So, I was chatting to my brother and telling him about my first run with the locals in Asia. Obviously, I’m pretty ecstatic with the fact that I managed to make contact with a local and fit a run in whilst in Phnom Penh. I also confessed to my brother that initially I thought that getting locals to run with me would be the hard part of this project; that is until I remembered that I’m actually not a writer and then I came to the realisation that the writing would probably be the hardest part.

Phnom Penh was an amazing introduction to the Asian continent, especially since I had never visited before. Needless to say, jumping onto the first tuk tuk from the airport already felt like an adventure and it was my first introduction to the traffic of the city. As I would quickly find out, traffic is very chaotic and it’s not really helped by the fact that there are no traffic lights or any rules of traffic for that matter. The roads are overrun by tuk tuk drivers as well as a river of scooters that only use their beeps to warn other drivers and pedestrians that they’re coming. Having said that, traffic seems to move at no more than 10 miles an hour, something which gives an almost charming feel to such chaotic traffic. Later on in my visit I would spend quite a few hours of my day just watching the drivers zig zag each other in a game of cat and mouse and waiting to see if there would be a collision. (I saw none during my whole stay!)

Sunrise at the Independence Monument

Needless to say, having this experience of traffic also started to make me doubt about the whole premise of running around with the locals. To my surprise, and with the steely persistent that only runners seem to have, I did see quite a few braving the traffic as well as the searing heat which left me feeling somewhat more comfortable and encouraged. Only just.

Phnom Penh is a very charming city, adorned by the confluence of the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers. Littered with street vendors and tuk tuks. A city in development trying to rebuild for the future and yet still somewhat tormented by a dark and hurtful past which to this day still affects the lives of many. Walking the streets at night was an incredible experience; I was left amazed by the beautifully lit Royal Palace which at night seems to be the meeting place for many Cambodians, enjoying the street food and gathering in the green gardens just outside the palace to share a story or maybe just to enjoy the gentle sound of the Mekong flowing right in front of them. I was intoxicated by the smells of the many street food vendors and entertained by the local singers in the Phnom Penh night market. Dodging the many tuk tuk drivers who are trying to make a living and will chase you to try and get one or two dollars out of you.

Although I enjoyed the beauty of the city on my own, I really came to love it on my final day when I met with Jill; a runner I met through Facebook on the Phnom Penh Runners site and with whom I agreed to meet at 6am on the east side of the Independence Monument where we would set off on a route which seems to be a favourite in her running club. To my surprise, she then agreed to do a run with another runner before meeting me. I chose not to ask to join that one as I felt I would have struggled to wake up. Having got up early and having started to walk towards the Independence square I immediately started to regret the decision of having actually woken up for a run as, even though I was walking slowly, the morning heat was already making me feel incredibly insecure about my running prowess. It also suddenly dawned on me that I didn’t agree on a distance with Jill, nor at which pace we would run. I only hoped that the run she was doing before meeting me would leave her exhausted and would give me a better chance of keeping up. On my way to meeting her I also twisted my ankle, although I chose not mention this fact to her as I didn’t want her to think that I was looking for excuses even before starting.

When I arrived at the square, she was already waiting for me and ready to go. To my despair, I immediately noticed that Jill is a very fit runner, and didn’t look a bit tired from her previous run. Instead, after a brief chat in which she informed me that we would be running around 14k, we set off at a rather brisk pace and a little bit too fast for my liking. Obviously being the fool that I am, I chose not to say anything but just blindly set off on the run with her. We headed up Preah Novodona Blvrd. and along the way, we crossed a few runners who upon seeing us shared a smile, a nod and some even a wave. Although the running culture in Cambodia seems to be very small, the few runners that I did see, seemed incredibly friendly and happy to share a smile with a fellow runner. A far cry from some of the headphoned runners in London who will not even make eye contact.

The view from Chroy Changvar Bridge

 We headed up towards Wat Phnom or Mountain Pagoda which is a Buddhist temple built in the only hill found in the whole city and from there, we took a turn off towards Chroy Changvar bridge which is also known as the Cambodian-Japanese friendship bridge which was highly damaged during the Khmer Rouge years and then left without repair or maintenance for almost 20 years until 1995 when the government got a donation from the Japanese government to reconstruct this bridge (I thought this was a nice little bit of info!). We didn’t completely cross the bridge but instead went down some steps located halfway through and which took us on a more rural route and away from the noisiness of the city.

At this point, as much as I was enjoying the run and Jill’s company, my lungs were already exploding (partly because of the heat and probably also due to the fumes from all the traffic) and I can’t even begin to imagine how much liquid we’d lost by then. Jill on the other hand pushed on, unflustered by the morning heat and the 2hrs+ that she’d already been running for. Jill, an incredibly fit athlete from Northern Ireland has been living in Phnom Penh for about four years. As a runner, she was incredibly unlucky in her first run in Phnom Penh four years previously as she was involved in a hit-and-run accident which left her with head injuries, broken bones and a full year of rehabilitation. A year on, and against doctor’s recommendations, she then continued running and is still braving the streets of the city.

After about 30mins into the run, I finally swallowed my pride and asked Jill for a quick pit stop so we could quickly buy some water and walk for a while so I could catch my breath. By this point, we were already running through a more rural dusty road, away from the noise and hubbub of the city and instead surrounded by pristine greens, shinny lakes and unfortunately a lot of building projects. Although it’s good that the city is expanding and developing, it is the people who live in these rural settings and these beautiful surroundings that pay the prize as they are pushed to the countryside and the landscape replaced from pristine natural beauty to a more urbanised landscape.

Jill works for Care for Cambodia a children’s home for orphaned and rescued children which provides humanitarian care and incentivises educational initiatives for 61 of these rural villages throughout the country.

Jill still looking fresh after 2hrs+ of running!

 We finally reached our turning point where we would be running back to the Independence Monument and where Jill would be meeting a friend at 8am for breakfast. Ashamedly, I had to admit to her that I just didn’t have the legs for it and at 7.50am realising that she would never make it in time to meet her friend if she kept running with me, we parted ways on the friendship bridge where she would take a moto in the hope of making it back in time. After saying our goodbyes, I then had to face the run back to the hostel on my own, with incredibly tired legs and probably severely dehydrated.

Initially I felt slightly dejected by my poor show on my first run in Asia, however, given that it was my first run in this kind of heat, I was actually satisfied that I hadn’t collapsed halfway through! Also, it was great, doing this run with Jill as I not only felt more secure running with her rather than braving my first run in the city on my own, but also because I felt like I got to experience it from a very different perspective. All in all, my first take on Running Around with the Locals was thoroughly enjoyable.

Check out a few more pictures below!