Viet Nam News
HA NOI — Tran Duy Quang won the men’s 70km race of the Viet Nam Trail Marathon (VTM), which concluded in Moc Chau District, Son La Province over the weekend.
Quang, from the central coastal city of Da Nang, finished the ultra marathon in a time of 7:59.44. He beat Nguyen Minh Tuan, his compatriot from Da Nang into second place with a time of 8:55.20, while Singaporean-Vietnamese Nguyen Trung came third with a time of 9:03.31.
Favourite Cao Ngoc Ha, who won the inaugural Viet Nam Jungle Marathon in 2017, finished fourth with a time of 9:15.03.
The race began in darkness at 4am, so Quang and the other 70km runners raced with headlamps on, then ran through blossom orchards at sunrise. The route took them along stunning trails, past remote villages and finished at the tea plantation Doi Che Trai Tim.
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| Paticipants compete in the Viet Nam Trail Marathon in Moc Chau, Son La. — Photo courtesy of VTM |
“I am very glad to run the VTM course in beautiful Moc Chau. The weather is very cool and awesome to run. I ran for Newborns Viet Nam which provides and trains doctors to improve the lives of Vietnamese infants. I am happy and proud to contribute to this meaningful organisation,” said Quang.
The female ultra marathon saw Jo Meek from the UK take first place in a time of 9:37:20. Second place went to Louison Viard from France with a time of 9:53.02, while Vietnamese runner Nguyen Thi Duong was third after clocking a time of 11:34.23.
In the 42km event, Vanja Cnops of Belgium beat Nathalie Cochet of France and Chinyere Perpetua Mbachu of the US to triumph in the women’s side with a time of 5:30.49.
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| A runner enjoys the beautiful site of the Viet Nam Trail Marathon in Moc Chau, Son La. — Photo courtesy of VTM |
On the men’s side, Tiger Spearman of the UK won with a time of 4:26.01, followed by Moritz auf der Heide of Germany and Vietnamese Trinh Hai Nam.
Lo Thi Thanh from Moc Chau triumphed in the women’s 21km category and her teammate Nong Van Chuyen won the men’s event.
The VTM is the third race in the Viet Nam Trail Series by Topas, organisers of the Viet Nam Mountain Marathon, one of the biggest ultra-running events in Asia.
“After months of planning and preparation it was fantastic to see runners from all over the world enjoying the spectacular beauty of Moc Chau,” said David Lloyd, race founder and director.
The event attracted the participation of 1,900 runners from 39 nations, including Miss Viet Nam 1994 Nguyen Thu Thuy and musician Huy Tuan. — VNS