Cambodia's Next Top Runner - Event 1 - 800m

photos courtesy of Tom Vosters & Martin Kendrik

Chhun sets impressive 800m time in first event

Athletes cool down in the sun

This is the first event in the CNTR series. To be in with a chance of being crowned Cambodia's next top runner, athletes have to compete in 8 different races over 8 different distances to prove their ability but most importantly, their dedication to training and athletics.

Most of the competitors were specifically invited to take part based on their previous results in other races.

Watch the full video of how the event went down here

You can also watch the Khmer version of the above video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1POltZaJug&t=371s

To see all the photos from the event, check our facebook page

The first week is one of the hardest events, the 800m. It's pretty much a long sprint for 2 laps of the track. Athletes start in their lanes, run the first 100m and are then allowed to break into the first lane. For this we needed to split competitors into 3 separate heats.

Athletes ready to start the race

To date there are 33 athletes registered in the competition, five are overseas this week leaving 28 available to compete of whom 14 made it to the start line. Athletes joined a group warm up before starting the event. The race is electronically timed using video timer technology with conventional hand-timing as a backup.

After 1 lap, the field is already spread out

Heat 1 featured five Cambodians including one female athlete and one British representative starting in lanes 1 to 6. After two tough laps, Seanghai POUN of Cambodia was a clear winner in 2:21.76, eleven seconds ahead of second placed compatriot Sovannra LONG who edged out British veteran Martin KENDRIK a further four seconds behind. This was a race of two halves as the remaining competitors all passed three minutes, with Sreyrath LAY outsprinting Kimleang Lor to claim fifth place in 3:22.84 and a new PB.

Bunthorn Chhun eases round the first lap

The athletes upped the tempo in Heat 2. Occupying lanes 1 to 6 were four Cambodians, including the country’s top male and female middle distance runners Bunthorn CHHUN and Meyjou HENG, who were joined by one male junior athlete Sophut PHAT and three international runners. With a first lap in exactly 1:00.00, Bunthorn set out his stall early in the race and with a strong 1:01.43 second lap, he could not be caught by the second and third placed athletes. Despite being in third place at the end of Lap 1, Sophut was just too strong for British runner Neil BIANCHI, comfortably holding him off to finish 0.86 seconds ahead in 2:10.60. In fourth place, Loup COLOMBI with no near rivals ahead or behind got a PB in 2:27.44, giving him fifth place in the overall result. Mason Vosters edged out Mejou HENG to claim fifth place and a new PB in 2:41.10, pulling clear in the final 50 metres after a closely run race.

In heat 3 a good performance by Leanghak CHAN saw him claim seventh position overall, just ahead of Martin, and Hou THYDA claimed the second overall female position in 3:06.35.

Here are the final results including both lap times

Here's the overall standings after the first event

The athletes now prepare for a 10km road race in the next event, the longest distance in the competition. You can read how that goes on next weeks blog post.