Marathon

Edwin Kiptoo runs solo in most time of the 42km distance before winning the men's title at the VnExpress Marathon Quy Nhơn, on June 23. Photos of VnExpress Marathon Quy Nhơn

BÌNH ĐỊNH — Edwin Kiptoo left all runners far behind to win the VnExpress Marathon Quy Nhơn, his second title in a row in Việt Nam, on June 23.

The Kenyan finished the 42km distance in a time of 2hr 34.41min, followed by Vietnamese Đan Quyết and Hoàng Văn Hơn.

It was local title candidate Nguyễn Văn Long who sped up from the beginning to take lead of the race. But his tactic did not work because of his unrecovered physique after a long marathon that across Việt Nam in April.

Kiptoo and Shohei Miyamoto of Japan caught up with him at the mark of 10km about 30 minutes later. The duo was together for 5km before Kiptoo who won the Imperial Huế Marathon in April left his companion behind to run solo to the finish line.

Quyết and Hơn, who are a famed amateur runners of Việt Nam with many time on podiums, passed Miyamoto in the last kilometres and came second and third respectively.

Long was No 10 finisher.

Nông Thị Chang is to cross the finish line of the women's 42km category.

On the women's race, Nông Thị Chang separated away from the crowd from the beginning. She maintained high speed throughout 42km and crossed the line in a time of 3:02.56.

Phạm Thị Mỹ Duyên and Nguyễn Thị Minh Hiền were her runners-up.

In the half marathon categories, Lê Đình Tường took an easy win for the first time in the men's side while it was Lê Thu Hà sprinted to win the women's title just a hair gap faster than her two closest rivals.

Lê Hoàng Tân and Nguyễn Thị Kim Luyến bagged men's and women's 10km podiums. Trương Thanh Bình and Nguyễn Thị Duyên were winners of the 5km classes.

The 2024 VnExpress Marathon Quy Nhơn featuring 8,000 runners has become a big sport event in the province with increasing number of participants after five editions.

Local authority briefed that the running movement in Bình Định strongly developed, rising from several hundreds in the past to thousands currenly.

The race was also an activity of the province's plan to build Bình Định a leading sport tourism destination. VNS