Beginning and ending at the Saphan Hin Park – a seaside park with a long history in Phuket, Thailand the 2018 edition of the Phukethon International Marathon took place last weekend, the 10th and 11th of November.

Click here to view the Phukethon 2018 photos at the photo gallery!

A Major International Running Festival

Billed as a major international marathon running festival in Asia, Phukethon is described as being suited to runners who want to experience nature and challenge their limits amidst scenic but challenging running routes – which takes them to a maximum of 200 metres above sea level.

In order to cater to serious runners, the event consisted of the 42.195km Full Marathon, the 21.1km Half Marathon and 10km Run, all of which are certified by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) as well as a “Run-tainment” programme tailored towards the fun runners, comprising of the Jelly Beach 5km Run as well as the Colour Fun Run.

And there was also a Running Expo too, which had contained more than 80 sports brands gathered in Saphan Hin Park, for runners to do some last-minute shopping and browsing of sports apparel and equipment, before their respective events.

Participated in the Half Marathon

I took part in the 21.1km Half Marathon category at Phukethon 2018 which was scheduled to begin at 5am on Sunday morning. 

The 10km Run, together with the fun event categories, had taken place on Saturday, while the Full Marathon had begun about one-and-a-half hours earlier on Sunday morning.

Checking Out the Running Expo

Arriving on a midday flight, I reached Phuket on Saturday afternoon and immediately after checking in at my hotel and putting my luggage away, I got to the event’s Running Expo in the early evening and took a look around to see what was available and also to check if I could find any good discounts there.

There were a few booths selling a variety of running-related apparel and these had included compression wear from SKINS, as well as running belts, energy gels, plastic bottles and socks. 

I got myself two pairs of compression because the marathon expo was offering them up at a buy-one-get-one-free deal.

Souvenir tee-shirts from Phukethon were available, too, bearing a combination of bright colours such as blue, pink and green.

As well, I had noted that other events such as the Okinawa Marathon in Japan also had booths at the expo, presumably to sell their travel packages to foreign runners.

And there were also a few stalls that were selling beverages like coconut water and fruit juices, as well as local Thai snacks and mini-meals, in order to cater to hungry runners.

It was quite interesting to browse through all the booths, and I thought that the concept of the outdoor Running Expo was different to most of the expos in Singapore and Malaysia, which are traditionally held at shopping malls and exhibition centers.

But I have to point out that while it had been outdoors, it was not hot, because the expo had been fully contained within large tents, so this meant that the merchants had been protected from the elements such as the heat or the rain.

However I felt that the expo had not been as big as it was made out to be, though, possibly because several of the stalls had already closed when I had reached there.

As I would later find out too, this Running Expo also served as the post-race village after the race events of Phukethon had taken place the following day.

Race Morning 

Sunday morning dawned bright and early, and after some struggles, I dragged myself out of bed at about 3.20am, in time for my pre-race morning ritual, following which I made my way down to the Saphan Hin Park, reaching the venue at about 4.30am.

Getting to the Race Site

It was a 1.5km walk down to the race site according to my Garmin; besides taking an overpriced taxi or tuk tuk, I quickly realised that there were no other transportation options available in Phuket Town apparently – with no public buses or train services around the city.

After taking a few quick photos around the running site, I entered the start pen at roughly 4.45am. 

Soon after that, I heard the event emcees announce that there would be a five-minute delay – as they had wanted to clear the roads and make sure that everything was safe before releasing the throngs of runners.

In the meantime though, the on-stage emcees led a quick warm-up session for the runners, to loosen our muscles for the run ahead. I noticed that many runners were very enthusiastic about this pre-run workout.

Flagging Off

The event organiser kept to their word about the new flag-off time; we started at 5.05am – according to my watch. 

21.1km Race Route

The highlight of the 21.1km Race Route, which I was running, was that it took runners to Makham Bay and Panwa Port – which overlooks the emerald-green seas surrounding Phuket and gave runners a panoramic view of the beautiful Cape Panwa.

Some of the other areas that the route had passed along the way, also included the Surin Roundabout, Thalang Road, Suriyadej Roundabout and the Sakdidet Flea Market.

Running an Easy Pace

When I began running, I tried to maintain an Easy pace, but despite my efforts though, I found that my heart rate began to rise very fast within the first couple of kilometres, even at a pace that should usually be comfortable for me to maintain. 

I had wondered whether this was because of the pre-race adrenaline, or if it was due to body fatigue from my training for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon next month. 

So as a result, I found that I was forced to slow down, in order to keep my heart rate under control. 

It also didn’t help that it was a pretty humid morning in Phuket, and as a result, I could already feel the humidity seeping into me, within the first few kilometres of my run and I was sweating buckets.

Hilly Route

The hills along the way also did not help my cause too. I discovered the hard way, that the Phuket roads are apparently more hilly than I would have liked them to be.

At least the running paths were clear throughout and were not congested though, and the roads were also pretty wide too, making them suited to running.

But in order to take my mind off the hills and the run, I tried to focus on my music and the scenery around me. 

During the early stages of the race, we found ourselves passing through the old Phuket Town and the old-style shophouses there, reminded me of what Singapore was like during the 1960s and 70s. 

Unfortunately as it was pretty dark, there were not really much sights and sounds to see as I ran past.

Hydration was Great

But the hydration stations were excellent. I counted ten of them along the Half Marathon route. 

Though the first two aid stations had been serving only water, the rest had a mixture or combination of electrolyte drinks, fruits and even wet sponges – the latter being for runners to keep themselves cool as they ran. I took some electrolytes at each of the aid stations and it tasted deliciously ice-cold and refreshing.

As well, there was a generous supply of watermelons and bananas at the aid stations too, for runners to replenish their energy with real food in addition to gels. I thought this was good on the part of the organisers.

Roads were Partially Closed

I quickly realised though, that the roads were not fully closed off during the race and that vehicles were still allowed to pass. 

While there had been full lane closure for many of the roads, a few had been only partially closed, with marshals positioned at the key intersections to control the flow of traffic. 

This was mostly okay though, as the majority of the vehicles were courteous and had allowed the runners to pass; however, a couple of times, I found myself watching out for vehicles as I was running – and make way for dangerous motorbikes that had tried to cut through the throngs of runners.

Volunteers 

Throughout the route, there were also pockets of volunteers to cheer on runners and encourage us to carry on and not give up.

In the lonely pre-dawn hours, I appreciated this, as they helped to spur me on and enabled me to keep going when my motivation levels were decreasing.

Ma Kham Bay

At about 6km, we headed down the long and winding Sakidet Road which would take us to Ma Kham Bay. 

This had been a pretty boring stretch of the Half Marathon route and I found myself switching off as I ran. It was a typical country road, with trees lining the road and after a couple of kilometres of running, all the trees blurred together and began to look exactly the same. In fact, there were moments when I felt as though I was not moving at all.

I tried to keep my motivation levels up though, by listening to my favourite songs, using my Plantronics Backbeat FIT 2100 wireless earphones.

Also, watching the runners passing by from the other side of the u-turn also kept me occupied and took my thoughts away from the running. When the race leaders ran past us, everyone clapped and cheered, to spur them on.

I felt that this part of the running course was also somewhat more windy compared to the earlier segment, possibly because we were nearing the coastline.

However, the 6km of boredom was definitely worth it, when we got to the Ma Kham Bay, somewhere between the 12km to 13km mark, the scenery was beautiful and it blew my breath away. 

In fact it had been so pretty that I could not help myself but stop and take a few photos at the location. This was also the first official cut-off point for the Half Marathon route, with the second one subsequently being at the 17km mark.

Unfortunately after reaching the Ma Kham Bay though, it was another 6km of boredom, when I made the u-turn and ran all the way back. 

But I tried to keep myself focused on the run, by looking at the stragglers shuffling along on the opposite side of the u-turn and used this to psych myself that I was already on the way back while they still had a long way more to go.

Legs Getting Heavy

By this stage, I could also feel my legs growing progressively stiff and heavy as I was running, even though I had been taking salt tablets to ward the cramps off. 

The cramps didn’t actually come, thankfully, but the heaviness didn’t really help with my running and I found that I had to slow down a little more, in order to manage the tightness and stiffness in my legs. As a result, any timing goals that I originally had for this race ended up flying right out of the window.

Usually I do not get heavy legs during a Half Marathon. So I wondered whether the gradual heaviness in the legs this time around, had been due to a possible decline in my fitness levels, run fatigue, or the increasing mileage that I had been attempting to clock in preparation for next month’s Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon.

I felt that my choice of wearing compression tights rather than shorts for this run had helped with the heaviness to some degree, thankfully, in terms of holding my muscles together, unfortunately it didn’t dissipate this feeling completely though. 

On several occasions too, I found myself feeling very thankful to the first-aid services that was being provided to runners; there had been volunteers at a few points along the route, spraying runners’ legs with muscle relaxant spray to keep cramps at bay and so I made full use of this – in order to tame my protesting legs.

Finishing the Race

The last couple of kilometres took us along the New Sadidet Road en route back to the Saphan Hin Park. 

Knowing that the finish line had been just up ahead somewhere by this stage of the run, I tried my best to pick up the pace and complete the race strong, even though my legs were protesting by now. 

But in the dying stretches of the run, seeing the signages positioned at every couple hundred metres of the run, was particularly motivating and when I spied each of these, I pushed harder, desperate to see the end of the run.

As I neared the finish line, I spotted a group of enthusiastic cheerleaders dressed in bright yellow uniforms and carrying pompoms, shouting out words of encouragement to runners. I thought that this was really great motivation for me, in the final hundred metres of the run.

At long last, the finish line was finally within my sights, and I ran towards it, happy that I was able to completed the race despite my earlier struggles. 

My timing had been nowhere near my best, but I guess that despite that, my overall running experience had been quite a good one and that my first time running in Phuket had given me a great change of scenery from my usual running routes in Singapore.

 

Post Race Festivities 

I was handed my race medal at the finishing line, and then after that, I took the time to explore the race village. 

To my pleasant surprise, there was an Ice Bath for runners to soak themselves in, to help their bodies to recover after a hard run. 

And as well, there was no shortage of post-race beverages to quench the thirst of the runners coming in, with a choice of both water and electrolyte drinks. 

For myself, I felt that I needed the sugar and salts, so I thirstily took a bottle of the electrolyte drink and quickly downed it within seconds.

The race village had also provided runners with plenty of opportunities to take photos as well as to display their race timings. This was good.

Instant Race Results

As well, there was an instant race results printing service, where runners could simply show their bib number and we would be given a slip of paper with our official running time on it. 

Besides our run timing, the slip of paper also provided information on our overall ranking as well as our respective category and gender rankings. I thought that this was good, as it helps us to gauge whereabouts we stand in the race field.

This is actually common practice in triathlons in Singapore, but not in road running races, so I was pleasantly surprised that the service was being offered at Phukethon.

Also, I thought that it had been quite an innovative move on the part of the organisers that the top 100 finishers for each of the race categories at Phukethon also received a cute turtle stuffed toy. 

Unfortunately though, I was nowhere near fast enough to claim one for myself – so I guess that I will have to run much faster next time, if I want to get hold of one!

But the food and beverage stalls from the previous day seemed to have already been packed up though, so I left the race site soon after, and found some breakfast to eat en route back to my hotel.

An Enjoyable Experience 

As a whole, I would say that my experience at Phukethon had been an interesting and engaging one, and that I’d had an enjoyable experience at the run, soaking up the sights of the seaside town of Phuket and its surroundings. I’d definitely be back again sometime.