Bùi Thế Anh of the Military team crosses the finish line of the men’s marathon event at the Tiền Phong newspaper Marathon Tournament on Sunday in Đắk Lắk Province. — Photo tienphong.vn

Marathon

HÀ NỘI — Bùi Thế Anh of the Military team unseated defending champion Vũ Văn Sơn of Ninh Bình to win the men’s marathon event at the National Marathon Tournament, organised by the Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper, yesterday in Đắk Lắk Province.

Anh finished the 42,192km race with a time of 2hr 31.35min. His time was not as good as last year, but it was good enough to for him to win, as Sơn also ran slower than expected. He came in second at 2:32.56. Last year he ran a time of 2:26.39.

Nguyễn Quốc Dũng of Khánh Hoà came in third, with a time of 2:35.51.

In the women’s competition, Lê Thị Thoa of the Military took the top podium after running 2:57.35

Thoa met almost no difficulty in winning the gold medal, as her main rival, and the reigning winne,r Hoàng Thị Thanh, also of the Military, did not compete this year.

Phạm Thị Hồng Lệ from Bình Định and Nguyễn Thụy Ý Tiên of Khánh Hoà came in second and third, respectively.

In the men’s 10km category, the top three winners were from the national team. Đỗ Quốc Luật of the Military was on top, with club teammate Trịnh Quốc Lượng in second and Phạm Tiến Sản from Bắc Giang coming in third.

Military team’s Lê Thị Thoa finishes her marathon at the top position in Đắk Lắk Province on Sunday. — Photo tienphong.vn

Two-time Southeast Asian Games winner Nguyễn Thị Oanh of Bắc Giang won the women’s 5km discipline, running 17.31min to complete the route. Phạm Thị Huệ of Quảng Ninh, also a national team runner, finished four seconds later, and Lò Thị Thanh of Sơn La claimed third place at 17.58min.

Apart from events for professional athletes, organisers also set up pools for young talents and amateur runners, as well as local residents.

About 470 athletes took part in the 59th Tiền Phong newspaper run, which is the oldest athletic competition in Việt Nam.

They ran in 14 different races, ranging from 2.5km to 42.19km, while wearing timing microchips for the first time, to ensure accurate results. The Tiền Phong Marathon is the event with the largest number of categories in the national running tournament system.

Organisers presented awards to both individual champions and winning teams, with a total cash prize of VNĐ230 million (US$100,000). — VNS