PPAC-84 Koh Dach Half Marathon

Early on 28 November 2021 keen athletes gathered from across the city, most taking the first ferry across to Koh Dach (Silk Island), some having traveled from farther and others staying over to adjust to the local conditions since the eve of the race.

With some wind but cooler and dryer conditions than recently, athletes had warmed up and braved the 5:30 am pre-race briefing and were ready at the line just before dawn.

The course comprised three loops - a first 5.8 km loop on the east side up the island’s main road and a second 9.5 km loop around the bottom of the island and up to Wat Ampor Pal on the west of the island and back, before repeating the first loop to complete the half marathon distance and finishing exactly where the race started.

The race set off under the dawn half-light just after the scheduled 5:40 am start and within a few minutes the road ahead was clearly visible. Runners at the head of the race set off at a a blistering pace with the first three all completing the first 5.8 km section under 22 minutes (3:41-3:46 min/km pace). The top male and female runners led their respective categories from start to finish and the positions established early on among the main contenders at the head of the race did not change significantly.

Race Results

In the male competition Andarge Ayal of Ethiopia, and regular PPAC athlete, established a twenty second lead through the first section and consolidated his position over the remaining distance, crossing the line first in 1:21:07, 1:49 ahead of second placed Cambodian athlete Viro Ma’s 1:22:56 who held off compatriot Runn Kong who was 22 seconds further back in 1:23:18. The top three completed the race at a pace of 3:57 min/km or under.

In the female competition Hong Kong’s Elaine Lee set off strongly and established close to a minute gap over second placed Muyngim Eng by the end of the first section. The pace evened out in the middle section, however, Elaine was able to push on in the final section, as her nearest opponent slowed, and finished first in 1:42:31, with Cambodian runner Muyngim second in 1:44:58. In the battle for third Australia’s Megan Coull was able to stay in front of Xiao Ju Peng with a controlled effort to finish comfortably ahead in 1:54:30.

The most combative running took place in the middle of the field with some strong performances from athletes who set off more conservatively at the start, as they caught and overtook those who’d set off too quickly and struggled to maintain the pace. There were excellently crafted performances from Japanese duo Hiroshi Ake and Daiki Watanabe, staying close throughout and gradually building their pace to complete the final section in just over 24 minutes and finish under 1h31 for fifth and sixth place. There were similarly well paced negative split performances from Sophors Cheang, Vannak Chan, Fernando Martinez Tabernero and Kunthy Kann who all placed in the top-20.

Race Analysis & Points Ranking

The consistent performers of the day were Sothya Buonhing, and French duo Claire Thevenet and Catherine Anton in step from start to finish and barely separable to divide up the fifth and sixth places.

On a great morning for running, 47 of 49 runners at the start line made it to the finish, with the final athlete finishing a few minutes within the cut-off in 2h47. Since this is the club’s first ever half marathon event, there are no data for existing PB’s and though some will have run faster before, many of the runners will have achieved personal bests and laid down highly respectable markers for future races.

Out of 47 finishers, 43 scored PPAC points which is an indicator of the overall high level of performance of participants. The top three in the men’s race all scored over 800 points with fourteen runners scoring more than 500 points. There were points PB’s for seven athletes who’ve previously attended regular Sunday PPAC events with big improvements of over 50 points for Sophors (+175!), Guanghui, Melissa and Megan. The morning’s most impressive age-graded performances came from Hiroshi Ake and Catherine Anton in the male and female races respectively.

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to our sponsors for the race, main event sponsor SuSu youth running organisation, Bong Bonlai vegan restaurant and The Sew Good Company, which enabled the club to provide cash prizes to the top three male and female finishers, as well as post-race fresh fruit for participants and new equipment for the club’s events. Thanks also for the support from the Khmer Amateur Athletics Federation and President HE Samheng Boros.

We’d also like to thank a large supporting cast of helpers over the weekend who helped make this event happen, notably coach Sok Sao, Barang, Haruka, Sok San, Sochin, Sokhav, San Mao, Chim Phan, Chantha and Bong Hong from the para athletics team, and Seavmey, Vattey, Sreyrath, Sanket, Mon Ma, Sreypov, the nurse Socheata, and coach Pov Sitha for the generous use of his land as the headquarters for the event.

Thank you, as always from the PPAC Team and see you all soon for another event! You can find all the best photos from the event on our FB page and more albums will uploaded over the next few days.

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