Cambodia to host int'l half marathon

Cambodia will host the 17th international half marathon on December 2 at Angkor Wat temple, a World Heritage Site, in Siem Reap province, an official of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC) said Friday.

"The event is to promote sports and tourism sector," Vath Chamroeun, the secretary general of NOCC, which will organize the event, told Xinhua. "It is also to raise funds to help the victims of landmines and assist the Cambodian Red Cross for humanitarian activities."

He added that so far, some 4,000 professional and amateur athletes from 40 countries have registered for the contest in this year's event.

Foreign runner donated 45 USdollars and Cambodian runner donated 5 dollars each to join the contest.

The athletes will run around the temple in different distances of 21 kilometers, 10 kilometers, 5 kilometers and 3 kilometers, he said.

Also, he said, a day prior to the 17th international half marathon, there will be an international bicycle race in the distances of 100 kilometers and 30 kilometers at the complex of the temple.

Angkor Wat temple is the country's largest tourism destination attracting about 1.48 million foreign visitors in the first nine months of this year, up 27 percent from a year earlier, according to a tourism report.

Sourced: globaltimes