Did you know that our founders started Phare Ponleu Selpak in a small, rented house along the Sangker River before moving to our current location to be closer to the largest camp of internally displaced people after the Khmer Rouge genocide? The current location allowed Phare to be accessible to the hundreds of children and youth traumatized by the war, while giving space for a purpose-built community-based arts center.  

2024 marks our 30th Anniversary.  Join us to run 30 kms with us – one for each year of Phare’s existence – to celebrate our achievements and to raise funds towards our $900,000 goal for 2024 so that we can continue to empower and transform the lives of children and youth through the arts. We are aiming to collectively raise $300,000 from this run - $10,000 for each kilometer representing each year of Phare's existence. 

Register at this link: https://forms.office.com/r/G705neJMum before setting up your fundraising page here.  Deadline to register is 20 November 2023. The sooner you register, the more time there is to raise funds.

The run will begin at the foot of Phnom Banan, an 11th century old temple and continue along Battambang’s greatest treasure, the Sangker River, to Phare Ponleu Selpak’s campus! The route past villages, across suspension bridges and rice fields will make for a most scenic run.

The Sangker River Run offers options of running solo or in a relay with three runners (10 km each). A bike route for cycling enthusiasts is also available, though cyclists will need to bring their own bike.

If you are not able to join us for the run, join us as a supporter and help spread to the word to help us reach our fundraising goal - the magic of Phare happens when we work as a team.  

What you can expect:

• Transportation (including bicycle transport) to the starting point in Banan
• A snack before the race
• An official event T-shirt
• A runner’s bib and race number
• A finishing medal
• Refreshments at the finish line
• A fundraising thank you certificate
• A free ticket to the Phare Battambang Circus show
• The schedule for 20th January 2024 is as follows:

4:30am Meet at Phare campus to sign-in and transport cycles and participants to Banan (and subsequently to the 10 km marks for the relay runners).
5:45am Cyclists start the race.
6:00am All runners start the race.

Through this platform you can make your own fundraising page to share with your network to collect donations. We will help to promote the pages as well. To cover the run logistic costs, we ask each runner to fundraise (or donate) a minimum of $30 to participate ($90 for a relay team of 3 runners). From cyclists we ask to fundraise or donate a minimum of $50 each.

As we celebrate the past 30 years of Phare Ponleu Selpak, we look forward to what the next 30 years could bring of changing lives through the arts. Whether in person or online, we look forward to seeing you at the Sangker River Run.