Bangkok Marathon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bangkok Marathon
Bangkok Marathon logo 2015.gif
Logo of Bangkok Marathon
LocationBangkok, Thailand
Event typeRoad
DistanceMarathon, half marathon
Primary sponsorBDMS
Established1987 (34 years ago) (1987)
Course recordsMen: 2:16:10 (2010)
Kenya
Women: 2:41:37 (2012)
Kenya
Official siteBangkok Marathon
Participants1,608 (2019)
2,566 (2018)
>33,000 (all races) (2015)[1]

The Bangkok Marathon (also known as BDMS Bangkok Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is a marathon held annually in Bangkok, Thailand, since 1987.[2][3][4] The marathon is recognized by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS).[5]

History[]

In 1987, a marathon was held over the Rama IX Bridge in honor of the king's 60th birthday.[4] Called the Royal Marathon, it helped launch a running boom in Thailand.[4][6]

In 2013, the course of the half marathon was changed at the last minute because of concurrent Bangkok street protests which reduced the distance of the half marathon from 21.1 km (13.1 miles) to 19.7 km (12.2 miles).[7]

In 2015, the half marathon was accidentally extended from 21.1 km (13.1 miles) to 27.6 km (17.1 miles). According to organisers, the increase was due to the race officials directing runners to take a turn at the wrong place which added over 3 km extra to each of the two laps.[3][1] The mistake sparked humour and outcry in the social and news media. The Guardian called it "world's longest half marathon".[2] Some comments on social media called it a "Super Half Marathon", while some called it a byproduct of "race inflation".[2] Organizers apologized for the mistake and decided to offer a T-shirt saying "Finisher of 27.6 km" to participants who completed the "half marathon".[8][9] In addition to the half-marathon error, runners in the 10 km race reported that their GPS watches measured that race's length as approximately 9.7 km.[7]

The 2020 edition of the race was postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, before registration opened.[10][11]

Course[]

The course passes many historical landmarks of cultural and ethnic importance. The marathon starts and finishes in front of The Royal Grand Palace at Sanam Chai Road. The race course is sanctioned by The Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) and the Amateur Athletic Association of Thailand (IAAF Rules).[12]

Other races[]

Along with full and half marathons, 10 km and 5 km races were also held.[1]

Management[]

Bangkok Dusit Medical Services is the title sponsor of the marathon. The organizers of the marathon are the National Jogging Association of Thailand and local event management company Amazing Field.[1] The race is also recognized by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS).[5]

Winners[]

Key:    Course record (in bold)

Ed. Year Men's winner Time[a] Women's winner Time[a] Rf.
1 1986  Eddy Hellebuyck (BEL) 2:23:55  Yuko Gordon (HKG) 2:57:40
2 1988   (JPN) 2:18:10  Yuko Gordon (HKG) 2:52:37
3 1989  Doug Kurtis (USA) 2:20:15   (ITA) 2:47:53
4 1990  Doug Kurtis (USA) 2:27:30   (MYA) 2:55:15
5 1991  Doug Kurtis (USA) 2:25:20   (USA) 2:48:52
6 1992  Phillip (MYA) 2:25:24   (GBR) 2:48:28
7 1993   (KEN) 2:23:18  Suman Rawat (IND) 2:58:28
8 1994   (KEN) 2:22:04  Ren Xiujuan (CHN) 2:49:21
9 1995   (KEN) 2:28:35   (IND) 2:51:14
10 1996   (KEN) 2:25:24   (CHN) 2:44:30
— 1997 not held
11 1998   (KEN) 2:18:59   (POL) 2:53:00
12 1999   (KEN) 2:21:30   (POL) 2:46:40
13 2000  Vladimir Kotov (BLR) 2:31:11   (THA) 2:54:01
14 2001  Vladimir Kotov (BLR) 2:26:55  Wioletta Kryza (POL) 2:48:30
15 2002   (USA) 2:27:46   (RUS) 2:54:05
16 2003   (BEL) 2:24:34   (THA) 2:59:31
17 2004   (KEN) 2:22:53   (KEN) 2:57:48
18 2005   (KEN) 2:23:57   (THA) 3:02:01
19 2006   (KEN) 2:28:02   (POL) 2:56:50
20 2007   (KEN) 2:18:27   (KEN) 2:51:42
21 2008   (KEN) 2:19:13   (THA) 2:48:23
22 2009   (KEN) 2:16:41   (KEN) 2:43:49
23 2010   (KEN) 2:16:10   (KEN) 2:42:47
— 2011 not held
24 2012 (Feb)   (KEN) 2:18:31   (KEN) 2:41:37
25 2012 (Nov)   (KEN) 2:30:24   (KEN) 2:50:12
26 2013   (KEN) 2:30:27   (THA) 3:02:31
27 2014  Lukas Muteti (KEN) 2:33:52   (THA) 3:15:00
28 2015   (KEN) 2:35:45   (THA) 3:12:03
— 2016 not held
30 2017   (KEN) 2:26:13   (ETH) 2:52:42
31 2018   (ETH) 2:26:39   (KEN) 2:53:31
32 2019   (KEN) 2:33:55   (ETH) 2:55:14
2020 postponed due to coronavirus pandemic [10]

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b h:m:s

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "Anger in Bangkok over not so half marathon". Newsweek. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Associated Press in Bangkok (1970-01-01). "Bangkok half-marathon becomes world's longest after wrong U-turn | World news". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  3. ^ a b "Bangkok marathon miscalculates distance, runners kept going unaware". IBNLive. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  4. ^ a b c "Bangkok Post article".
  5. ^ a b "AIMS – Calendar of Races". Aimsworldrunning.org. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  6. ^ "Journey Through Thailand's Past: 1987-1991". Archived from the original on 2020-11-06.
  7. ^ a b Murray Hunter (2015-11-15). "Outcry after organizers accidentally add 7km to Bangkok half marathon". Asian Correspondent. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  8. ^ "'Finisher of 27.6km': Bangkok's botched half-marathon offers T-shirt apology". Asian Correspondent. 2015-02-24. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  9. ^ Messman, Lauren (2015-11-17). "Bangkok Accidentally Held the World's Longest Half-Marathon | VICE | Canada". VICE. Retrieved 2015-11-26.
  10. ^ a b https://web.archive.org/web/20201106083537/https://mobile.twitter.com/bkkmarathon1988/status/1303172709380026368
  11. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20201106083207/http://www.bkkmarathon.com/home-EN.php
  12. ^ "BKKMarathon.COM".
Retrieved from ""