The Supersports Laguna Phuket Marathon is set to welcome over 8,000 runners from more than 40 countries to the tropical island of Phuket to compete in Southeast Asia’s favourite destination marathons. Held 10-11 June 2023 at Laguna Phuket, the award-winning Supersports Phuket Phuket Marathon is one of the longest-running international sports events on Phuket and is driving the island’s resurgence as a world-class sports tourism destination. This year, the event will feature a new race format with different start times for the various distances. On Saturday the 10th, the 2km kids run, 5km, and 10.5km races will commence in the morning, while on Sunday the 11th, the Half Marathon (21.0975km), Marathon Relay (42.195km), and Marathon (42.195km). Internationally certified by IAAF AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Distance Races) and a qualifying event for the Boston Marathon, the Supersports Phuket Phuket Marathon is organised by GAA Events and has set the gold standard for 17 years. “Entries are looking strong with thousands already confirmed from across Thailand and overseas. What’s particularly encouraging this year is the return of interest from international participants. The pandemic limited international travel and as Phuket sees a resurgence in international arrivals we are also seeing growing interest amongst overseas runners and their families wanting to combine a run with a holiday in Phuket,” said Charlie Jung, Assistant Race Director, GAA Events, organizer of the Supersports Phuket Phuket Marathon. From children and families to age-groupers and top talent across Thailand and from overseas, the Supersports Phuket Phuket Marathon attracts participants of all ages and abilities with its popular two-day format and festival atmosphere at the start/ finish line at Laguna Grove. Popular Thai actor and singer Somchai Kemglad (a.k.a. Tao Somchai) will be running the marathon distance at this year’s event. “With Thailand’s recovery well and truly underway, we’re delighted to welcome Thai and international visitors back to Laguna Phuket and are looking to showcase the island as a world-class tourism and sports destination,” said Paul Wilson, VP, Deputy Managing Director, Laguna Phuket “We have partnered with Supersports Phuket Phuket Marathon since the very beginning and work closely with the local community each year to ensure the benefits are dispersed. Through Laguna Phuket Foundation’s Children First Fund (CFF), we support more than 400 underprivileged children in seven orphanages in Phuket and we encourage all runners and spectators to help make a difference by supporting our efforts.” Guests can register for the Supersports Phuket Phuket Marathon at https://www.phuketmarathon.com/registration.

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Sunrise Cambodia provides a safe and nurturing learning environment to children living some of the most impoverished communities in the world. Sunrise Cambodiais the registered Australian charity I founded in 1993, which supports Sunrise Children’s Villages, where they have a residential centre for at-risk children, giving 24/7 care to more than 100 children, 20 kms from Phnom Penh.  The children that come to us have often been trafficked into prostitution, slave labour, begging rings, illegal adoption rings, are victims of domestic violence due to parental alcoholism or drug dependency, abandoned in hospitals by their families,  disabled or live on the streets to survive. As a result, they are in great need emotionally and physically when they arrive at Sunrise Cambodia. At Sunrise Cambodia these poor young victims are rescued from their terrible situation in life, and provided a home, food, clothing, government school, medical and dental care, English, Mandarin and computer lessons, classes in music, art, dance and sport, but more important of all, love.  They provide university studies in Cambodia when they pass Grade 12 and they cover other living costs for them outside Sunrise Cambodia for these students. For the students who do not pass, they give them vocational training courses in car repair, air conditioning maintenance, plumbing, electricity, printing, administration, management, hospitality and beauty. No one leaves us without a job and the means to live an independent life. In addition, they support more than 150 disadvantaged community children from neighbouring villages. Their parents are often very poor rice farmers, who cannot provide their children such a good start in life.  At Sunrise Cambodia they receive the same educational opportunities as our residential children and return home at the end of the day to live with their families. ABOUT SUNRISE CAMBODIA Sunrise Cambodia is a world-class charity working on the ground in Cambodia to give much-needed help to at-risk kids, struggling families and poor communities in some of the most poverty-stricken provinces of the country. Cambodia has a heart breaking recent history which has crippled this beautiful south east Asian country. During the 1960s and ’70s, while civil war raged in Cambodia, the USA carpet bombed the Cambodian countryside. The communists won the civil war and over the next four years, more than a quarter of the population was systematically murdered by its leader, Pol Pot. More than thirty years later, the disastrous impact on the gentle-natured people of Cambodia is still profound. Sunrise Cambodia began in the early 1990s when a South Australian fifty-year old named Geraldine Cox began a small orphanage to care for the some of the orphaned grandchildren from Pol Pot’s regime. Unable to have her own children, Geraldine became “Mum to Many” as she took in street kids, orphans and the disabled to give them good food, a place to sleep, an education and lots of love. With the need so great, Sunrise Cambodia has grown to support whole communities with the basics for survival: clean water, sanitation and healthcare, followed by education. We have 100 Cambodian staff and a small fundraising team in Australia. The work of Sunrise Cambodia is entirely funded by generous donors. For information and donations, contact: https://www.sunrisecambodia.org.au/ https://www.facebook.com/sunrisecambodia/ hq@sunrisecambodia.org.au

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