Day 2- Laguna Phuket International Marathon, Phuket Tiger Kingdom, Rang Hill
The next day was the day of the Laguna Phuket International Marathon. The team found its way to Laguna, which was 30-45 minutes away from Patong beach. Although it was an early day for everyone, there was not one sleepy head in the area– the venue buzzed with excitement as the event was about to begin. Dubbed “the largest destination marathon in South East Asia,” the race was attended by almost 6,000 runners from 43 different countries.
Team 7-Eleven PH were there all the way, supporting the Run 1500 delegates.
Seven of the Run 1500 delegates placed in the race with one delegate, Mario Maglinao, placing as the overall champion of the full marathon with a time of 2:55:31. Cristabel Martes (pictured below) clocked in at 1:25:08 for the 21K marathon placing first in the women’s category.
Elmer Sabal took 2nd place in 21k male category with a time of 1:17:33. Mark Oximar place 3rd in the 21k at 1:18:03. Eugine Postrado placed 3rd place in his age category for the 42k at 3:03:58. Janice Tawagin was awarded 3rd place in the 21k for her age category at with a time of 1:46:05. Gregg Osorio also came in 3rd place for the 21k in his age category clocking in at 1:25:00. The Philippines was one of the countries who garnered the most number of awards. All the delegates did good and these are feats we all should certainly be proud of.
After a celebratory meal by the beach, there was more sightseeing to be done!
The next stop was, for me, the highlight of the trip. We visited the Tiger Kingdom where we were acquainted with tigers of all sizes!! We were able to touch, pet, an even hug the big cats! Definitely an experience for the books!
There were cute, smaller tiger cubs (above) and huge grown up tigers (below).
TIP: Read the guidelines carefully and follow your guide’s instructions. Like I said, they are really big cats.
Runner Janice Tawagin getting chummy with a napping cub.
The next stop was the Rang Hill Viewpoint which is a famous tourist destination as it overlooks the southern part of the province.
Photo by Cheryl Golangco of Little Running Teacher
Overall marathon winner Mario Maglinao posing with the Phuket sign.
There were monkeys all around the area just lazing about.
TIP: Be careful when photographic monkeys, they have been known to grab phones & cameras!
We capped the day with a short walk in the city and by the beach after dinner.
READ ON TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR DAY 3: Promthep Cape & Wat Chalong
