Athletes from 22 countries compete in 1st Sihanoukville half marathon

March 12, 2012

SIHANOUKVILLE (Kyodo) -- Athletes from 22 countries joined the first Sihanoukville International Half Marathon on Sunday in Cambodia's southwest coastal city Sihanoukville.

Of the 1,150 athletes in the 21-kilometer race were 50 expatriates living in Cambodia and 103 overseas athletes.

Speaking of the race, Thong Khon, the tourism minister, said, "The creation of a sporting event is the creation of a tourism product that provides benefits to socioeconomic welfare of the people and direct benefits to businesses."

Swedish runner wins Cambodian half marathon

December 5, 2011

SIEM REAP, Cambodia (Kyodo) -- Henrik Jannborg of Sweden won the 16th Angkor Wat International Half Marathon on Sunday, crossing the finish line in 1 hour, 13 minutes, 5 seconds.

Evan Fox of the United States finished second in 1:14:18, while Minoru Onozuka from Japan was third with a time of 1:17:41.

The half marathon through the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat is an annual international charity event for the benefit of landmine victims, young Cambodians with HIV/AIDS, and other pressing issues in Cambodian development.

Cambodia marks 15th int'l half marathon at Angkor Wat

December 5, 2010

SIEM REAP, Cambodia (Kyodo) -- Cambodia marked the 15th international half marathon at the Angkor Wat temple complex with more participants than ever on Sunday.

The event began with only 654 runners from 14 countries in 1996, but this year 4,050 athletes from 53 countries took part.

The Angkor Wat International Half Marathon was introduced by Yuko Arimori, the first Japanese woman to win a marathon medal at the Olympics.

Arimori, 43, now a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Population Fund and a representative director of nongovernmental agency Hearts of Gold, won the silver medal at Barcelona in 1992 and bronze at Atlanta in 1996.

She has taken part every international half marathon in Cambodia to contribute to fund-raising for landmine victims and the poor.

Thong Khon, minister of tourism, said he was "happy and honored" to see the huge participation in the race, especially, at the world heritage site Angkor Wat.

"This year's international half marathon clearly demonstrates the full supports for Cambodia as well as for all runners in a way of strengthening solidarity, friendship and peace of all nations in the region and in the world and as well as for contributing to humanitarian actions to all victims by landmines," he said.

The 21 kilometer race for men was won by Cambodian Hen Bunting in 1 hour, 10 minutes and 11 seconds. American Evan Fox finished in 1:15:55 and Japanese comedian Hiroshi Neko to third in 1:16:0.

The 15th Angkor Wat International Half Marathon also included races from 3,000 to 10,000 meters.

Ly Nary runs personal best at NY marathon

Cambodia's Ly Nary competes in this year's New York marathon. Photo Supplied

Tuesday, 09 November 2010
Julie Masis
The Phnom Penh Post

Cambodia’s first and currently only female marathon runner Ly Nary successfully completed the New York City Marathon Sunday – arriving at the finish line as the second fastest runner from Southeast Asia.

The 38-year-old athlete finished the 42-kilometer race in 3 hours and 16 minutes, arriving in 41st place in her age group in a race that had 44,829 finishers. As the only athlete representing Cambodia in the marathon, she was faster than all the runners from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar, according to the New York City Marathon website.

Only 28-year-old Rio De La Cruz from the Philippines, one of 131 Filipinos in the race, ended in front of Ly Nary with a time of 3 hours dead.

“I’m happy,” Ly Nary said by telephone from New York, whilst admitting that she endured hardship over the last mile. “This is my new record, my personal best.”

Ly Nary cut 18 minutes from her running time after attending a ten-week high-altitude training camp for runners in Kenya, where she was the first Cambodian participant. She claimed she could really concentrate on her preparations in the village where she stayed, and where 40 percent of the local residents are runners. Indeed, Nary revealed that she had learned a lot from running with the African athletes, who are among the best in the world. “We became friends,” Nary said. “They called me sister.”

In the future, Ly Nary said she would like to find sponsors to bring a team of about 12 Cambodian runners to the training camp in Kenya. She is set to return to the Kingdom on November 16 and will participate in the Angkor Wat Half Marathon in Siem Reap on December 5.

She is also hoping to represent Cambodia at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Tourism minister Thong Khon to participate in Beijing Olympics ... as a tourist?

Cambodia to send 15-member delegation to Beijing Olympics

PHNOM PENH, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia will send a 15-member delegation to participate in the Olympic Games in Beijing in August with eye on swimming and marathon medals, English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodian Daily said Friday.

The team will include Thong Khon, tourism minister and president of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC), and depart for Beijing on August 7, the paper quoted Nhan Sok Visal, an NOCC administrator, as saying.

King Norodom Sihamoni and Education Minister Kol Pheng also plan to attend the opening ceremony of the games, he added.

Among the delegation members are 23-year-old Hem Bunting and 19-year-old female Sou Titlinda for marathon, and 18-year-old Hem Thon Ponloeu and his 16-year-old niece Hem Thon Vitiny for 50-meter free style swimming race, he said.

Hem Bunting won silver and bronze medals in track and field at the SEA Games in Thailand in December, he added.

It is not the first time Cambodia has sent athletes to the Olympics.

The first post-war delegation of five Khmers competed at the Atlanta Games in 1996, and Cambodia subsequently sent four athletes to both Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004.

Mini Charity Marathon for Kids in Cambodia

Runners gearing up to race to raise money

Thursday, June 14, 2007
The Seoul Times (South Korea)

If you haven't witnessed it yourself then you would have heard the story of a child with his or hands stretched out begging for money, pleading for help, longing for a bit of hope.

A common sight for tourists traveling in Asia and around the world.

The plight of children in poor countries is not something everyone has witnessed first hand. But for those who have, it's something they never forget.

In Cambodia, where half of the population is under 15, the story is no different.

Child prostitution, homelessness, poverty, a paedophile's playground, human trafficking are just some of the horrors faced everyday.

And something two well traveled women saw for themselves and never forgot.

Andrea Kvasnica and Emma Stringer got the chance to help those children they had seen being exploited, neglected and forgotten during a marathon of a fundraising stint at the weekend.

Andrea Kvansnica and Emma Stringer with co-worker Mr. Cho never forgot what they saw in Cambodia.

What started out as being a fun 10km run between friends turned into a mini-marathon of English teachers in Daegu raising 2.4million Won ($2,700 Canadian dollars) for children of Cambodia.

Along side the river on the morning of Saturday, June 9th, with a back drop of mountains, and below the roaring traffic overhead, 75 people ran, walked, cycled and rollerbladed all with a common cause. To support children of poverty.

"It was just supposed to be a small run with 10 friends, but more people heard about it and it just escalated from there," says Emma, originally from Leicester, England.

The two pals have lived in South Korea for three years and as keen athletes, running about five times a week, they wanted to do another long distance run having completed a half marathon in April.

"The way it works here is that as the season goes on so the distances get longer, but we only wanted to do a 10km so decided to organize our own," says Andrea, from Ottawa, Canada.

With the help and support of other friends they were able to organize the 10km and 5km mini-marathon in Daegu and from their experiences in the impoverished Southeast Asian country decided the children they had seen stuck in a plight of hopelessness would benefit from their hard work.

The two friends, who met in South Korea while working at a Hagwon in Daegu, traveled to Cambodia in October 2005 with the intention of staying for seven days.

But having experienced the plight of children and families there were forced to cut their holiday short. Something they never forgot.

"We were planning to be there for seven days, but everywhere we went it was like people were breathing devastation," recalls Andrea, 27.

Hearing stories from tuktuk drivers who had lost their family to genocide, murder and poverty and seeing first hand the immense problem of child exploitation by paeodophiles they were shocked by how it left them feeling. Were they also taking advantage of the people by being tourists? Were they feeding the corruption of the poor?

"It was really depressing and we felt really bad because we are mega rich compared to them. We were trying to have a vacation and we felt so guilty because we were rich and they weren't," adds Emma, 26.

Andrea says "To go and visit was really hard because every day you are reminded of how dire the situation is. It's in your face all the time. Any time anyone asks me where's the worst place I have been to, Cambodia always pops into my head. That was humans in their worse situation."

Since their trip the pair have learnt more about the history and politics of the country and discovered the charity Children of Cambodia Fund who they chose to donate the money from the mini marathon to. The money will be used to help rescue children living on the dumps and tips of litter and rubbish everywhere because they have no families, no homes and no money.

The organization is trying to combat the problem with child prostitution by setting up orphanages and projects to get the children off the streets.

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Asia with 85 percent of the population of 12.5 million people living in rural areas. There is a high infant mortality rate and the average life expectancy is 57 years old. During the notorious regime of Pol Pot in the 1970s around 1.5 million people lost their lives.

"Everywhere has poor places, we know, but it was a massive difference in Cambodia," says Emma.

Andrea adds: "The difference is that in other countries you can see there is some wealth and they can feed themselves and provide houses, but in Cambodia you just don't see it. Everyone is just suffering and the thing is there's no hope. They just don't have the means to move on. Their generation is stumped."

Since starting to organize the mini marathon six weeks ago, Andrea and Emma have realized they are not alone in their experience and know they will not be the last.

"A lot of people told us they had been or were about to go. Cambodia touches a lot of people's hearts from what they have heard or seen," adds Andrea.

The money raised far exceeded the two women's expectations and the support they say was amazing.

"We just want to say thank you to everyone who helped us and we hope it will be of some benefit to the children in Cambodia," Andrea says.

Marathoner raising money for Cambodian orphans

Brooke Barthels runs down Wisconsin Street while completing an over 13 mile run Saturday morning as practice for the Oshkosh Half Marathon. By running the race, Barthels is trying to raise money for children in Cambodia. Oshkosh Northwestern photo by Laura May

April 9, 2007
By Krista B. Ledbetter
of The Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA)

Brooke Barthels will celebrate her 27th birthday on April 14, the same day she's running the Oshkosh Half Marathon. But before thinking of herself, she's got her mind on Cambodia.

Since returning from a three-month backpacking trip through Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos in January, Barthels, of Oshkosh, has been training for both the Oshkosh half and Green Bay's Cellcom Marathon. But she's in it for more than the rush and the finishers medal. She's hoping to raise money for Cambodian orphanages.

"I've always been interested in helping with orphanages," the substitute teacher said.

After a war ended in Cambodia in 1979, children have been left without homes, without parents and with parents who can't afford to raise them.

"I was overcome with grief by how these children live," she said, after having spent time at a Cambodian orphanage during her time in Southeast Asia.

That's when she decided to help.

Barthel's ran her first half marathon in Japan, while in the country teaching, and followed that last year with the Lakefront Marathon in Milwaukee – her first full marathon.

"I've always worked out," she said. "And while abroad, the only way to stay fit was to run."

And she's certainly been abroad.

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 2004, she looked into joining the Peace Corps until she found herself at an international job fair, where she landed a teaching job in Honduras. After Honduras, she taught in Japan for a year.

Today she's stateside, having returned to her family in Oshkosh after her most recent trip abroad. But in the fall she hopes to return to Cambodia, hopefully with some donated dollars to give to the Cambodian Children's Fund to help supply orphaned children with clothes, food and needed supplies.

She's hoping people will support her half marathon and marathon efforts with per-mile sponsorships or donations of any sum. After the Oshkosh race this weekend, her next fundraising race, the Cellcom Marathon, is May 20.

After Barthels returns to Southeast Asia in the fall, she hopes to volunteer at an orphanage in Africa. If enough money is raised, she hopes to be able to help out the African orphanage as well.
Krista B. Ledbetter: (920) 426-6656 or kledbetter@thenorthwestern.com