Sunday June 9th 2024 I ran the Laguna Phuket Marathon in Thailand. Find below my full race coverage from this marathon, the 10K race Saturday and some tourist impressions from beautiful Phuket.
Phuket, Big Buddha, Elephants and Banana Beach
This was my first visit to Thailand and with less than 3 days there in toto in managed to visit a few of the “must see” attractions on the Phuket Island, most notably the Big Buddha, some Buddhist Temples, some beaches, some Elephants and the Phuket Old Town.
The Thai are very friendly people and the food is cheap, spicy and quite outstanding, so there’s a lot of reasons to visit. June is off-season so the beaches very largely empty, I guess everything is very much different in the main tourist seasons. Only regret is missing out on a Thai Massage, time did not allow.
However, I made some news friendships during this short time span in Thailand, see in the race report below: when you open up, the world delivers back; Thai karma for sure, Big Buddha would be pleased.
Laguna Phuket 10K
The event carried a 5K and a 10K Saturday morning (and a 2K Kids Run), I ran the 10K, start at 06.00 AM in already very warm and humid conditions. The route was a nice, easy loop around the Laguna and surroundings, however, it became quite “impossible” to run after the sun cam up so I walked like 6-7 km in toto, I saw no urgency to spill my body salts on this race 1 day before the marathon itself. Find the pictures from the 10K in the race report below, including these three charming runners.
Laguna Phuket Marathon 2024
Sunday, the event carried a marathon relay, a half marathon and the marathon itself, the latter shooting off at 04.00 AM in total darkness but still at 29 C and high humidity. The route took the runners up towards the International Airport, the main attraction along the course being a very scenic Buddhist Temple. Otherwise, the scenery was not of much interest but had a somewhat tranquil sense to it. Overall, the organization of the race was pretty much flawless and it’s easy to recommend this event to other runners.
See or relive the Laguna Phuket Marathon 2024 here (and in Thai and Malaysian)