Nguyễn Thị Đường celebrates winning the women's 100km in the Việt Nam Mountain Marathon concluded in Sa Pa yesterday. — Photo courtesy of the organising board

HÀ NỘI — Trần Duy Quang and Nguyễn Thị Đường triumphed in the 100km race of at the Việt Nam Mountain Marathon 2020 which concluded yesterday in Sa Pa Town, Lào Cai Province.

The 100km male battle saw an extremely competitive race between Vietnamese and French runners going head to head in Việt Nam’s most challenging race.

The winner was Quang who broke the new 100km course record with a time of 13:01.11.

Quang beat two strong competitors from France including Romain Berion and Gaetan Morizur who crossed the finish line second together in a total time of 13:04.54, just three minutes behind Quang.

Trần Duy Quang celebrates winning the men's 100km in the Việt Nam Mountain Marathon concluded in Sa Pa yesterday. — Photo courtesy of the organising board

At the finish line, Morizur said: “It was an amazing day with good race conditions. I am very happy to be here. Thank you the organisers and all the crews along the course for supporting us a lot.”

Standing beside Morizur at the finish line, Berion added: “I hope everybody enjoyed because I enjoyed it a lot. It was an amazing race, amazing day. I don’t know what to say other than thank you to the organiser. Việt Nam Trail Series organizer is really great from Việt Nam Jungle Marathon I joined in October to the VMM this weekend.”

The female 100km saw Đường from Việt Nam take first place in a time of 17:20.35. She beat Nathalie Cochet of France who was VMM 100km champion in 2016. Cochet was ahead of Đường until checkpoint four but then Đường powered ahead to finish 16 minutes before Cochet. Đường also set a personal record on the VMM 100km course in 2020 with three hours faster than in 2017.

At the finish line, Đường said: “The cool weather helped me a lot when running uphill. I did not sweat at all. The race this year brought an interesting experience because this is the first time we ran the VMM in such cold weather.”

A runner enjoys the beautiful sightseeing in the Việt Nam Mountain Marathon concluded in Sa Pa yesterday. — Photo courtesy of the organising board

Also in the women’s ultra field, Nguyễn Thùy Dung of Việt Nam came the first in the 70km with a time of 11:03.28. She beat Constance Louasse of France in second place and Vũ Lan Hương of Việt Nam in third place.

In the men’s 70km, Singapore-based Vietnamese runner Trung Nguyễn took first place while his running friend Vũ Tiến Việt Dũng and Lorenzo Revelant from Italy came second and third.

The race, organised by Topas Travel and supported by Topas Ecolodge, attracted more than 2,200 runners competing from 10km to 100km.

Usually held in September, the race was held for the first time in autumn following a postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. — VNS