Marathon

About 10,000 runners took to the roads for the 12th edition of the HCM City Marathon on January 12. Photo of Pulse Active

HCM CITY — Nguyễn Thị Thúy Vân and Adrian Bednarek took top places on the podium at the 2025 HCM City Marathon, a special edition, on January 12.

Vân finished the women's 42km category in a time of 3hr 0.15min, followed by Trần Thị Kim Kiều and Nguyễn Thị Trà Giang.

In the men's category, Polish runner Bednarek set his domination from the start and ran solo to the finish line in 2:30.57.

Kenyan Chumba Henry Kipkirui and local young runner Huỳnh Anh Khôi, were second and third, respectively.

Over the 21km distance, Vietnamese runners dominated the men's race.

Trương Trí Tâm (1:10.25), Terence Lai (1:10.28) and Triệu Tiến Luyện (1:10.33) were top three finishers, competing against each other from the early stages.

In the women's category, Vietnamese Lê Thị Yến Như (1:19.42) and Nguyễn Khánh Ly (1:22.59) took gold and bronze, while British runner Abbie Pearse (1:21.30) secured silver, one of four foreign runners in the top ten.

The winners of the 10km events were Nguyễn Văn Khang (33.27min) on the men's side and Phạm Thị Thúy Hạnh (39.24min) in the women's.

This 12th marathon, first organised in 1992, was one of events to celebrate the city's 50th anniversary on the Liberation of the South and National Reunification Day (April 30, 1975-2025).

All three routes were designed to start in front of the Reunification Palace in District 1's centre, an historic landmark that marks the victorious Hồ Chí Minh Campaign.

On their way to the finish line, runners were led through the local famous sites including the city's Opera House, Ba Son Bridge, Bạch Đằng Whaft and Nguyễn Huệ Pedestrian Street cheered on by thousands of supporters, running club members and volunteers.

The annual marathon is one of the city's main sporting events to encourage people to regularly practice physical exercise and take up sport to improve their health.

Organisers expect to attract about 20,000 athletes in the next three years and contribute even more to local tourism industry development. - VNS