Phạm Thị Hồng Lệ celebrates winning the VnExpress Marathon Hải Phòng last year. She will compete in the Journey to Lotus Village Marathon in Nghệ An. — Photo courtesy of VM

NGHỆ AN — Phạm Thị Hồng Lệ is considered the top candidate for the women's 42km championship at the Journey to Lotus Village 2024 marathon in the central province of Nghệ An on June 9.

Warming up for the race in late president Hồ Chí Minh's hometown, Lệ won the Tây Hồ 2024 half marathon and the women's 42km event at the VnExpress Marathon Huế 2024 with a record time of 2 hours 55 minutes 45 seconds.

Lệ said that from the beginning of this year, she decided to retire from the Vietnamese national athletics team after more than 10 years of training and competing, but this does not mean she has stopped running. She still maintains her passion for the sport.

"I still devote all my abilities to Vietnamese sports. I will compete with all my might in the Journey to Lotus Village tournament to win the top position," Lệ said.

During her career, Lệ won one gold medal, four silver medals and three bronze medals at the SEA Games and set a national record in the women's 10,000m event at the 2021 national athletics championship.

In the men's 42km event, competition is expected to heat up between national athletes Hoàng Nguyên Thanh, Đỗ Quốc Luật and Nguyễn Văn Long. Thanh secured first place at the National Tiền Phong Marathon in March with an impressive time of 2:26.5, and also broke the national record at the Asian Marathon Championship with a time of 2:18.43.

In the men's 21km category, SEA Games champion Nguyễn Trung Cường is a strong contender, having won the National Tiền Phong Marathon this year in the 21km event. At the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia in 2023, Cường won gold in the men's 3,000m steeplechase.

The Journey to Lotus Village Marathon is expected to draw around 3,000 runners. The 42km course starts in Nam Đàn District, while the 5km, 10km and 21km courses all start from Bình Minh Road in Cửa Lò Town.

The event is part of the Lotus Village Festival 2024, aimed at promoting the image of Uncle Hồ's homeland and introducing local products and cultural values to domestic and foreign tourists. VNS