Phuket: Phuketon – It takes a lot to stop a long distance runner even before they have launched into their half or full marathon or even (much) longer. Ever since the introduction of the big-city marathons in the early 1970s, so successful has been the notion of travelling the world to run a race that marathons in such disparate locations as the South Pole, Siberia, and various deserts have been augmented by longer runs like the Great Wall event in China, the Comrades 89k race in South Africa, and even in locations where lesser mortals fear to tread, such as Pyongyang in North Korea and last month’s temples race in Myanmar; which is doubtless why the infinitely more attractive location of the Thai holiday island of Phuket has attracted 9000 people to a new event this weekend. [Read more…]