Angkor Wat International Half Marathon, Cambodia

The Angkor Wat International Half Marathon is an incredible race. The organization and support for runners was fantastic.  It has everything you could ever want from a race and more...The scenery is stunning, running through and around the ancient temples is a surreal experience. Local people lined the roads to watch the runners and children were lined up at the side of the road high-fiving runners all along the course.  Their smiles and cheers were pricesless (I saw a man running with a Polaroid taking pictures with children and giving them the instant picture the camera produced. ..they were so excited!

Here is a bit of info about the race taken from the official website:

This internationally recognized half marathon raises relief for the victims of antipersonnel mines in Cambodia.  With the support of many Japanese running enthusiasts, the Ankor Wat International Half Marathon NGO started the race in 1996, with participants from all over the world. Attended by many landmine victims, this great international race takes place inside the ruins of Angkor Wat, a World Heritage Site, and has been held annually to give the victims courage and hope, as well as to appeal to the world to support the “ban on the use of antipersonnel mines.”

Runners from all over the world participate to support a ban on the manufacture and inhumane use of antipersonnel mines.  Entry fees and additional financial support foster independence among landmine victims by helping provide prosthetic limbs, social reintegration programs, and supporting other relevant and needed programs such as education and prevention of HIV / AIDS.

Thanks to international support from around the world, both healthy and disabled people are inspired and encouraged by the competition, greatly benefiting many communities throughout Cambodia.

There is actually a separate wheel chair category in the race, and it was so inspiring to see these athletes on the course! 

Race kit pick up. We picked up our race kits on Sat. There was no big expo, but just a few booths selling local crafts for fundraising.  I bought an elephant Christmas ornament for our Christmas tree.

The course.

Heading to the race @ 4:45am in a tuk tuk...seriously,  one of the coolest experiences ever! 

Sun rising at Angkor Wat.

Lining up for the start. 

On course...incredible!

A monk taking a video of the runners with his smart phone. 

The sights - temples everywhere. 

Another spectator.

More spectators.

At the finish - it was HOT!

Luckily, most of the race was run under the canopy of beautiful trees lining the road provoding much needed shade.  Only the last few kilometers around Angkor Wat exposed us more to the sun and it became evident just how hot it was.  From speaking with runners who had run this race in the past,  they said it had always been significantly cooler.  It was the hottest they remembered.

The finish was packed with people.  Water and bananas were provided, but there were many vendors and restaurants right on site that provided a great variety of refreshments.  I went for the coconuts. ..of course! 

Post race coconut...

or two... ;-)

And a mango....please!

21.1km done! 2:18...significantly slower than my 1:56 PB, but for me this was a destination run. I ran strong and at a good pace,  but when I almost passed by the first temple without noticing, I decided it was time to focus not only on the run,  but also on my surroundings. ..and I became a running tourist. ..in awe of things I was seeing and stopping to take pictures much more frequently than I would have stopped for water breaks. It was so much fun! I finished strong and feeling good. ..I would do this run again.  Who knows. ..maybe I will - next year. 

The CISS Angkor Wat Half Marathon crew.

Our ride back to Siem Reap.

Our tuk tuk driver, Yin (not sure of the spelling). So happy we found him in the sea of tuk tuks....

Our first stop after lunch. ..FOOT MASSAGE...AAAHHHH!

Not sure how I will ever complete a long run again. ..unless,  I can go for an hour foot massage afterwards ... 

Followed by an avocado / passion fruit smoothie. 

And a one hour full body thai massage with cucumber facial mask. .... 

Even as I write this, I still cannot believe how ridiculously unbelievable this day was...I am overflowing with gratitude for the experiences and friendships that have forever become a part of who I am and where I am going. 

Thank you Jamie and Sarah for inviting me along. .. I had so much fun!

Terry Fox Run - HCMC 2015 & Christmas is Coming!

Sunday, November 29, 2015 at 6:00am, I woke up the kids,  because it was time to get ready for the Terry Fox Run. A couple weeks earlier we had a school run CISS. It was a really big deal!  I was surprised at how well the students know the story and mission of Terry Fox. It was a great day with great fun,  but it was only a warm up for the big community run in HCMC.

Junior division of CIS and BCIS...getting ready to go.

The Physical Education teachers (including me - I'm in the black shorts with the watch) were in charge of organizing and performing a warm up routine.  We had lots of fun with our student volunteers. 

Mr. Carey had everyone pumped up with his impromptu "Uptown Funk" dance. 

He included one of his students ...it was so great!

I ran with Eva (primary) and then with Veronika (junior). Stepan ran with Viktor (primary). David was on a trip to Indonesia.  One of the perks of teaching at the kids' school is getting to participate with them in these activities. 

These kids love running.  I practiced/trained with my classes in the weeks leading up to this event and the primary and junior classes -especially -  would always come to me and say, "Ms. Helen, I want to run."(don't forget to imagine the Asian accent. ..its so cute.) 

We had a great time.

Sunday morning was the big day,  the community Terry Fox Run in HCMC. I learned that the HCMC run is the third largest Terry Fox Run in the world (outside of Canada). That is something. And it did not disappoint. ..

Saigon sunrise. The view from our apartment.

I love getting up early and greeting the sun. 

Getting ready at the CISS gathering spot - the red and white balloons. We actually saw them bringing the balloons to the race. ..mode of transport,  none other than motorbike,  of course!  ;-) 

There were many corporate groups at the run. One of the largest were the KFC group.

Selfie at the start.

There were so many people there that the run ended up being more of a walk.  It was just  under 4 km.  Stepan was in Taiwan, so I was by myself with all 4 kids ( but not really by myself. ..our CISS family was there). Principals watched over the kids as I performed the warm up with our warm up team,  and later Veronika and Viktor  wanted to run, but I had to stick with Evi, so they ran with Ali, Flo and Ken (fellow BCIS teachers). 

The route well marked. 

David had blisters on his feet and was suffering from some abdominal issue, so he did not run,  but walked instead. We ran into Mr. Andrew - showing off some  special talents.

I saw groups of my students en route as well.

Always time for a selfie! 

The balloon people. ..very cool!  Cheering for everyone. 

Nearing the finish. ..it was a hot one. ..like every day. 

One of the local fast food chains, Lotteria, provided soft drinks and hamburgers for runners after the race.  I opted out,  but the kids were thrilled. I guess they earned it? ?? Lol. We finished of with ice cream and made it a complete breakfast of champions (oh well. ..back to better nutrition in the afternoon).

When we arrived home,  Stepan was already back from his trip. He bought some pretty awesome bikes. ..but that's another story.

It was quite the busy weekend.  It started Fri. night when the kids all went to a sleepover at CIS. The principals were so thoughtful taking into consideration that all the young families here were missing the help of aunts, uncles and grandparents, that they took it upon themselves to host a kids sleepover at school to give all the Canadian teacher parents a break. Yes,  they gave us a night and morning off from parenting duties to do as we choose.  It was such a great gift! It also just happened to coincide with the school trip to the Nutcracker on Friday night, so David and Veronika were lucky enough to go! 

The younger kids stayed at school for the evening and played games and watched a movie. Stepan and I enjoyed a quiet dinner out before he left for the airport with Jordan at 10pm. With Stepan in Taiwan and the kids at a sleepover, I scored some alone time,  which for me is very rare and very cherished. I enjoyed a quiet night alone doing one  my favorite things. ...researching travel destinations,  and in the morning I had the luxury of going to Saigon Square and the Taka Market in D1 all by myself.  It was awesome. 

Saigon Square is popular among locals and tourists.  It is a great place to find almost anything at bargain prices.  The best part of this market is that it is clean, air conditioned and the sales people were much more laid back and less forceful than some of those found at Ben Thanh Market.

Taka Market is just a little ways down the street. It is similar in offering to Saigon Square (mostly clothing,  jewellery,  shoes,  bags,  some winter wear. ...I still don't get this one. ..the temp doesn't really drop below 25 degrees here, and some techie gadgets. )I ended up buying three dresses for a grand total of 400,000 VND - about 25 CAD. I also tried some more local specialties. ..no clue what it was,  some  sort of fruit type, jelly like snack. ..It was good,  but I will have to find out more next time.  The time went by so quickly and I had to be back at school for noon to pick up the kids.  I called a "grab bike", to take me back (it's also the way I traveled downtown in the morning). There is a great app...similar to UBER, but for a grab taxi or grab bike you pay cash at the end of the ride. The cheapest and fastest way to get around town here is by motorbike, so as you may have guessed a grab bike is like a motorbike taxi.  You hop on the back, strap on your helmet and go.  It was actually the best part of my morning.  I loved the ride to and from downtown.  Swerving through traffic,  looking around and driving down little alleyways that I would have never ventured in on my own.  I find that every ride through Saigon is a sightseeing tour in itself. I hope it never gets old. 

I picked up the kids.  We went home and had plans to go buy a Christmas tree and spend the afternoon decorating. Everyone was so excited. ...except Viktor, who apparently woke up super early with Sammy and missed the memo about the schedule Mr. Mark put out that wake up time was 8am..lol...Within 5 min.  of coming home he was asleep on the table. ..no exaggeration. We had to wake him up to go for lunch. 

We shopped around the mall for Christmas stuff. ..not much available.  But it was no surprise,  because the Vietnamese, unless they are Catholic, do not celebrate Christmas. It's actually quite curious to see that many shops  are decorated with Christmas trees, maybe it's just too early!?! We found that many of the decorations were equivalent to dollar store items at 5x the dollar store price,  so we opted to buy only a few decorations and we will be making the rest. The kids love crafts;  so its a win, win. 

At Vivo City...We had to take a picture in order to get a free sample of ice cream. ..of course we did it! 

David planning a trip to the movies. 

Treat time!  Girls chose bubble tea from Hot & Cold.

Boys had this crazy Korean icecream cone.

Yes...we have to try it all! 

Evi, not very happy with her choice. ..I told her to wait for ice cream. ..I didn't cave on this one. 

Veronika's fave - Mint milk bubble tea.

We ended up buying a tree.  This year is the first year that we will not have a real tree. We're going fake,  so we went really fake. ..and got a white tree. We won't really be home for the holidays anyway.  We'll just stop over to see what Santa has left on our way from Cambodia to Phu Quoc Island. Yes, this year Christmas will be nothing close to traditional. We will definitely miss our big family and big dinner,  but it will give us a chance to bond together...just the six of us. It will be exotic and I can't wait to see how it unfolds...adventure at its best.