The Bangkok Marathon

I ran the Bangkok Marathon today, but it's not what you might think. I didn't run the full marathon, nor the half marathon, nor the mini (10k) marathon.  I ran the micro (5k) marathon :)  I am not a runner, even though I've always had runner friends.  In high school I'd run when we were on vacation with my friends and their family, but I could never keep up with them.  Running was just not my thing. 

 After college, I my runner friends and I became roommates, and I watched them run day after day. I looked at my "bucket list" (which, I might add, I made long before the movie!) and it had "run a 5k" on it.  At 25 years old I decided I wasn't getting any younger and my knees weren't getting any better: it was now or never. So I did the couch potato to 5k training program and ran a 5k.  I loved it! I was so worried about just being able to finish that I had lots left in the tank at the end.  I ran again the next year and finished in a lot less time. 

Since then, I've run on and off, but never in an organized race.  One of my good friends in Argentina was a serious runner (she has since completed an ironman race!!!) and she inspired me to at least push myself a little harder when I ran, but still, I wasn't really going very far or very fast. 

More of the ICS 5k crew

Running in Bangkok has been a bit difficult to do real regularly.  There are few hours of the day when you can run (and in the hot season? forget about it!) and there aren't many places to run due to the lack of sidewalks and the plethora of street dogs.  But a few months ago I convinced my friend to run the Bangkok 5k- she had never run a race before and really wasn't sure she could do it.  But we signed up, along with a lot of other people from school (many of the more serious runners at ICS skipped this race because they are doing a half marathon at Angkor Wat in two weeks). 

When we signed up I was a bit surprised and disappointed to see that the 5k runners wouldn't be timed.  But today I found out why: many many many of them were walking.  And taking pictures along the way. I should have known- this is Thailand!  But despite dodging the walkers, it was a lot of fun.  I lost my friends in the crowd (HUGE!) while we were actually running, but we were able to find each other again afterward.  It's inspiring ya know, doing these races.  I might even try to train for the 10k next year... 

Sidenote: In Thailand you don't run a "5k" or "10k" you run "5 kilo" or "10 kilo". It makes me laugh every time I hear it :)