Published on July 16, 2005

[MARATHON] More than 15,000 runners are expected to turn up at the Pattaya Marathon tomorrow morning, with high-profile Kenyan John Rotich and Russian Yuriy Pavlov vying for the prestigious Queen’s Cup and prize money of more than Bt2 million.

The 11th edition will be divided into a full 42.195km marathon, a wheelchair marathon, a 21.10km half-marathon, a 10.55km quarter-marathon and a student 5km walk-and-run.

The marathon races will start at 4am in front of the Pattaya Port (Pattaya Sea Rescue Station) on South Pattaya Road, while the walk-and-run, with about 10,000 runners participating, starts at 6am.

The fastest man and woman in the competition will receive the Queen’s Cup trophies.

The men and women winners in the Open category pocket Bt150,000 and Bt100,00 respectively.

Cash prizes will also be awarded to top five of both men’s and women’s events in all age groups in the half-marathon and quarter-marathon.

Record breakers in men’s and women’s sections get a bonus of Bt50,000 each, while those who set a new Thailand record get an additional Bt100,000.

Japanese Kenichi Kawakubo set the Pattaya marathon record of 2:26.06 hours in 2000, while pint-sized Indonesian Feri Marince Subnafeu clocked the fastest time of 2:51.49 in the women’s event in 2003.

Korean Lee Bong-ju holds the Thailand national record of 2:12.32, set during the Bangkok Asian Games in 1998, while Japanese Takahashi Naoko holds the record of 2:21.42 in the women’s event.

Leading runners in this year’s Pattaya marathon include Kenyan John Rotich, whose personal best time is 2:12.05, Russian Yuriy Pavlov, who clocked his fastest time of 2:14.30 in the Moscow marathon five years ago, Taiwanese Chen Jui-ying and Thailand’s best Boonchu Chandecha, who finished third last year.

Thailand’s Sunisa Sailomyen will be back to defend her title. Last year, she crossed the finish line first in 3:04.48. Her strongest challenge this year is expected from Chinese Cui Ji, who clocked her personal best time of 2:42.08 in Xiamen.

Preechachan Wiriyanupappong

The Nation

Post your comment to this story here