PHNOM PENH ATHLETICS CLUB

The second event of the Festival of Speed, coinciding with PPAC's four weekly 5km Road Race, took place a week after the competition's first event, the 3km Road Race. Conditions were set fair for running with cooler temperatures as the rainy season sets in. Two separate heats were held, with a senior heat setting off before 6 am and the youth heat following around 40 minutes later. The youth event started around 10 minutes after the last senior finisher with ten young athletes on the start line - eight of whom new to the 5km road race distance. The first two finishers scored strong PBs improving on the times set in their first 5km race back in early February and all participants comfortably finished the race with the support of Elaine and a few senior athletes.  Festival of Speed standings after 2 out of 3 events We have some additional analysis in the table this week with four senior and one youth athlete achieving PPAC points PBs with a points PB for Sreyleap and a first poi...

Our first 3km road race in six weeks kicked off part 1 of 3 of the Festival of Speed, a new mini-competition that encompasses middle and long distance with a 3km, 5km and 1500m road race. Points will be awarded based on finishing position in various categories on a 20-down-to-1 points ladder rewarding the top 14 finishers, with all participants from 15th place onward receiving one point. For a chance to be ranked among the best of all, athletes will have to compete in all three events of the festival! The first event was held as separate senior and youth heats departing thirty minutes apart with 15 and 12 participants respectively in each race. The senior race saw some strong performances with twelve athletes coming in well under 13 minutes, including seven under 12 minutes and four PBs for athletes with previously recorded times including big improvements of 49 seconds and 1:18 for Hugo and Leonardo respectively. The top 10 places were shared equally among Cambodian and non-Cambodian...

With the start of our exciting new three-part competition from the following week, the "Festival of Speed", PPAC athletes joined in a more leisurely event carrying the club’s golden baton from the Olympic Stadium, over the bridge to Chruoy Changvar, Sokha and back to Riverside, passing all the locations the club has held events over the past year and a half, tracing the club's journey so far and covering approximately 14km across the city. Athletes carried the baton for different sections of the course and we stopped at all the significant PPAC locations to handover the baton and share memorable PPAC moments. In the end most of the athletes joined from the start at Olympic, with others joining the group at the Chruoy Changvar carnival. We were accompanied by two support bicycles plus one motorbike with supplies to keep the athletes hydrated for around 2 hours of running. Start - Olympic stadium The location of the club’s first ever event on 5 Jan 2020, and a total of 8 t...