Marathon

HÀ NỘI — A record some 300 people will participate in the annual Tiền Phong Newspaper Marathon being held in Ninh Bình Province on Sunday.

According to the organisers, 32 athletes, thrice more than last year, will run the 42.195km category. The remaining will take part in marathons of different distances, categorised for professional and amateur runners.

“We believe the tournament will be competitive with hundreds of participants, many of them from strong teams such as Khánh Hòa, Bình Phước and Army,” Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, general referee of the event, said.

“At the event, you will see last year’s winners – Đỗ Quốc Luật (men’s 10km), Phạm Thị Huệ (women’s 5km), Hoàng Thị Thanh (women’s 42.195km) and Bùi Thế Anh (men’s 42.195km) – compete to defend their titles.

“It’s great to know that this is the first time the Tiền Phong event has attracted the participation of more than 20 amateurs and one woman, who will compete against professional marathoners,” he said.

At this year’s competition, athletes will get the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful landscape of Nình Bình Province’s Tràng An Tourism area, which hosted the film crew of Kong: Skull Islands last year.

Prize money is VNĐ200 million (US$9,000),

The organisers have also invited Việt Nam’s beauty pageant contestants to participate in the event.

Miss Việt Nam 2010 Đặng Thị Ngọc Hân, First Runner-up of Miss Việt Nam 2016 Ngô Thanh Thanh Tú and other beauties have promised to run on Sunday.

Launched in 1958, the Tiền Phong Newspaper Marathon is the oldest event of its kind in Việt Nam. Since its launch, the event has not been held only once in 1980 because of certain reasons.

At its first edition, there were only 72 runners, including three-time Olympic winner Emil Zatopek of Czech Republic. He was also the first foreigner running at the event.

Through 57 competitions, sports officials have discovered several talented athletes such as Bùi Lương, Nguyễn Văn Thuyết, Lưu Văn Hùng, Trương Thanh Hằng and Phạm Thị Bình. All have been national champions and regional medal holders. — VNS