Cool Blue Running

Schedule Day 1, Sat Nov 18 Join Pattaya Tour Day 2, Sun Nov 19 Join Pattaya Tour Day 3, Mon Nov 20 Join Bangkok Tour Day 5, Tue Nov 21 Join Bangkok Tour Day 6, Wed Nov 22   Stay in Chiang Mai Amora Tapae, through resorthotel.net for   $45 (1700 Baht) Day 7, Thu Nov 23 Stay in Chiang Mai Day 8, Fri Nov 24 Stay in Chiang Mai Day 9, Sat Nov 25 Bangkok Avana Hotel, through resorthotel.net $30 ( 1090 Baht) Day 10, Sun Nov 26 Railay Sand and Sea, through asiarooms.com for  $49  a night Day 11, Mon Nov 27 Railay Sand and Sea   Day 12, Tue Nov 28 Railay Sand and Sea Day 13, Wed Nov 29 Railay Sand and Sea Day 14, Thu Nov 30 Railay Sand and Sea Day 15, Fri Dec 01 Bangkok Ambasador through resorthotel.net for $41 Day 16, Sat Dec 02 Bangkok Ambasador through resorthotel.net for $41 Flights 11/22/2006 10:00 a.m. Bangkok (BKK) to Chiang Mai,  through...

Beside the night market, cooking class, street food, and Thai massage, trekking in the deep jungle of Chiang Mai is by far my most memorable experience. Right after we checked-in to our hotel for the next 5 days stay in Chiang Mai, we wandered in the city center looking for things to do, right there we found a two nights and three days trekking activity, that involved hiking in the deep jungle and through villages, staying overnight with local host family and rafting. The following day, we joined nine other people who were visiting from other parts of the world, a group from England and a couple from Canada and a local guide at the back of a 4x4 pick up truck, holding tightly on the hand rail as we traverse the rugged dirt road on the way to the trail head where we started a long descending hike.

Some came to compete and some came to leave their mark, the others came to honor and remember the survivors of Bataan Death March where thousands of Filipinos and Americans soldiers were forced to march many miles by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. I came to run. The runners were off at 6:30 AM, the earliest start time for marathon I had ran. I started slow to warm up, letting others passed by thus creating more space around me.  After a mile, I picked up the pace, passing other runners along the way then at around eight miles marker as I was about to switch into cruising mode, I faced a high mountain terrain, every step was a constant battle until I hit the 24 mile marker where at that point I heard a faint cheers from the crowd, getting louder and louder as I dashed to the finish line. It was a grueling course- rugged terrain, high elevation, a mile of sand pit, constant twist and turns and sudden outburst of winds from every direction. It was test ...