Chiang Mai Doi Suthep Run ~ Team Quest Thailand

Team Quest Thailand has a secret weapon, mother nature. Muay Thai camps and MMA gyms all over Thailand will be jealous that we have such an amazing training tool right here in Chiang Mai. Doi Suthep mountain is 5498 ft tall (1676 meters) straight up to the very top. Our Team Quest Thailand fighters and students have been using the Doi Suthep run to help increase their training edge.

There is a very famous temple up the mountain called Doi Suthep temple and when you reach it you'll have an amazing view of the city Chiang Mai. From the bottom of the mountain to the temple it's about 7.5 miles straight up (12 kilo meters) of pure hell.

About 3 times a week, Adrien “Kaew” Rubis and Jamie “The Official” Stamp have been doing the run to increase their cardio and strength. For those of you that are familiar with Adrien and what he has been accomplishing in the Muay Thai community in Thailand, he is contributing this run to giving him that extra edge that helps him push through fights when he is tired. Jamie jokingly says the run is great but still contributes his success to the “UpperCut Energy Drink”, the energy drink that gives you energy for hours.

Here is a picture of Adrien and Jamie getting ready to run at 6:30am. You can see the tired look on their faces.

So basically I just told Adrien and Jamie to do the Doi Suthep run and that I was going to film it. I told them don't look at me and just act like I am not there. Adrien is a beast when he does the Doi Suthep run, I am pretty sure only professional running athletes could keep up. He usually finishes a good 30 minutes before everyone. You can see from the beginning that he starts pulling away from Jamie. The funny thing is that Jamie actually runs it fast to but Adrien makes everyone appear like they run it slow.

My favorite part of the run is that their was a bicyclist that started way before Adrien and Jamie. I kept having to stop, film, and then get on my motorcycle and race ahead to get the next shot. I kept passing this bicyclist that was going up the hill, he kept giving me weird looks because I would pass him and just wait for Adrien, but he had no idea what I was doing. Eventually Adrien actually caught the bicyclist and started to pass him. When the bicyclist realized what was going on, he turned off right before Adrien passed him. You can see this in the video. Adrien said he was mad because he wanted to pass him.

Here is the video:

Adrien has done this Doi Suthep run so many times that he actually figured out a really cool and cheap way to get down the mountain. Because he leaves his motor bike at the base of the mountain, he doesn’t want to have to pay every time to come back down. So he used to wait for hours on end to try to hitchhike with a random Thai person. Eventually because Adrien was spending so much time waiting around he started to make friends with all the local Chiang Mai people who work in the area, including the local monks. Everyday the monks leave the Doi Suthep temple at a certain time to head down the mountain. Adrien was invited by the monks to get free rides everyday.

Check out the video:

The best part about making it up Doi Suthep mountain is the view. Here are some pics at the top.

Both fighters are gearing up for big fights. Adrien is getting ready for his 3^rd fight in the “Gai Thort Haa Dow” tournament at lumpinee stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Sept 15th. Jamie came to Team Quest Thailand in Chiang Mai to gear up for an 8 man tournament “Rumble at the Metro 4”which is a collection of Australia's 8 best 63 kilo fighters and the winner brings home 10,000 AUS.

So there you have it, Team Quest Thailand's Muay Thai and MMA's secret weapon in Chiang Mai: The Doi Suthep run. Check back soon for updates and upcoming events and information.