Australians Win @ Laguna Phuket International Marathon 2008

Australian Stephen Paine took the men's championship title at the 2008 Laguna Phuket
International Marathon on Sunday 15 June. Paine crossed the 42k Marathon finish line in
02:37:52. And the women's champion was Angela Louise Stevens, also from Australia, finishing
in 03:14:17.
Races at the 2008 Laguna Phuket International Marathon kicked-off early Sunday morning with
the first group of Marathon runners starting at 4am. This year's event introduced two Marathon
starts providing runners who may need 4-7 hours to complete the 42k course with a head start.
The official race start took place at 5am, seeing the second group of Marathon runners off. The
Half-Marathon started at 6am, followed by the 10.5k Run at 6:30am and the 5k Walk at 6:55am. A
2k Kids Run started at 9am. Over 5000 participants from more than 40 countries competed in the
races, with the largest number of international competitors coming from Singapore.Eco-marathoner and slow-running advocate Hajime Nishi also joined in the Marathon. With 541
marathons in 71 countries under his belt, Nishi is renowned among running circles as the founder
of the "slow is beautiful" philosophy. The Japanese marathon globetrotter and Guiness World
Record holder, who also participated in the Laguna Phuket International Marathon the previous
two years, led a group of interested participants over the course, focusing purely on the
enjoyment of the race, interaction with spectators and volunteers and taking photos along the
way.
Close to 4000 runners participated in the event. A total of 458 runners raced the 42k Marathon,
782 in the 21k Half-Marathon, 825 in the 10.5k Run, 850 in the 5k Walk and more than 1000 in
the 2k Kids' Run.
Winner of the men's Half-Marathon was Stefano Passarello from Italy, crossing the finish line in
01:13:26. Thai runners Niwat Oithip and Sittipong Changlai placed second and third in 01:19:30
and 01:23:36, respectively. Second place men's Marathon finisher was defending champion
Brent Roeger from the USA in 02:41:57, six minutes faster than his 2006 time, Third place in the
men's Marathon was Wu Yung-Fa from Taiwan in 02:44:42.
Second place in the women's Marathon was Peta-Jane Harthen from Australia coming in at
03:35:32 and Miho Miyashiro from Japan at 03:40:18. The top three female finishers in the Half-
Marathon were 2007 women's Marathon champion Nicola Green from the UK, Emily Woodfield
from the UK and Kerrie Elizabeth Edwards from Australia in 01:13:26, 01:19:30 and 01:23:36,
respectively.

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