Muang Thai Chiang Mai Half Marathon 2016
18th December 2016
"Sir, you are representing Malaysia?" she (or ze), the volunteer at the registration counter asked with her heavily Thai-accented English. Till then it did not strike me. Wow, I am at an international participant attended by representatives from 53 countries, and three of us were there to hold our national flag!
She handed me a racing bib with my name proudly printed against my multi-hued country flag.
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| The Start |
In keeping with the sombre state of affairs in accordance to the recent demise of the much-beloved monarch, the festivities were held in a much low key setting. Even the running attire was printed in mellowed monochrome - black and white. Lacing the roads at intervals were long black and white long ribbons to set the tone. Hospitality, the smile and the humble Thai salutations of 'Sawadee' and 'Kho Khun Kha' were still abundant. Hey, life has to go on. One cannot live on fresh air and sympathy alone!
Right on the dot, at 5 am, the half marathon runners were flagged off without much unnecessary bantering and needless speeches by VIPs. Even though the temperature was recorded as a cooling 17 degrees C, it did feel so comfortable, though. As I cruised along the first kilometre, I noticed that I was sweating again like a pig (yeah, pigs do not sweat!). Even though the temperature was moderate, the humidity was surprisingly high at 85%, slighter better that the one day before, 100%! The air was almost still. The morning was young or rather the night was way late as it was still very dark. Sunrise in Chiangmai on that day was almost 7 am. In the still of Chiangmai streets, almost seamlessly in well-coordinated fashion, runners, mostly amateur fun-loving ones, moved along the streets.Basically, the town is built around a canal with an almost rectangular lattice of road networks. We ran in the form of two quadrangular loops, extending to the airport and back. The Thais must be very hardworking people as they were already busy on the road at 5 o'clock on a Sunday morning. It could not be Saturday night revellers who partied through the evening as they seem quiet. The only boisterous crowd appear to be gweilos in taxis. Despite the inconveniences by the race, in the form of traffic congestion and long waiting times at junctions, the Thais took it in their usual docile fashion - quiet and patient. They know they have to play dance monkey to appear inviting to foreigners. That is their bread and butter or rather tom-yam and mango glutinous rice pudding! Like their Indo and Malayan counterparts who found pleasure in horns blasting, they stayed silent.
Paradoxically, as the race progressed, the ambience became more comfortable. With the rise in temperature, the humidity must have decreased, and it became more pleasant to just cruise along. One sees the culture and civilisation of a country by looking at the ordinary folks. What better way to observe this then to weave through the streets amongst the denizens of Chiang Mai. It was a common sight to see Buddhist holy men, with their bowls chanting sacred texts to kneeling people for some exchange of alms, I presume.Without any untoward incidences, the race ended at where it started. What puzzled me afterwards was the seemingly seamless flow of events at the finishing line. After crossing the timing belt, runners are given the usual complimentary drinks and medals, together with a print out of their run timings! Nothing is going to stop them from issuing laminated finishers' certificates in the very near future! The post run galore continued with coconut drinks and signature foot massage for the sore feet and legs. A well-organised race to showcase the superb hospitality of the Lanna folks.
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| Lanna hospitality at your service! |
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