The Buriram Times met with Saksit Prayadrat, known as “Nack” to his friends, to discuss his role in the rapidly approaching inaugural Buriram marathon. Immediately, it was obvious that we were in the company of a really nice man who simply oozes enthusiasm about his work and his passion for running.
We started with the marathon which is to be run this Sunday, February 12. It is only the second (the first being in Khon Kaen) Thailand marathon to be approved by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The plans are to put Buriram on the global marathon map and the first step is to hold three consecutive annual events under the auspices of the IAAF. This would give Buriram a “bronze” status.
The marathon course is 42.19 km and the runners will be allowed 7 hours to complete the event. (Nack’s best time is a very respectable 3hrs 40mins.) It starts at 4am to avoid the Thailand heat and the PEA are providing 10km of extra lighting to aid safety and tv coverage (Tru4U). The roads will be closed so plan to stay at home until midday, unless you are coming to support the runners of course.
Altogether, around 9,000 runners are expected to take part in the the full marathon (1,700), the half-marathon (3,000) and the 10km events
All the races start at the Chang International Circuit, details of how to obtain further information have already been provided in a previous article.
Nack is one of seven pacers in the race and it is their job to assist the more “serious” runners. Anyone wishing to complete the race in under four hours simply has to keep up with the nearest pacer.
It was part of the IAAF’s conditions that internationally recognised runners be invited to take part and the field includes at least one world ranked Kenyan.
We then moved on to talk about Nack’s personal involvement in running and triathalon. In his schoolboy days, Nack was a keen footballer but at the time there was no professional club in the area and opportunities to develop as a footballer were extremely limited due to lack of facilities.
At the age of 27 Nack decided to take up running and in his own words, soon became “addicted”. His first serious run was the Orphanage Race. However, this wasn’t enough for him and he decided to try triathalons. For the uninitiated, it involves swimming, cycling and running. Nack has now competed in over 30 events,including a major one in Malaysia in 2013.
There are four levels of triathalon events starting with the “Sprint” and finishing with the “Iron Man”.
Sprint:- swimming : 750m, cycling : 20km, running : 5km. The next level is :- swimming : 1.5km, cycling : 40km, running : 10km.
We then move on to swimming : 1.9km, cycling : 90km, running : 21km. This takes us to the Iron Man level and it is hard to take in what this involves. Swimming : 3.8km, cycling : 180km, running : 42 km. Simply amazing.
As you can imagine, this involves a lot of dedicated training. Nack has his own personal trainer in Texas who is highly rated in fitness circles and who provides him with a daily schedule online. Nack reports back to him via GPS on his watch.
His day starts at 4.30am , training until 7am. This involves swimming, cycling, running and weights. Obviously, only one activity a day. This enables Nack to keep up his fitness levels whilst still being able to have a normal family life as well as run Rewat Printing (situated near the Bamboo and Roma Pizza Bar).
He has given up alcohol and is careful about diet which is predominantly vegetarian but not totally. He is usually in bed by 8.30pm, ready for the next morning’s training. It is patently obvious that he loves what he is doing and I’m VERY certain that I didn’t look that good when I was 36 !!!
It was an absolute pleasure to talk to him and we will keep you up to date about his ventures in the future.