Hoàng Nguyên Thanh crosses the finish line of the HCM City Night Run Eximbank 2024 on May 19. Photo of Unique Events & Media

HCM CITY — National record holders Hoàng Nguyên Thanh and Hoàng Thị Ngọc Hoa met no difficulty in winning the HCM City Night Run Eximbank 2024 at the weekend.

The national marathon champion Thanh finished the men's 21km category in a time of 1hr 12.34min.

Thanh ran parallel to Phạm Ngọc Phan for most of the race. He even slowed down to let Phan lead the competition, but about several kilometres from the finish line, Thanh sprinted and passed him to top the podium.

Phan came second with a time of 1:13.03 and Lê Văn Hương third at 1:13.31.

Hoàng Thị Ngọc Hoa runs to win the women's 21km category.

In the women's race, Hoa left all other runners behind at the finish line in a time of 1:21.33.

Nông Thị Chang (1:24.10) and Lê Thị Kha Ly (1:28.01) came second and third, respectively.

Organisers also presented awards to Lai Terence and Khuất Phương Anh, winners of the men's and women's 10km, and Lê Hữu Lộc and Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Lan, champions of the men's and women's 5km.

Winners of the age groups and couple and team competitions also received awards.

The tournament featured as many as 5,000 local and international runners. It was jointly organised by the HCM City People's Committee, the city's Athletics Federation and Unique Events & Media. VNS