#chiangmaimarathon

One of the first things I did when we decided to live in Chiang Mai was look for races to run.  The only one I saw at the time, and likely the biggest of the year, is the Chiang Mai marathon.  

The race is split into four distances - 42k, 21k, 10k and 3k.  Because I've been running consistently, but not for many miles, I ran the 10k or the "mini marathon".  

I can't stand to run with my phone, so I don't have pictures, but it was a great race.  The races started early and exactly on time.  It's wasn't super crowded, so I showed up about eight minutes before the start of the race and was still too early.  The 10k was slated to start at 6am and sure enough the buzzer sounded at 6:00:00.   There were drummers at the start and a few people cheering along the way.  The route looped around Chiang Mai and had a water stop about every mile and a half.  It was kind of no thrills, but perfectly organized and executed.  

The full and half were timed, but the 10k was not, so it was extra low pressure.  My number wasn't even attached to my name; I just grabbed it off a pile when I picked up my free shirt and bag.  And frankly good thing it wasn't timed - look at that age group.  Dang.

The hour or so went by pretty quickly, except when I dropped my headphones and had to run backwards through people to find the pieces.   Before I knew it I passed the last water stop at mile 6.1 (lolz) and was done.  The finishing chutes were well-marked for the three longer races and there was even a corresponding clock for each.  Well done Chiang Mai.

But, because it is Thailand, there had to be SOMETHING weird about the race, right?  Check out the free grub at the end of the race.

Hahaha.