Chom Bueng Marathon 2019

The first road race for the year, joining this race was a last minute decisions.  The race registration was opened since September in 2018, but I did not know about this race until I got so fed up of my timing in Berlin and I began to search for races in Asia with IAAF qualification.

This race is seriously popular, the slots gets snapped up within a few days.  I had to write in to get a special link to register.  The website for more information: CHOM BUENG MARATHON 2019 FB

This was when I saw in Thailand a race instead of the usual Buriram, which was already explored by Singapore.  The Chom Bueng Marathon is held in Chom Bueng district in the Ratchaburi province.  This place is about 150 km away from Bangkok.  Predominantly an University town.  The town give a vibrant university feeling.  Most of the volunteers are from the University.

TRANSPORT

Coming here is not really easy for foreigner who are not good with Thai language.   Maybe its just me, but anyway since I was alone, I decided to try to take the local transports with my limited knowledge of Thai.  First I got to Mochit Long Distance bus station and realised that it is the Mini Van station opposite that I need to go.  From there you just need to go to Channel D and row 4 counter to get a direct van to Chom Bueng.  Mini Vans are usually filled to the max and sometimes with many products to deliver to the less populated areas.  But it is also the fastest way to get around places out of Bangkok.

ACCOMMODATION

The accommodation is very tight, since the slots get sell out very fast and every year there is an increase in the number of participants.  Always keep a close look on their FaceBook page to find out latest information about the race.  I was lucky to find out that the University actually converted some of their classrooms into accommodations for the participants.  They even separated a lady only zone for females, although you have to share the room with other ladies and bring your own sleeping bag and stuff, it was actually nostalgic, a feeling of University camp.  There were also tents for you to chose if you do not like the classrooms.  Each tent is about 1200 baht.

RACE PACK COLLECTION

The race pack collection is held at the main hall of the University.  To speak the truth the University has a nostalgic feeling of Singapore in the 90s.  The classrooms and buildings are still in old fashioned design, bringing back the school days memories.  The road leading to the Race pack collection is already filled with hawkers selling food and also sports items.  At the hall itself there are also many booths selling sports nutrition and sporting goods, providing sports consultation and services, it was like a small fair and the goods are very reasonably priced.  I bought a Buff cap there after seeing that there is discount and the exchange rate was in favor to SGD.

The race pack collection is smooth, first you need to provide your race bib number , go to the collection desk and take the goodie bag which comprise of one drawstring bag, event singlet and some brochures.

RACE ROUTE

This race is IAAF certified and after running it , the course is really 42.2 according to my GPS watch.  It is really well organised every 2 km there is a water point, that is the reason why most of the runners did not carry the hydration since it is everywhere.  At some points there are also medical services.

The route is flat and mostly on vehicle tarmac ground so makes it easy for running, the space is also very wide so there was ample place to run.  Somehow, the weather is kinda cold in the morning and not so humid, personally I feel it is easier to run than in Singapore.  There is basically just one U turn for the FM and HM folks towards the finish.  I find the ending really well planned, and towards the ending the whole road is lined with photographers all snapping away. A straight flat road to the end with carpet on the ground indication the right channel for the finish.  These gave runners a feeling of a “Star Finish”.

AT THE END

Runners can take the medals at the end and ushered towards the rest area of their respective categories.  The HM, 10Km and 5Km are at the west side of the ending point while FM has their own dedicated area on the other side.  Both sides have breakfast decked up and I meant real breakfast with many local hawkers coming to cook for the runners.  FM runners will need to pass the coupon to take the dishes but it is really more than enough and I cannot even finish up the coupon.  Besides the medal, runners also get the finisher tee.  There were many sponsors there promoting protein like the Meiji protein drink, and energy drink, even food stuff.  Some of them even give our free samples.

Having many photographers at the race route meant that runners get a lot of photographs after the race.  I had a total of 95 photos in all!  You can download the low resolution photos with the Chom Bueng Marathon watermark for free at the Thai running website: running connect.  Or pay a little more just to get higher resolution photos online.

AFTER THOUGHTS

This race like most Thai races really hit the spot.  Price is good and so much perks.  There are also cheap massages around to help you recover fast.  That is why I always save up just to go Thailand for races.  The atmosphere and support in this race is very good and the volunteers, mostly students from the University, are very helpful.  The only downside is that English is not the main language used and there were not many foreigners.  So it gets a bit confusing, but people were always willing to help you out with the lack of language ability.  Highly recommend this race for those who wants a good run timing and also IAAF recognized.