Bangsaen42 Chonburi Marathon

I am in Bangkok for meetings, and I noticed on Ahotu that Bang Saen 42 would fall the weekend before, so on a whim, I signed up for my first overseas marathon. (I am a regular HM and occasional FM runner in Singapore.) The location is Chon Buri, round the coast from Bangkok. Without a car, it wasn't so convenient to get to. I ended up going there by bus (go to Ekkamai bus station, buy a ticket for Nong Mon bus stop, which is about 45 mins walk from the venue. I do not recommend using online booking because the tickets are in English but of course the driver speaks only Thai... You should be able to buy at the station for a bus within an hour, the price is about 100 baht) and came back by Grab (over 1000 baht!). As it was my first run away from home, I didn't factor in the need to book a hotel early. I ended up at a hotel about 45 mins away from the starting point, which was very nice (the Zuwala) but not as convenient as somewhere more central. The event was well organised: even without Thai, I could more or less get everything sorted easily. Lots of staff, and helpful to the blur Farang. Rare gear pickup was quick. One thing that was a bit annoying was getting a paper bracelet to wear until the end of the race, I guess to ensure only vetted people ran, but of course it got manky when taking a shower. I didn't clock anyone checking the bracelet again, so not sure how necessary it was. The race is in the wee hours, so it starts in the dark and for medium slow runners like me, got light around the halfway point. This is quite like races in Singapore, but whereas Singapore has a high tech city Scape, most of the early part of the Bang Saen race was running through the somewhat sleepy streets of a midsize sea town. In the dark. After a while, we reached a highway along the coast, which brought a nice breeze and eventually the sun. It was quite cool until quite near the end of the race, even when the sun was up. The route got a bit hilly at the end and although the views were great near the coast, I was in no mood to enjoy them. There were plentiful water supplies, approximately two kilometres, and often isotonic juice. Later in the race, they started giving out bananas, gels, cakes, and even noodles and skewers! Really impressed by how they organised the refreshments. Slightly later in the day, they emailed your time and provisional placing. This is clearly a major event for the town, and it seemed many runners were repeats. The organisation was top notch (except for one complaint, namely that the pacers ran in formation, making it hard to pass them) so I can see why people would go year on year. If I were in the vicinity next year, I might join them.

Feel good