Marathon 

Runners at the VnExpress Marathon Quy Nhơn 2023 season. This year's event will be held on June 23 in Bình Định Province. Photos of VnExpress Marathon Quy Nhơn

 BÌNH ĐỊNH -- Title favourites Edwin Kiptoo and Phạm Văn Long are among 8,000 thousand of runners who checked in and are ready for the VnExpress Marathon Quy Nhơn 2024 on June 23 in Bình Định Province.

In its fifth edition, the marathon will see participants running in four different distances of 5km, 10km, 21km and 42km, vying for total bonuses of up to VNĐ1.3 billion (US$51,000).

Kiptoo, who won the Marathon Imperial Huế in April in his first participation with a time of 2hr 30min, landed in Quy Nhơn on June 22 and spent time to check out the running route.

Edwin Kiptoo checks in at the VnExpress Marathon Quy Nhơn 2024 on June 22.

 He said steep roads and erratic rain and sunshine in Quy Nhơn were major obstacles preventing him from breaking the sub2:30 mark in Huế.

"I can't wait to discover the route with the wild beauty of Quy Nhơn which is Việt Nam's most impressive city that I have visited," said Kenyan Kiptoo.

"Everything is fine but the weather here made me a little worried. The high humidity is uncomfortable and it is quite hot. This can greatly affect the runners' results."

He said he targeted to win in Quy Nhơn but it would be hard to run in 2.30hr. He hoped that the weather would favour runners and he could finish in 2.35hr. 

"In Huế, I was lucky to win the race, seconds faster than Vietnamese runner-up Nguyễn Văn Lai. I was impressed with Vietnamese runners' ability," he said.

Runner Long who has just completed his second cross-country running really wanted to overcome challenges in Quy Nhơn.

Long said Quy Nhơn Marathon was a special event to him. Although he did not totally get his best fitness after the long marathon he always set to run with highest determination.

"Running with my best and confidence will help me be afraid of nothing," Long said.

"Competing against Kenyan runners will inspire Vietnamese competitors. We will strongly grow up and get higher results."

In addition to Long, other runners who could vie for the top three are Đan Quyết and Trương Văn Tâm. 

"This year's routes have been redesigned, especially at distances of 42km and 21km. The spacious and open routes that go along with the beach are the highlights. The new design is expected to help runners set their new records," said Nguyễn Hoàng Giang of the Việt Nam Athletics Federation. 

Bài chòi (folk singing) and local traditional music and dramas are organised to serve runners and supporters.

 This year, the organisers cooperated with the local People's Commitee and Department of Culture and Sports to hold traditional music performance and martial arts festival during the racing. VNS