PHNOM PENH ATHLETICS CLUB

One of our favourite events is back after being successfully trialed for the first time fifteen events ago at Koh Pich. We've got a new location and a slightly shorter course and after applying some minor tweaks to the rules we were all set for the second edition of the endurance elimination race.   The general idea is that everyone will run laps and at the end of each lap, the last people will be eliminated until a final lap showdown between the two remaining runners. The race is broken down into eight rounds of seven laps separated by a short rest and there are bonus points available for winning a lap and winning the round as well as for completing laps and not being eliminated. Everyone can participate with all runners expected to complete a minimum of 4km and up to 14.5km if winning every round. The more people that take part, the more fun it is - please contact us for more detailed information about the rules if you'd like to know more about this exciting race format! Ove...

  A slightly earlier start this week, however, conditions were already warm and more humid than usual with a medium headwind around the bottom curve of the course. We also welcomed two more first timers. Despite the conditions a dominant performance from Andarge with a PB of 10:09 saw him finish comfortably 28 seconds ahead of Neil in second place. Yin Ling rounded out the top three in a PB of 12:51. Overall we had three PBs for athletes with existing 3k times and two points PBs for non-first timers.

On the occasion of this week's 5km road race we bid farewell to Phnom Penh Athletics Club founder Martin Kendrik. After racing or hosting 57 PPAC events and following a long and slow recovery from injury Martin was ready to reach for two personal landmarks in his last event - a sub-20 minute 5k PB and break the 500 PPAC point barrier for the first time. We also welcomed two more first timers. With Neil and James for company the three runners set a consistent pace from start to finish and final sprint push from Martin saw him over the line two seconds inside the target for a 5k PB and personal best PPAC score of 502.6 points. This week's overall winner was Yin Ling with 560 points, her 21:52 time scoring 42 more points than Neil who crossed the line first in 19:49. Martin also topped the consistency, oxygen consumption and fitness factor rankings this week.

Welcome back to the first PPAC event following our break after the end of Cambodia's Next Top Runner 2021. Some of PPAC's members took part in a very fun trail run the previous week so we put on a shorter event to get back into the swing of road racing for the year's calendar ahead. The Sokha Lap race consists of one lap of the Sokha Hotel and surrounding undeveloped grassland which makes a loop of approximately 2.14 km. Every time we hold a race here, be it 3, 5 or 10 km, we attempt to record athletes' lap times and to date 154 different individuals have recorded at least one lap time registered in the Sokha Lap leaderboard. The single Sokha Lap race is the best opportunity for breaking the course record or climbing the leaderboard with a PB. The race is run with a rolling staggered handicap-style start to give the best chance of a fast time and to generate more racing action at the finish line as the fastest runners catch the earlier starters over the course of the r...