Amateur runners are ready to join the VPBank Hanoi Marathon on Sunday. Photo courtesy of the organising board.

HÀ NỘI More than 7,000 athletes including 1,500 international runners from 58 countries have already registered to join the VPBank Hà Nội Marathon 2019 (VHM), running through Hà Nội heritage sites, which will officially kick off on Sunday (October 20), announced the organiser during a trial tour around the city on Wednesday. 

VHM aims at encouraging and developing sport activities in a sustainable and broad way for all ages and classes of Vietnamese people, the organiser said.

The race is also to help develop the professional, semi-professional and amateur sports activity to improve the health and stature of the Vietnamese people.

"We are hosting not just an ordinary race, but this is an opportunity to promote the image of Hà Nội and Việt Nam," said Tô Văn Động, director of the Hà Nội Department of Culture and Sports at the trial tour briefing on Wednesday. "Safety for the runners remains the priority," he added.

The Hà Nội marathon has already gained more popularity after having received a certification earlier this year from the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The certification means runners can use results from VHM, a member of the AIMS since September, to qualify for the Boston Marathon to be held in April 2020.

There are a lot of prizes, including the 42km race’s first prize worth more than VNĐ100 million (VNĐ30 million in cash and VNĐ70 million worth of vouchers), the 21km-race’s first prize of VNĐ 50 million (VNĐ15million cash and VNĐ35 million in vouchers) and many others. VNS