By OISE Oxford tutor Kit Villiers
Was that an elephant I see before me? I had reached about the 20k mark when I noticed that there was a slight delay ahead; a couple, possibly French, who had just passed me, were slowing right down, together with about 3 other runners ahead. We were near the back of the field, and I supposed that the course had been re-opened to traffic: sure enough, a mini-bus was trying to get through the narrow gate of one of the lesser temples which surround Angkor Wat, and which the course seemed to be taking us through. Slightly irritated, the 6 of us paused as it squeezed past, but then, hard behind the bus was an elephant; nobody seemed to be riding it, and as far as I knew it might have been a wild one fresh out of the surrounding jungle. Anyway we were still on the narrow causeway inside the temple so there was little choice but to run on and hope one wasn't scooped up in its trunk or, in the alternative, crushed under its large feet. Well, we survived, slightly startled but intact, and shuffled on towards the finish, all of us no doubt reflecting that we had one more 'animal encounter' story to add to our respective collections. There were lots of monkeys too....
I was in Cambodia for the Angkor Wat half Marathon, the 18th running of which was on Sunday 1 December. It seemed a great idea when we conceived it a few months ago - seeing a new country, experiencing an exotic tropical location, and joining one of the most international fields you could imagine sounded like fun too. My mate Steve had suggested that we fly out the Friday before the race, meaning we could have the pleasure of working the whole week beforehand(!?) Steve then pulled out, leaving me (with great assistance from Jo) to battle on with the arrangements alone.
The issues with flying in to a strange country with a race to run the next morning became apparent even before I left England, and I more than once soundly cursed Steve for his somewhat optimistic last-minutism. I was going to arrive at Siem Reap (the airport for Angkor Wat) too late to register. You had to collect your racepack the night before, before 8pm. I didn't land until 8.20pm, and then needed to get my visa and find my hotel. After a mad flurry of emails to the organisers and my hotel beforehand, luckily the hotel had come up trumps and for the cost of a return taxi fare, they sent some unfortunate minion to register on my behalf. You can imagine the sigh of relief when they handed my number and chip over when I checked in, and without demur I handed over the $12 they requested for the minion's time and trouble.
The start being at 6.30am and not having a clue where to go or how I was going to go to wherever it was, the next thing was to get a really early morning call organised, and I plumped for 4.30am. I'd also worried in the plane as to what I could eat or drink before the start, as I was clearly going to be too early for the hotel breakfast, and I presumed tap-water would definitely be out. Fortunately in the room there were two complimentary bananas and two bottles of water. So what this nourishing fare together with half a Yorkie bar left over from Heathrow I hoped I had just enough inside me to get at least to the first water station. In the event getting to the race proved no problem as the lobby soon filled with runners of all descriptions, and all the tuk tuk drivers had clearly got up early too so there was plenty of transport.
Apart from a slightly messy start, which might have been caused by the semi-darkness and the fact that there were other races to set off (including, this being Cambodia, divisions for amputees as well as the more normal wheelchairs), I really enjoyed the race. The temperature naturally climbed as the sun rose, but it never got too hot nor too humid. Even so, jet lag and lack of fitness told in the later stages, although I finished in one piece, sharing a tuk tuk back to the hotel with an Australian girl who just pipped me at the end.
Would I do it again? Certainly! Although I didn't see it in the dark, to start at Angkor itself could hardly be more exotic. Later on we passed innumerable other temples and runners would dash over and get a picture before carrying on through the treelined course, telling their friends back in the US, or wherever, all about it on their devices....Very friendly, and worth the trip. My hotel even kept its buffet breakfast going for the less talented runners (e.g. me) and the beers are cheap in Cambodia too!
