Hungry for more, I trawled the Internet and found another race in Bangkok called the Suanpruek99 10-hour Ultra Marathon. All I could make out from the race was something about a 10-hour ultra, because the rest was all described in Thai. I mailed the organisers, who replied a couple of days later with sorry, they’ re sold out, so I contacted a friend residing in Thailand, who is also a fellow runner / cyclist, and asked if he could assist in possibly securing me a late entry into the race. He came back 20 minutes later with a number for a wonderfully

helpful lady called Sam, who could indeed assist me with a late entry.

I duly spoke to Sam and she said if I was willing, they could help me with a VIP entry, which would mean that I wouldn’ t officially be part of the field of competitors, and that my entry fee would go towards their local charity of choice. I loved the idea from the word go, because all I wanted to do is run – I don’ t really care for any medal, and if my racing fee goes to a good cause, even better!

Ready to Run

Race day arrived, and I had to be at the race venue at 5am to meet Sam at her gazebo, which I shared with a couple of other solo entries for the day. The race was scheduled to start at 6am sharp and finish at 4pm, with 10 hours of running a 2.1km loop. Seems easy enough, I thought. With some 1000 entrants taking part, the majority apparently solo entries, the race kicked off at a pace of note, and even I got caught up in the music, festivities and all the attractions next to the track. I saw myself finish 42km in around four hours, but I knew from here onwards that I had to start slowing down, as there were another six hours of abuse out there waiting for me.

On the back stretch there was an elderly man who cheered along all the competitors for the whole duration of the 10 hours, always with a smile on his face. His encouragement for each

competitor was so genuine, and was just one of the many memorable things we experienced during this day.

That said, it’ s hard to gauge where you are in the field of competitors in an event such as this, as there are teams with fresh runners flying past you every lap. Then there are some competitors that take a break after a couple of laps, who then return with their energy levels restored, flying around the track again. I went with the approach of taking breaks when I changed my socks, or shorts. Why the regular changes, you may ask? Well, with the heat and humidity there, it doesn’ t take a lot to be drenched in sweat, so my first change of shorts was three hours into the race. Then a sock change at 42km, and so my race strategy continued, with further sock changes every three hours.

A Feast of Running

The 10-hour ultra is hosted in Nawamin Phirom Park, with all the teams and their supporters erecting tents around the park. At each of the 2.1km track corners there were official water and snack tables, and in between these there were numerous other tables with all kinds of snacks and hydration supplements. There was a medical tent with loads of medics on standby, energy drink suppliers handing out their products, and the one turn even had electric fans blowing cool air over the tired runners. There were even water points where they would pour buckets of cooling water over

Images: Courtesy Willem Richards & Suanpruek99 Club