HÀ NỘI — Đỗ Quốc Luật of the Border Guards team won the men’s open title at the Hà Nội Mới (New Hà Nội) Newspaper Run yesterday in Hà Nội.

This is the fourth time that Luật won the gold medal at the annual event, which was one of the activities to celebrate the 62nd year of the liberation of the capital city on October 10.

Thanks to the competition, Luật has become a professional athlete, though he said that this year he had stronger competition than in the past.

In this event, Nguyễn Bá Thế of Hà Nội came in second, followed by Lê Văn Thao from Thanh Hoá.

In the women’s category, national member Phạm Thị Huệ from Quảng Ninh Province won her second title in her third year of participating.

The 20-year-old said she was not surprised with her win, as she has already enjoyed the taste of victory and previously finished in second place.

Lê Thị Thoa of Border Guards and Đoàn Thu Hằng of Quảng Ninh finished second and third, respectively.

The Hà Nội Mới Run also attracted runners who are foreigners living and working in Việt Nam.

Hugo Page, a teacher at the United Nations International School, finished third in the male foreigner category, during his fifth year running. Last year he finished third.

Additionally, Paulina Ondarza Dovalt of the European Union claimed a gold medal in the female foreigner class. It was her first time competing in the Run, as she has been in Hà Nội only four weeks. Dovalt has also run in Spain and Mexico, and said she was happy with her title in Việt Nam.

Apart from the main categories, the organisers also presented an award to those who took part in the runs for students, workers, soldiers and teams. — VNS