The race for the King's birthday

One of the biggest events in Phu Khieo is the race for the King’s birthday in December. For the rangers, this serves as a physical examination, and to “pass” they must run the 10 kilometer race in under an hour. For rangers under 25 years old, this time is cut to half! The men’s race starts from the monument to four fallen rangers who were killed by poachers in the 1970’s, and finishes in Tung Ka Mang. For the women, there is a ~5K race which starts at one of the bridges between the monument and Tung Ka Mang. If the time limit and tropical weather were not big enough challenges, you also have to consider that Tung Ka Mang is on a plateau, so the race is also uphill! Between 200 and 300 people will gather in Tung Ka Mang, and as it is the social event of the year, there is a big party that evening and everyone has the next day off work. Seeing as it is probably one of the biggest cultural events in the area, I have started training for the women’s race (yes, you did read that right, I have started to train for a footrace). Carola will run, as will Ba Thong (our cook), in addition to other women from Tung Ka Mang. Right now I can’t go very fast or very far but I’ll keep you updated with my progress- by the time Carola comes back we will have the boys drive us out to the starting line and will run home!