Tag Archives: Bangkok

Bangkok Midnight Run 20th October 2012

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Hi everyone! I’ve been quite inactive recently on BangkokFitness but all that will change, along with a revamp of the site at some stage soon. Anyway, onto some event info!

One of Thailand’s more interesting runs is the Amari Bangkok Midnight Run, which takes place through the traffic of Bangkok on a Saturday night (no prizes for guessing what time it starts). It’s about as crazy as it sounds, with motorbikes, cars and mouthfuls of traffic fumes all par for the course. Despite these obstacles, it is great fun and the looks from people drinking and partying in and around Sukhumvit are priceless.

There are two races – the 6km and 12km – although the real distances are more like 6.5km and 11.5km, which can be a bit confusing if you’re trying to run at a set pace. There are no distance markers and it’s a little haphazardly organized, but that’s just part of the fun!

This year’s race takes place on 20th October 2012 which gives you 10+ weeks to prepare – which is bucketloads of time to get your running shoes on and into one of Bangkok’s parks for some training.

My post on last year’s event has a running plan to help you prepare for the race, or contact me if you’d like some advice or a more specific plan for your training.

Here is the official site for the Amari Midnight Run.

Last year’s ‘before’ photo

ImageLast year’s ‘after’ photo (with the bootcamp crew)

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 Good luck to everyone that takes part!

1st Bangkok International Half Marathon Sunday 26th Feb

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The first ever Bangkok International Half Marathon will be held this coming Sunday at Rama 8 bridge. There is a half marathon that starts at 5.00am (ouch) and a quarter-marathon that starts at 6.15am.

The races start at Rama 8 bridge (pictured right) and if you intend to compete I’d recommend registering as soon as possible.

Click here to view their site for more info.

Bangkok Vertical Marathon at Banyan Tree Hotel

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UPDATE: Due to the flooding situation, the Bangkok Vertical Marathon has been postponed until 22nd January 2012.

The Bangkok Vertical Marathon takes place two weeks today on Sunday 29th October at 8.30am at the Banyan Tree Hotel on Sathorn road.

The event isn’t a race 26 miles into the air, because that would be ridiculous, but it is a nonetheless gruelling sprint up Banyan Tree’s 1,093 stairs, starting at the bottom and conveniently finishing in the hotel’s famous Vertigo rooftop bar, perfect for a celebratory cocktail overlooking Bangkok’s skyline.

Registration for the 61 floor race is 350 baht with all proceeds going to the Thai Red Cross in support of the HIV Formula Feeding Fund. You can register at the Banyan Tree website or at the front desk.

Training for the Bangkok Vertical Marathon

The best way to train for this event is, of course, by running up stairs. Nothing else quite mimics the way your leg muscles are tested. Try using the stairs of a friend’s tall condo if you can. Start with, say, 10 floors and build up. Start by having rests between sets of floors and then reduce the frequency and duration of rests. Get a feel for how hard it is to do 10/20/30 floors in one go – remember that the race is 61 floors, which is 8-9 minutes of high intensity work at a good pace.

Another option if you only have a few flights is by training with a partner, tag team style by running up and down 3-5 flights hitting every stair up and down, tagging your partner and then waiting for them to do the same before repeating. Complete 10-20 rounds for a great high intensity workout. You can also do this on your own by timing your breaks but as it’s such high intensity it works better with a partner for extra motivation.

Technique for the Bangkok Vertical Marathon

This will be my first stair running event, but today I spoke to the winner of the women’s category last year and she told me that it’s best to use the hand rails from the very beginning, not just when you get tired. Makes sense really. Try to take 2-3 steps at a time if you can.

I’m really looking forward to this one, should be pretty intense. Good luck to all those taking part!