Phnom Penh 10k

Hem and I pre-race

The 4pm start of the Phnom Penh 10k was worrisome because of the potential for intense summer heat.  I was relieved to wake up Saturday morning to cloudy conditions.  The clouds carried heavy spurts of rain that are common in Cambodia during the rainy season.  The rain did its part in keeping temperatures manageable, but unfortunately turned many parts of the course into massive mud slicks.  

The start of the race was just across the traffic choked Japanese Bridge.  After the 3k finished, and the sky opened up once more, the 10k was set to start at 4:30.  A few hundred people grouped together on a small segment of the street as motorbikes whizzed by to our left.  All the Cambodians and those able to understand the Khmer language started to count down from 10, as I tried to look at the fingers of the race organizer in front of me, “BEI, PI, MUOYYY…”

Hem and his other olympic buddy immediately separated themselves with their blistering pace.  I was able to stay in contact with them for the first mile, but thereafter they gradually began to pull away.

The second mile of the race went through a very impoverished community/shanty town whose dirt paths had massive ruts from the heavy rain.  The trail conditions forced runners to tiptoe around puddles and slow down significantly to avoid falling.  While running past cows, chickens, stray dogs, and the tin/wood huts that lined the trail it was interesting to look at the expressions of the community members.  Some were happily smiling at the site of a shirtless white dude running by, but others gave me some very curious and surprised glares.

The remainder of the race traced the banks of the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers.  The area along the rivers was scenic and devoid of heavy traffic, but left the runners exposed to strong wind gusts.

I had a final watch time of 37:49, good enough for third overall (Hem was the winner with a time of 34 minutes and change).  The race organizers were nice enough to put a victory banner up for me to run through, which was fun.  Below are my splits…

Mile 1: 5:51

Mile 2: 6:01

Mile 3: 6:13

Mile 4: 6:22

Mile 5: 6:11

Mile 6: 6:12

Finish: 37:49

Awards Ceremony in which I was presented with a pair of new headphones and $20

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On a side note that is completely unrelated to running, after the race on Saturday night a few friends and myself took Hem out for celebratory drinks.  It took a very small amount of beer to get Hem feeling good.  At the outdoor restaurant/bar that we were drinking at they had a computer hooked up to the stereo system, which allowed customers to play their favorite music on YouTube.  My friends would request chill beats, the creepy sex-pats would play soft rock/oldies, and Hem Bunting played the entire Titanic soundtrack. Hem said that Celine Dion’s music “spoke to him”…

While at a disco later that night, Hem insisted on wearing his large Skull Candy headphones that he was given as a prize for winning the race.  They looked very cool, however, at no point were they ever plugged into an MP3 player or phone…