Sunday August 2th 2026 I ran the Angkor Empire Marathon in Cambodia. Find below my full race coverage from this marathon and some tourist impressions from Siem Reap and Angkor Wat.
Angkor Wat and the Grand Rafffles Hotel
Before we throw ourselves into the race itself, a few words about the destination, because this one is well worth dwelling on. Siem Reap is the gateway to Angkor, capital of the mighty Khmer Empire, which from the 9th to the 15th century was the undisputed superpower of Southeast Asia. And my word, how they could build! This is one of the World Heritages sites that makes a lasting impression in you and the more I research and learn stuff about the Khmer Empire, the happier – and more humbled – I stand. So, is the Angkor Empire Marathon a must for the bucket list and marathon belt: Obviously, YES. But first th attractions and temples.
Angkor Wat is of course the star — the largest religious monument on Earth, originally a Hindu temple to Vishnu, later Buddhist. But every bit as breathtaking is the walled city of Angkor Thom with its enigmatic Bayon temple and its countless stone faces smiling down at you from every side. My personal favourite turned out to be Ta Prohm — the “Tomb Raider temple” — where the giant jungle trees have literally seized the walls and refuse to let go. Nature and stone locked in an eternal struggle; beautiful and just a touch melancholy at the same time.
One man deserves a special mention here: Jayavarman VII, the greatest of the Khmer kings, who reigned around 1181–1218. A devout Mahayana Buddhist, he drove the Cham invaders out and rebuilt the empire, then gave us this very trio — Angkor Thom, the Bayon and Ta Prohm — in a single, feverish building spree; the serene stone faces of the Bayon are widely thought to be his own. He also raised hospitals and rest-houses the length of the realm, and under him the Khmer Empire reached a zenith it would never quite match again.
A word on base camp and the museum, both worth the detour. I spent two nights at the grand old Raffles — the Grand Hotel d’Angkor — all colonial elegance, frangipani in the garden and a pool you never quite want to leave; a proper oasis after a dusty day among the ruins. And do not skip the Angkor National Museum in town: bright, cool and beautifully curated, with the original sculptures and Buddhas carried in from the temples, so you finally grasp just what it is you have been clambering over out there.
The Khmer, incidentally, were masters of water engineering — their enormous baray reservoirs supplied a city of a million people a thousand years ago. The Khmer are STILL good at that water business! But enough of that — lace up the running shoes, because now it is time to run a marathon in the shadow of history.
PS: If you want to venture further, the pink sandstone temple Banteay Srei awaits with its astonishingly fine carvings, the temple-mountain Pre Rup glows in the golden afternoon sun, and the early risers can head up to Kulen Mountain or out to the floating village of Kompong Pluk on the Tonlé Sap. In Siem Reap itself the Angkor National Museum is a must — new, cool and full of the original artefacts from the temples — and a stop at the Preah Ang Chek Preah Ang Chorm shrine and the Royal Independence Gardens belongs on the list too. I did not vistit these things myself but the report has a few pictures, thank you to my very skilled and friendly guide at Angkor Wat, Mr. Nara Siv (highly recommended, contact info in the report).
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Angkor Empire Marathon 2026
The event carried a 5K, 10Km half marathon and a full marathon, the latter starting 04.30 AM Sunday morning. The route was almost completely flat but the day turned out very warm and very humid making it very tough to run (after sunrise). The marathon had a 6.5 finish-time cut-off but I was allowed by the race marshalls to finish on my own, which I did and speaking with the kind Race Director Mrs.Yuthana at the finish and recording my finish time/result, thus collecting Cambodia as my Marathon Country Club country no. 100!
As for the Angkor Empire Marathon: Overall, nice professional organisation, plenty of water and energy drinks along the route, friendly runners and for sure an event I shall recommend, both race wise and seeing Angkor Wat and the temples.
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See or relive the Angkor Empire Marathon 2026 from below (and in Khmer, Malaysian, Balanese, Indonesian, Javanese, Thai, Hindi)
