HÀ NỘI — Vũ Văn Sơn passed defending champion Bùi Thế Anh to win the National Tiền Phong Newspaper Marathon yesterday in Ninh Bình Province.

Sơn, of the hosts, finished his 42.195km with a time of 2hr 26.39min, running along the magnificent scenery of Tràng An Landscapes Complex, a World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

Sơn finished just five seconds faster than Anh of the Army.

Trình Quốc Lượng, also of the Army, was at third with a time of 2:30.49.

The result of the top-three athletes were all better than that of Soh Rui Yong Guillaume of Singapore, who ran 2:34.56 to win the Southeast Asian Games’ gold medal in 2015.

On the women’s side, Hoàng Thị Thanh had no difficulty in defending her title.

Thanh of the Army came in first with a time of 2:45.25. She ran about seven minutes faster than 2015 SEA Games gold medalist Natthaya Thanarnnawat of Thailand. In those games, Thanh was third after 3:07.14.

She was followed by teammate Lê Thị Thoa (2:47.51) and Lèo Thị Tình from Sơn La (3:13.01).

This year’s marathon saw dozens of amateur athletes running for the first time. However, none of them could join the medal lists.

Nguyễn Phương Thuỳ was the only amateur athlete in the women’s marathon event.

Thùy ran against three professional runners and finished last, with strong support from her husband.

The 32-year-old runner ran 3:57.00, a result that referees said was good for an amateur runner.

In the men’s professional 10km, national team member Nguyễn Đình Luật of the Army retained the championship. Luật completed his race with a time of 31.33min.

Lê Văn Thao of Thanh Hóa and Lê Văn Tuấn of Đồng Nai were second and third, respectively.

Nguyễn Thị Oanh of Bắc Giang was first in the women’s professional 5km event (17.41min).

Phạm Thị Huệ of Quảng Ninh (17.43min) and Lò Thị Thanh of Sơn La (17.59) were the runners-up.

Bình Phuớc Province won the team’s top ranking and Ninh Binh came in second. — VNS