association of Athletics Federations Cambodia (Khmer AAF). It is supported by the government of Cambodia, the Embassy of Japan in Cambodia, the United Nations Population Fund, and several other organizations.[4]

The first edition of the International Half Marathon in 1996 saw just 654 participants from 14 countries. Since then participation in the event has steadily increased. In the 2014 event, nearly 8,000 runners from 78 countries participated. The 2019 edition will be held in December.[5]

The Marathon starts and ends at the Angkor Wat temple complex, a World Heritage Site. Other important spots over course of run are the Angkor Archaeological Park, Preah Prom Rath pagoda, and several other temples.[7]

We spent Fall of 2016 in Southeast Asia and were able to visit Karen in Cambodia during the weekend of the race, the first weekend of December. Though it was our most whirl-wind stop of the whole three-month trip, it was well worth it.

You can register for the Angkor Wat run online. The cost to foreigners is about $66 for the half marathon, a little less for the 10k (2016). This price goes up after September 30, and online registration closes on November 1. Fees for Cambodians are significantly discounted. Your registration includes a souvenir pack, t-shirt, finisher medal, and chip timer on your race bib.

At the finish line, back outside of Angkor Wat temple, they hand out commemorative medals and you can grab some more water, bananas, and random little snacks. From there, find your tuk tuk driver in the sea of vehicles and try to get to lunch before all the crowds descend back on Siem Reap!

Recently I spent about a week in Siem Reap in Cambodia, famous for Ankor Wat temple, floating villages like Kampong Phluck, and a few other spots. Along with visiting these sites, I also did some running.

The key points are Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, which are considered the pinnacle temple constructions for the Khmer civilization. Both are surrounded by moats. To the east and west of both of these are two major, man-made waterways called East and West Baray. Scattered around these major points are various other temples.

The town and countryside are flat with no hills or significant elevation gains, which makes it relatively easy running. You likely want to start your runs early in the morning to avoid too much traffic and congestion as well as the oppressive heat and humidity that come mid-morning through the evening.

Unfortunately, formal running paths or even consistent sidewalks were nonexistent in downtown Siem Reap. The city was not built for runners. Even walking the city presents challenges. Cyclists, motorbikes, cars and tuktuks all intermix on the roads, though I found the drivers to be cautious, aware and patient compared to other countries in Asia.

In contrast to running along the river, I found that running around the temple complexes in Ankor Wat had much more consistent conditions. It is road running, but, fortunately there is a decent shoulder along the side of the roads between the different temples. At some stages there were also small dirt paths you could use to get a bit more tree cover.

Traffic was pretty heavy around Ankor Wat with tuktuks, motorbikes, bicycles and cars, but as you got farther way from the two main complexes, traffic was quite sparse and for several sections, it was just me, the road and the surrounding rice fields. Personally I only found a few spots where the road narrowed and made me somewhat comfortable running along the wide shoulder.

This route follows what is called the Grand Tour at Angkor Temple complex. It starts at Angkor Wat and ends at Preah Khan. It follows part of the small tour, before diverging and covering more distance. Most of the temples are comparatively small, less well-known and less frequented. The route follows decent roads as it weaves through a mix of countryside, man-made waterways, streams, roadside shops and restaurants, and, of course, temples, temples, temples. The route is lined by trees providing good shade as the temperatures rise.

Since Ankor Wat is the only temple that opens at sunrise, this is probably the best place to start your run. Doors open at the temple at around 5 and sunrise is at around 5:30 to 6:30 depends on the time of the year. When I was there the sunrise was at 6:31 and there was a large crowd to witness it.

Personally knowing that it was going to be hot and humid, I elected to hire a tuktuk driver for the morning. He helped me plan the route, confirmed any forks in the road, carried extra water and provided a safety net in case I needed to stop at any point. It cost me 20$ usd for a long morning, including transport from my hotel to Angkor Wat for sunrise and then back from my final stop.

Alternatives: There are a lot of ways you might mix and match your temple run along this route. Here are a few ideas: You could shortening it by just going to a few sections. You could also start at Preah Khan at the end of my route and run in the opposite direction. You could add more distance by running through Ankor Tom complex and potentially all the way back to Ankor Wat, which would add 7 or 8 additional kilometers.

Alternatively to doing the grand tour, you can easily run part or all of the small circuit. Start at Angkor Wat and head east along the road to Ta Prohm. There are a few small temples and ruins along the way you can wander through too. This route can easily be mixed and matched with a tuktuk driver to do a 5k or 10k to up to 18k or more.

Beyond the Small and Grand Tours: If you are interested in longer distances, then you can easily combine these two tours to create a full marathon. Similarly, at the time of writing, there is one ultra marathon organized in Siem Reap. Checkout: -angkor.com/en/ for more info. In particular, they got some great routes for 16km, 32km and 64km.

Royal Gardens Park: If you are staying anywhere near Siem Reap down, your safest running option might be to do some garden laps around Royal Gardens Park. Situated abound a 1.5km from Pub Street, this park is well-covered with trees and paved paths. You can either walk or jog there or even take a short tuktuk ride. By my estimate a lap around the park is about 0.8 kilometer.

At the time of writing, there are a few half and full marathons in Siem Reap. Probably the most famous is the Angkor Wat Marathon in December, which would make for a unique way to enjoy a community run in a historical spot.

On my long temple run, I was the only person running. It was me alone with only the surroundings at several points. When I crossed folks, this lead to a lot of smiles and thumbs up. Cambodians are quite friendly and even with limited English, they made an attempt to say hello and encourage me.

Honestly, I wanted to hew closer to the two-hour mark for the half marathon like I did with the Ho Chi Minh City Run earlier this year, but getting sick three weeks out from the race meant that goal went out the window. Instead, I did my best to get to the start line 100% healthy and just focused on putting one foot ahead of the other for 21 kilometers. Besides, if I ran at a slower pace, that meant my GoPro could capture better video (less shaky).

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