Marathon

About 10,000 runners check in at the Viettel Marathon Series 2024's Việt Nam leg on November 30 in Hà Nội. Photos of Vietcontent

 HÀ NỘI — The first Indochina marathon -- Viettel Marathon Series 2024's Việt Nam leg officially kicked off on November 30 in Hà Nội.

About 10,000 athletes from 23 countries and regions took part in the opening ceremony of the Expo Area and checked in to take their Bib and race kit at the National Mỹ Đình Stadium.

Among them were members of the national teams of Việt Nam, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia in the elite class, promising competitive races.

The notable faces are national champion Hoàng Nguyên Thanh, senior runner Nguyễn Văn Lai, and military team representative Trịnh Quốc Lượng of Việt Nam who will compete against Kenyan Edwin Kiptoo and Malaysian Muhaizar Mohamad.

The female title favourites include national record holder Nguyễn Thị Oanh and national champion Hoàng Ngọc Hoa. 

Runners enjoy their time at the Expo area.

Different from other races, the Viettel Marathon will feature a large number of student-runners from Cambodia, Laos and other countries who are studying and living in Việt Nam.

"The Việt Nam leg will be a great tournament and a good opportunity not only for runners from many countries to meet, share their running passion and cultural exchanges, but also help people from the three brotherly countries of Laos, Việt Nam and Cambodia be more united," Cambodian PhD student Bong Pan Nha of Bắc Ninh University of Physical Education and Sports said.

"After Hà Nội, the series will take place at the world-famous historical site Angkor Wat in Cambodia and I will return home to run. I want to give all marathoners a better understanding of our beautiful Angkor Wat." 

Cambodian PhD student Bong Pan Nha (right) takes part in a check for the Viettel Marathon Series's Việt Nam leg.

At the ceremony, runners also enjoyed many sidelined activities including mini games, sport gear trial, exhibition and meeting with players of Thể Công Viettel FC and national football teams Nhâm Mạnh Dũng, Đặng Tuấn Phong, Công Phương and Đức Chiến.

The highlight was a talk show with German expert Gunter Lange about training methods to improve runners' endurance and establish strong physique foundation to help them run well in 10km, half marathon and full marathon. 

Lange, who is a coach of the national athletics team, also spent time answering questions from the athletes.

The run, which is the first one of this kind held in Asia, will begin with the 42km category in the early morning of December 1, followed by the 21km, 10km and 5km.

German expert Karl Gunter Lange seen in his talk show.

Marathoners will start and finish at the Mỹ Đình Stadium. They will run through the totally new routes that are designed to lead them through six districts of Hà Nội including Nam Từ Liêm, Bắc Từ Liêm, Quốc Oai, Hoài Đức and Đan Phượng, instead of the centre city as many other races usually take place.

Previously, the first leg was held in Luang Prabang, Laos, with about 5,000 runners. The last leg in Siem Reap, Cambodia, will be held on December 22. 

The Viettel Marathon 2024 is jointly organised by the Asian Athletics Association, Việt Nam Athletics Federation and Viettel in cooperation with the athletics federations of Cambodia and Laos. VNS