Marathon #155 (country #30): Kamphaeng Phet Marathon, Thailand

4:10 finish, 33/111 place overall. Unique race in and around the small city of Kamphaeng Phet in west-central Thailand, about halfway between Bangkok and Chiang Mai. It’s not visited as much as other parts of the country and English is barely spoken, but people are friendly and encouraging during the race, which did have a few other foreign runners. Marathon starts at 3am due to the intense heat and humidity, and even then it was about 80 degrees and oppressively muggy. With most of the race in the dark there isn’t much to see, but near the end - in the daylight for all but the fastest runners - it does go through a historical park with ancient city ruins and old Buddhist temples from the 1300s. Slower than usual finish time, as expected, due to the weather and short two-week turnaround from last marathon. 

Race map and details

Photos*

*includes Thailand photos from 2022 side trip attached to Cambodia marathon

Marathon #154 (country #29): Midzomer Marathon, Apeldoorn, Netherlands

3:55 finish, 42/168 place overall. Small, rural race mostly on bike paths through woods and farmland near Apeldoorn, about an hour east of Amsterdam. Unusually late start time of 5pm made it warm for the first half, but cooled off with rain later. A little sluggish with the weather and the late start that I’m not used to, but still squeaked by under four hours.

Race map and details

Photos - Netherlands

Photos - Germany 

Marathon #153 (Can. prov. #8): Saskatchewan Marathon, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

3:51 finish, 82/244 place overall. Nice race mostly along the Saskatchewan River in and around Saskatoon. Some small rolling hills and a little windy, but otherwise ideal conditions. Good to be under four again after last two very hilly and slow races.

Race map and details

Marathon #152 (country #28): Lisbon ECO Marathon, Portugal

4:53 finish, 88/143 place overall. Small, scenic but very tough course running mostly through Monsanto Park, just west of Lisbon. Race starts and finishes in the middle of the city, which is hilly to begin with, then quickly moves onto mostly unpaved paths and trails (which I’m very slow on) with very steep, endless hills. Much slower than average time but not unexpected considering the course - one of the hardest I’ve done aside from Pikes Peak and Zermatt.

Race map and details

Photos

Marathon #151 (second round state #35): Mission Run in the Ozarks Marathon, Mountain View, AR

4:16 finish, 1/7 place overall. Tiny rural marathon in the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas, about two hours north of Little Rock. Nice scenery but extremely hilly and unseasonably warm. Very friendly volunteers providing support along the course, but otherwise it was more like a solo training run. I did not need the state for sub-four (only for second round), and considering the conditions and short two-week turnaround from last marathon, I went in expecting the slow finish. Only goal was to get the state done with the added benefit of a long hilly training run for an even hillier course in Portugal next month.

Race map and details