The 2025 Race: A Record Field for the 30th Edition
The 30th Angkor Wat International Half Marathon was held on Sunday 7 December 2025, starting and finishing in front of Angkor Wat [1]. Khmer Times put the field at 16,000 from 86 countries, 12,638 of them Cambodian and 3,362 from abroad, a 25% rise on the year before [2][3]; about 14,000 took part in 2024 [4]. The race has been held every December since 1996 [1].
It is a charity race. Entry fees help landmine victims with prosthetic limbs and social reintegration, and fund education and HIV/AIDS prevention [1]; in 2024 the race gave more than US$100,000 to partner humanitarian organisations [5]. Only about a quarter of the field runs the half marathon: the timed results list 3,877 entries in the 21 km and 7,986 in the 10 km, and the 5 km and 3 km are not timed [6].
The Course: Flat Roads Past the Temples, and Through Angkor Thom
The organiser calls it a flat course lined with old trees, with about 14 temples along the way, and a sign marks every kilometre [1]. The course map on the 2025 registration page (a 2024 file) shows the half marathon first running a short out-and-back south of Angkor Wat, then heading east to Srah Srang at about 10 km and on past Banteay Kdei and Ta Prohm. It turns north past Ta Keo, enters Angkor Thom through the Victory Gate at about 15 km, passes the Bayon at 16 km, leaves by the South Gate at 19 km and finishes beside Angkor Wat [7]. The 10 km runs north through the South Gate and past the Bayon to a turn at the North Gate [7].
Most of the temples are passed from the road rather than run through. A Siem Reap-based writer who has run the race three times notes that Banteay Kdei, Ta Prohm and Ta Keo cannot be seen from the course, while the Victory Gate, the Bayon and the South Gate can [8]. A runner in 2016 found Angkor Thom was the only temple complex the route really entered, on roads that were mostly paved or smooth red dirt [9]. A 2025 runner called it flat and well shaded [10].
Timing checkpoints are set near Angkor Wat and in the Angkor Thom area [1], and the route has been changed shortly before the race in past years [8], so check the map in your race pack.
The Weather: Mild and Damp Before Sunrise
At 4.30am on race morning, an hour before the half-marathon start, Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport, about 40 km east of the start, recorded 21°C, a dew point of 19°C, 88% humidity and a 3-knot wind [11]. The archive holds no later reading for that morning.
A dew point of 19°C is humid, but well below the 24°C to 25°C that makes tropical races oppressive. The Siem Reap-based writer finds early mornings at this time of year chilly enough to bring an extra layer for the wait [8]. The start comes at about sunrise, the first finishers arrive from around 7am [8], and the event ran until about 10.30am [2], so slower runners finish in full daylight.
Aid Stations and Cut-offs
Water and electrolyte drinks are served every 2 km, with bananas at some stations [1]. On the map, the half marathon has electrolyte drinks at 8, 14, 16, 18 and 20 km, bananas at 6, 10 and 18 km and at the finish, medical tents at Banteay Kdei, by the Bayon and at the finish, and tuk-tuk first-aid units on the course [7].
The complaint in 2025 was the format. Two runners asked for half-filled cups instead of full bottles, and one found the water points dangerous where runners pass in both directions, because the stations were not on both sides of the road [10]. A 2016 runner described 600 mL bottles and bananas that had sometimes run out by the time they reached the station [9].
The published cut-offs were four hours for the 21 km, two hours for the 10 km, one hour for the 5 km and 45 minutes for the 3 km [1]. The results point to the limits being applied loosely: 53 of the 3,356 half-marathon finishers took longer than four hours, the slowest 4:22:07, and 3,184 of the 6,453 10 km finishers took longer than two hours [6]. The results also list 110 half marathoners and 984 10 km runners as disqualified, without giving reasons [6].
Start, Finish and Crowds
The 21 km started at 5.30am, after a wheelchair start at 5.15am [12]. The published times for the shorter races differed: the race-week schedule and the course map gave 5.45am for the 10 km, 6.00am for the 5 km and 6.10am for the 3 km [12][7], while the registration table listed 6.10am, 5.45am and 5.55am [1]. Runners were told to arrive at least 30 minutes before their start [1]; the opening ceremony began shortly before 5am on the main stage in front of the western causeway [8].
With 16,000 people sharing one start and finish area, the start and finish were the weak points. One 2025 runner wrote that crowds were not controlled well and that start times were not clear or respected [10]. Another said the race itself went well but the finish was chaos: after 30 minutes in the queue for a medal and finisher shirt, with cramping calves and still no post-race drink, they left without either [10]. The same runner reported confusion, put down to security concerns, over whether there would be a bag drop, until one was confirmed three days before the race [10].
Others were happier. A 21 km runner told Khmer Times that everything was well organised [2], and another reviewer praised the race support [10].
How Fast the Field Is
Japan's Saeki Makino won the men's race in 1:10:26, 18 seconds ahead of Ouk Rohit (1:10:44), with Alexis Garod third in 1:10:47. Ota Natsuko of Japan won the women's race in 1:33:40, five seconds ahead of Kristien Loontjens, with Muyngim third in 1:35:23 [3][6].
Behind the first three the field thins fast. Fourth place in the men's race was 1:19:44 and tenth 1:23:48; the tenth woman ran 1:43:35, and the median finish was 2:24:06 [6]. Of the 3,356 half-marathon finishers, 2,369 were men and 986 women [6]. In the 10 km, Sorn Pisey won the men's race in 34:13 and Run Romdul the women's in 43:49 [6]. A man running 1:23 or a woman running 1:43 would have finished in the top ten [6].
Race Weekend Logistics
Race packs had to be collected in person, or by someone carrying a letter of authorisation, and there was no collection on race day [1]. Collection is held each year at the Courtyard by Marriott Siem Reap Resort, about five minutes by tuk-tuk from the town centre [8]. The pack includes an access card that lets runners onto the course, though not into the temples, from two days before the race, which is a chance to preview the route [8].
The start is about 6 km from Siem Reap town: 20 minutes by tuk-tuk, 15 by taxi or bus [1]. Book transport the day before. Tuk-tuks are hard to find on race morning, Grab may not be available afterwards and the car park is congested, so agree a meeting point and keep your driver's number [8]. Do not count on empty roads late in the race either: a runner in 2016 shared the second half with tuk-tuks carrying tourists [9].
Entries are non-refundable and cannot be transferred to another runner, another event or the next year [1]. In 2025 foreigners paid US$60 for the half marathon before 22 August and US$70 after, and Cambodians US$32 and US$36, plus a 7% processing fee [1]. Every finisher gets a medal and an e-certificate; the finisher tee is for the 21 km only [1].
Should You Enter the 2026 Race?
Yes, if you want a flat half marathon or 10 km through the Angkor park in mild pre-dawn air, with a long-running charity behind it, and you are there for the setting more than the time. The 5 km and 3 km can be finished at a brisk walk, so they suit families [8].
Think twice if you want a tightly run start and finish, cups at the water stations, or a deep field to race against.
The 31st edition is on Sunday 6 December 2026 [13]. The organiser has published later starts for 2026: 21 km at 5.50am (wheelchair 5.30am), 5 km at 6.10am, 3 km at 6.25am and 10 km at 6.40am, almost an hour later than the 2025 race-week schedule, so more of the 10 km will be run in daylight. Entry fees are unchanged, and the organiser warns that the course map may change before pack collection [13]. A 2026 map reproduced by Cambodia Note shows the half-marathon loop run in the opposite direction and a different 10 km route by the West Gate [8].
Nobody from this site ran the race. This review draws on the organiser's race information, course maps and results, airport weather records, English and Khmer news reports, and runners' own accounts.