(Sports) Cambodia's famed Angkor heritage site holds 1st int'l marathon

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia hosted the first Angkor Empire Marathon on Sunday at the complex of the Angkor Wat temple, a World Heritage Site, in the cultural city of Siem Reap province.

Thong Khon, president of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC), said a total of 2,630 professional and amateur athletes, including some 1,370 foreigners from 42 countries, joined the race in the distances of 42 km for a full marathon, 21 km for a half marathon and a 10-km run.

For the full marathon, about 415 foreign runners and five Cambodian athletes joined the contest.

"It is the first time that a full marathon event is held in Cambodia," he said at the event. "It is aimed to attract more tourists to Angkor Wat temple during the rainy season."

The proceeds raised from the event will go to local charities, he said.

The competition took place in front of the centerpiece of Angkor Wat temple, where athletes ran around the ancient temple full of architectural beauty and scenery.

According to the results released by the NOCC, the men's full marathon race was awarded to Japanese comedian Neko Hiroshi, who also holds Cambodian nationality, in a time of two hours, forty- five minutes and twenty-eight seconds; Japanese Ba Gan took the second place in 3:01:34; and French Yan Defond was third in 3:20: 04.

While the women's full marathon run was won by French Messina Veionique, who finished in 3:36:08; Chinese Wai Fongchan took the second place in 3:43:25; and Finnish Mari Kauri came at third in 3: 45:42.

The 12th century Angkor Wat temple, the kingdom's largest tourist destination, greeted 1.24 million foreign visitors in the first six months of 2014, up 10 percent over the same period last year, said a tourism report.