3.5 Marathons & A Wedding – Stevie J’s SE Asia Adventure

Hi all!!

I’m Steve Jacobs and I’m 31 (and a Leo :)) and lucky enough to be heading to Cambodia for my good friends, Kathryn and Lucas’, wedding in November.

I’ve never really called myself a runner, having done a marathon in 2009 and a few halves over the years. Late last year I started to do the Saturday runs with Tristan and the gang in Melbourne and have run around 3 times a week since then. My goal this year was to complete 12 half marathons. So far I’ve done two full marathons and 4 halves plus 1 failed ultra (33km out of 50km) last weekend.

When I travel I love to do so in the area for extended periods so I chose to do 3 months in south east Asia around the wedding however I was stuck as to where to start. Likely from inspiration from Tristan’s adventure as well as looking at the Australian running calendar myself this year, I looked into the Asian marathon calendar and spotted a few runs that looked interesting and on dates I could manage around the wedding.

So I settled on this list and dates:
Vietnam mountain marathon – September 20
Khao Yai trail marathon (Thailand) – October 12
Wedding day – November 8
Bagan temple marathon (Burma/Myanmar) – November 15
Angkor wat half marathon (Cambodia) – December 12

Only after booking all these in did I comprehend what I’ve signed up for! However I know I’ll be plenty active between runs and won’t have to stress about training runs too much. The heat and humidity will be good for keeping my muscles relaxed and the cheap massages will be well utilised!

I’m really looking forward to running in some amazing locations and meeting a few of the international marathon runners as well as the local runners, communities and cultures. The chance to experience places I’ve never been and cultures I’ve never seen while combining some running is something I never thought I would say I could or would do!
Sure with all the positives that I’m hoping come my way are also some uncertainties around whether my body will hold up (as I am carrying some aches and pains already) and the usual feelings about the unknown. I’m certainly keen to make the experience fully worthwhile for myself, those around me and others who may want to read about the adventure!

Will keep you posted on the way!

Run like crazy!

Cheers,
Steve