Angkor Wat Marathons

Annual race in Cambodia

Angkor Wat Marathons

Logo of Angkor Wat International Half Marathon

Date| early December
Location| Angkor, Cambodia
Event type| Road
Distance| Marathon, half marathon
Established| 1996 (Half marathon)
2014 (Marathon)
Official site| Angkor Wat Marathons
Participants| 2,555 (2019)
2,906 (2018)

The Angkor Wat Marathons are the annual marathons held in Angkor, Cambodia. There are two marathons from Angkor recognised by the Association of International Marathons and Road Races namely Angkor Wat International Half Marathon and Angkor Empire Marathon.[1] Angkor Wat International Half marathon has been held annually since 1996. Angkor Empire Marathon is the first full marathon from Cambodia held since 2014.[2][3] The event is organized by National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC). According to its official website, the purpose of the event is to "support a ban on the manufacture and inhumane use of antipersonnel mines".[4][5]

## Angkor Wat International Half Marathon

[edit]

Japanese Olympian Yuko Arimori organized the first Angkor Marathon in 1996.

The Angkor Wat International Half Marathon was first organized in 1996 by Yuko Arimori, the first Japanese woman to win a marathon medal in the Olympics.[5] The motto of the marathon is "Building a better future. Aid for the children and disabled in Cambodia". It is organized by National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, Association of Athletics Federations Cambodia and Cambodian Events Organizer Co. Ltd. The marathon is recognized by Association of International Marathons and Road Races and the Association of Athletics Federations Cambodia (Khmer AAF). It is supported by the government of Cambodia, the Embassy of Japan in Cambodia, the United Nations Population Fund, and several other organizations.[4]

The first edition of the International Half Marathon in 1996 saw just 654 participants from 14 countries. Since then participation in the event has steadily increased. In the 2014 event, nearly 8,000 runners from 78 countries participated. The 2019 edition will be held in December.[5]

### List of winners

[edit]

Key: Course record

Edition  | Year  | Men's winner  | Time (h:m:s)  | Women's winner  | Time (h:m:s)

|
|
|
|
|

1st  | 1996  |  Zhan Donglin (CHN) | 1:05:18 |  Wang Xiujie (CHN) | 1:12:27
2nd  | 1997  | Winner not available |  Win-Win Mar (MYA) | 1:15:18
3rd  | 1998  |  Yumiko Otsuka (JPN) | 1:15:18
4th  | 1999  |  Thị Hoa Nguyễn (VIE) | 1:30:17
5th  | 2000  |  Hiromi Suzuki (JPN) | 1:15:03
6th  | 2001  |  Makoto Sasaki (JPN) | 1:10:38  |  Yuko Machida (JPN) | 1:19:54
7th  | 2002  | Winner not available | Winner not available
8th  | 2003
9th  | 2004  |  Hem Bunting (CAM) | 1:14:32
10th  | 2005  |  Hem Bunting (CAM) | 1:10:43
11th  | 2006  |  Hem Bunting (CAM) | 1:12:25  |  Wakana Akimoto (JPN) | 1:26:52
12th  | 2007  |  Tony Seakins (GBR) | 1:18:58  |  Mika Kume (JPN) | 1:34:26
13th  | 2008  |  Hem Bunting (CAM) | 1:13:53  |  Vivian Tang (SGP) | n/a
14th  | 2009  |  Lim Kien Mau (MYS) | 1:13:26  |  Vivian Tang (SGP) | 1:24:00
15th  | 2010  |  Hem Bunting (CAM) | 1:10:11  |  Satoko Uetani (JPN) | 1:22:31
16th  | 2011  |  Henrik Jannborg (SWE) | 1:13:02  |  Jenny Lundgren (SWE) | 1:25:15
17th  | 2012  |  Joji Mori (AUS) | 1:14:55  |  Jenny Lundgren (SWE) | 1:25:45
18th  | 2013  |  Minoru Onozuka (JPN) | 1:16:10  |  Vivian Tang (SGP) | 1:27:82
19th  | 2014  |  Ma Viro (CAM) | 1:16:10  |  Vivian Tang (SGP) | 1:28:06
20th  | 2015  |  Fraser Thompson (AUS) | 1:12:19  |  Phap Sopheak (CAM) | 1:23:43
21st  | 2016  |  Bian Qi (CHN) | 1:13:16  |  Danielle Hodgkinson (GBR) | 1:23:09
22nd  | 2017  |  Bian Qi (CHN) | 1:12:42  |  Máire Nic Amhlaoibh (IRE) | 1:28:42
23rd  | 2018  |  Valentin Cuzzucoli (FRA) | 1:17:18  |  Rebecca Rosel (AUS) | 1:28:46
24th  | 2019  |  Saeki Makino (JPN) | 1:07:34  |  Máire Nic Amhlaoibh (IRE) | 1:24:55
25th  | 2022  |  Farit Ouk (CAM) | 1:18:24  |  Nicole Distler (DEU) | 1:40:16
26th  | 2023  |  Neko Hiroshi (CAM) | 1:25:30  |  Yuko Tanimura (JPN) | 1:29:25

## Angkor Empire Marathon

[edit]

Logo of Angkor Empire Marathon

The full length marathon was introduced in 2014. It is the first full marathon (42 km) in Cambodia,[2] and is organized and supported by same agencies as the half marathon. Over 2000 participants from 48 countries participated in the 2015 edition of marathon. Angkor Hospital for Children, Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital, and the Cambodian Red Cross are beneficiaries of the Angkor Empire Marathon.[2][6][7] Neko Hiroshi, a Japanese native and naturalized Cambodian citizen, was the first winner of Empire marathon in 2014, while Japanese runner Koki Kawauchi was the winner of the 2015 edition. Sakie Ishiba Shi, also of Japan, won the women's full marathon in 2015. The 2015 edition held in August saw around 2,200 participants.[2][8]

### List of winners

[edit]

Key: Course record

Edition  | Year  | Men's winner  | Time (h:m:s)  | Women's winner  | Time (h:m:s)

|
|
|
|
|

1st  | 2014  |  Neko Hiroshi (CAM) | 2:45:28  |  Veronique Messina (FRA) | 3:36:04
2nd  | 2015  |  Koki Kawauchi (JPN) | 2:36:58 |  Sakie Ishibashi (JPN) | 2:59:12
3rd  | 2016  |  Jeff Chaseling (AUS) | 2:49:56  |  Erina Nakai (JPN) | 3:19:34
4th  | 2017  |  Neil Burns (GBR) | 3:08:08  |  Carlota Corbella (ESP) | 3:19:03
5th  | 2018  |  Ma Viro (CAM) | 2:56:24  |  Jill Hamill (GBR) | 3:06:59
6th  | 2019  |  Neko Hiroshi (CAM) | 2:43:07  |  Shi Hongxia (CHN) | 3:33:49
7th  | 2022  |  Sam Rachna (CAM) | 3:26:09  |  Elaine Lee (HKG) | 3:37:11
8th  | 2023  |  Van Long Nguyen (VNM) | 2:51:12  |  Thi Duong Nguyen (VNM) | 3:21:32

## Marathon course

[edit]

Angkor Wat is the site where marathon starts and ends.

The Marathon starts and ends at the Angkor Wat temple complex, a World Heritage Site. Other important spots over course of run are the Angkor Archaeological Park, Preah Prom Rath pagoda, and several other temples.[7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "AIMS – Calendar of Races". Aimsworldrunning.org. Archived from the original on 2015-11-10. Retrieved 2015-11-26.
2. ^ a b c d H S Manjunath (2015-08-10). "Japanese runners dominate Angkor Empire Marathon, Sport, Phnom Penh Post". Phnompenhpost.com. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
3. ^ H S Manjunath (2014-08-06). "Interest growing for Angkor Wat marathon, Sport, Phnom Penh Post". Phnompenhpost.com. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
4. ^ a b "Site: angkormarathon.org – home". angkormarathon.org. Archived from the original on 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
5. ^ a b c "Cambodian wins Angkor Wat marathon". Bangkok Post. 2014-12-07. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
6. ^ "Angkor Empire Half and Full Marathon". Angkorempiremarathon.org. 2015-08-09. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
7. ^ a b Tuesday, 03 November 2015 13:09:32 GMT (ICT). "Sunday's Angkor Empire Marathon to Draw 2,200 Runners | Khmer Times | News Portal Cambodia |". Khmertimeskh.com. Retrieved 2015-11-03.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)[permanent dead link]
8. ^ H S Manjunath (2014-08-18). "Neko Hiroshi runs away with Angkor marathon, Sport, Phnom Penh Post". Phnompenhpost.com. Retrieved 2015-11-03.

*[CHN]: China
*[MYA]: Myanmar
*[JPN]: Japan
*[VIE]: Vietnam
*[CAM]: Cambodia
*[GBR]: Great Britain
*[SGP]: Singapore
*[MYS]: Malaysia
*[SWE]: Sweden
*[AUS]: Australia
*[IRE]: Ireland
*[FRA]: France
*[DEU]: Germany
*[ESP]: Spain
*[HKG]: Hong Kong
*[VNM]: Vietnam