Songkhla International Glorify Marathon 2012

The race was on 26th August but I only decided to go 2 days before that because KA was not able to join Razif & Cikgu Syed on the trip which was planned earlier by the trio due to passport problem. We took a bus from Puduraya at night and arrived at the border in the early morning. Many Buddhists travelling to Hatyai that weekend for some special prayers and we stuck for about 2 hours for border crossing.

Travelling from KL to Songkhla

 We reached Songkhla after 14 hours since we left Puduraya. We went straight to pick up race kit after checked into the hotel. The hotel was quite nice especially the cleaning ladies. I have to say BP Samila Beach Hotel has the best looking house keeping staff I ever seen in any hotel I have stayed around the world.

At race kit collection center I met sexy Jessie ;)

 After race kit pick up, we explored the festival ground. There were so many counterfeit sports product selling here. The shoes look exactly like the original ones. You have to touch the cushion gel at bottom sole and you will feel the different. 

After that we went to Samila Beach to find food for lunch. Muslim food is easy to find here because Songkhla have the most muslim population after Yala, Narathiwat and Patani in the south of Thailand.

Exploring Samila Beach

At night we went again to the festival ground for free carbo-loading, to check out the local girls and mingle around with other runners from around the world.

Carbo-loading

 Race day start at 4am. There were less than 100 runners for full marathon. The run was very lonely in the dark. Lucky I bring along my iPod shuffle I bought last month. Listening to fast beating songs made me running a lot faster.

Race day first half

The day gets brighter near to the u-turn point on a very long bridge. The weather had mercy on us, it wasn't very hot with a little windy. There were no power gel, no isotonic drinks or banana at water stations. They only supplied us with cube sugar for instant energy. At least better than nothing, right?! Lucky me, I bumped into Karim and he gave me 100 baht to buy some energy drinks and bun at 7-eleven along the route. Thank you bro! Earlier in the race a Thai runner also offered me Ferrero Rocher after he saw me pressing my empty tummy. 

Second half into the race

The objective of the race is to finish it and still feel fresh after crossing finish line. It is part of my training for Ultra 100km race on 22nd September. I guess completing my 17th marathon in 5:02 hour is not bad at all. In fact it was my second best after Tokyo Marathon. I got placing for the first time and won prize money 1000 baht some more. Razif and Cikgu Syed also won prize money under their own respective categories.

At finish line

After the race, we went back to the hotel to clean-up and get some rest before going out again to reload and pamper ourselves in Songkhla and Hatyai. Unlike my first marathon, I couldn't walk properly for 2 days after the race, but this time I still can walk around the city.

Exploring Songkhla & Hatyai

On the way back to KL on the following day, I sat next to the champion from Kenya named Thomas. I tried to dig some training and diet tips from him. He shared the tips and with confident he said I can hit 2:30 hour marathon if I follow his training regime. Yeah right! But first I have to transform my body to be like him. Too skinny, I don't like it.

I pity those Kenyans because they were very poor back in their country. Thomas was a farmer before he gets involve in marathon. I believe God is fair by giving them an ability to run faster than most people in this world and able to make money through marathon. A long conversation with him made me humble and being grateful for all I have in life. Ohh... I also befriended with a very pretty Thai girl named Sofiya from Narathiwat sitting on my left side. I think I should learn more Thai language before my next trip (...wink wink ;)

Travelling back to KL