Photo: John and Jeanette Chambers at the Phymrinkudithong Temple after the Thailand Temple Run

While planning for an 18-day trip to Thailand in March 2004, we checked the Internet for race events and discovered the Bangkok Marathon/Temple Run with associated Half Marathon and Mini Marathon scheduled for March 21. This fit our schedule, so the Internet was used to register and secure hotel reservations at the headquarters hotel, Amari Watergate, in Bangkok.

We attended a five-star pre-race buffet at the hotel. The alarm went off at 2:00 am on race day. Loaded with sleepy runners, four buses, carrying mostly foreigners, departed the hotel for the race site at 3:00 am. We were halfway around the world and a day ahead, so in the Washington, DC area it was 3:00 pm the day before, according to my calculations. It was a one and one-half hour bus ride to the race site, at the temple grounds of Phumrinkudeethong Temple, Sanut, Songkram Province, about 74 Km southwest of Bangkok. The locals arrived by car.

Photo: The start line of the Mini Marathon with John Chambers on left.

The marathon start time was 5:00 am, the half marathon at 5:30 am, and the mini marathon at 6:00 am. Total number of runners was about 1200, with 300 to 400 in each race. Late registration, baggage check- in, and porta-potty lines were just like a U.S. race or, for that matter, like a race anywhere in the world. This was a chip race. There was group stretching before the start of the marathon but very few of the runners in any of the races did any running warm-up.

Photo: Race registration worker in traditional attire.

A Buddha Monk Ceremony preceded the race, followed by a blessing by the Chief Monk, who sprayed Holy Water over the runners for good luck. The marathon started promptly, not with a gun or a "go," but with a gong, plus a fireworks display.

A half-hour later the half marathon was blessed with Holy Water and was off with the gong. Another half hour, at 6:00 am, the mini marathon runners were blessed by the Chief Monk with the Holy Water an the gong sounded again.

The temperature was in the 90's, so we were told. The air was heavy with smog and smoke. Some might say this was an "exotic" scene. Two hours after sunrise, when taking photographs, the automatic flash on our camera was still going off because of the hazy, smoky, smog- like conditions.

The marathon was the usual distance, 42 kilometers, as was the half marathon, 21 Km. The mini marathon was a bit unusual to us in that the distance was one-half of the half marathon, i.e., 10.5 Km (it seemed a lot longer!).

The course ran over winding, narrow, two-lane, paved roads, past temples, over canals, through some almost jungle-like areas and through some sparsely populated residential areas. There were several Thai style musical groups along the way. The course was unprotected; that is, there was normal vehicular traffic. But the drivers were very courteous toward the runners.

Our pace for the first 5K was our usual, then we "crashed." I don't know if it was the jet lag, the heat, the environment, or simply that age is catching up with us, but it was the slowest paced race we have ever done, including marathons.

Jeanette and I were often acknowledged by Thai runners (as they passed us) with "sawardee," the Thai equivalent to "hello," and big smiles, with perhaps a few words of English. It seemed that many were pleased that we ran together (as we usually do, except in marathons when Jeanette pulls ahead).

After finishing, we watched the awards ceremony for the mini and half marathons. Then we took the bus back to the hotel. After a short nap, we toured Bangkok.

In the evening, there was an awards banquet at the headquarters hotel. It was a happy gathering of runners, mostly foreigners, most of whom came just to run, not to compete. For example, there were runners from Paris visiting their daughter living in Bangkok, an expat husband and wife from North Dakota now living in Jakarta, an American businessman and wife from Singapore, a young man who was a mortgage banker originally from Texas and now in New York City, a young man from Calgary, a Japanese woman working for the United Nations (UNICEF) in Afghanistan, and others in the international or world community. There was superb food and good conversation.

Running internationally provides a unique opportunity to experience other cultures and to meet runners from all over the world, for whom there is a common bond. What is next? Perhaps we will see you at the Poznan, Poland Marathon and 10K in October!

These are the perks of retirement, slow and old, running through the world.

Background: Jeanette Chambers is a retired teacher, having taught for 43 years from Kindergarten through high school in Iowa, Florida, Virginia, California, Rhode Island, and Maryland. John Chambers is a retired Navy pilot, and a retired medical doctor. We began running at about age 50; our first race was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge 10K in 1985. We almost always run together except in marathons, when Jeanette finishes well ahead. (At this age, however, our marathon days are over.) We are originally from Iowa and live in Arnold, Maryland. We first met in 6th grade. Our high school roles as the King and Anna in The King and I in 1953 served as a stimulus for our trip to Siam/Thailand.

We have run races in the U.S. from upstate New York to Chula Vista in southern California, from Alaska to Florida, and many places in between. Internationally, we have run the Brugges, Belgium Masters Race, the Bermuda 10K, and the Prague Marathon Grand Prix Circuit 3000 Meter Race, and now, the Thailand Temple Run.

We have two daughters. One raises two grandsons with her spouse in Indiana; the other is a runner and triathlete who runs, when opportunities present, all over the western world. Her last international race was the Slovenia Alpine Marathon.