VietNamNet Bridge – Pham Thi Binh of Quang Ngai surpassed defending champion Pham Thi Hien of Thai Binh to win the Tien Phong newspaper's annual half-marathon in Dac Nong Province yesterday, March 20.

The 21-year-old Binh ran for 1 hour 29 minutes 45 seconds to take the gold medal, leaving favourite Hien about 100m behind.

Hanoian Nguyen Thi Dong, who has been famous for running marathons for a long time, took third.

"I did not believe until I received the gold medal. The sloping terrain here is a really big challenge to every runner, all of whom spent several days becoming familiar with it," Binh said to Viet Nam News in a telephone interview.

"Hien, Dong and I rotated to lead the race, but Dong eventually was left behind, leaving a race between me and Hien, who ran stably in front of me. However, when it was one slope ahead I decided to push up speed and then passed Hien to finish first," she said smiling.

Her coach, Nguyen Tuan Anh, said, "Binh has showed great progress compared with what she did last year when she finished third behind Hien and Dong. She had a better physique and better technique in this difficult track in the highland terrain.

"I believe that in the near future Binh will dominate the national marathons as she is still young, but has potential to go further. Hien and Dong will not be her rivals anymore," Anh, who has been Binh's coach since she was a member of the national junior team, said.

Binh and Hien will be Vietnamese representatives at the 13th Asian Marathon Championship, which will be organised in Pattaya, Thailand in July. The athlete with the better result will compete at the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia in December.

"Although the final decision will be made after the Thailand test, I definitely believe in my athlete's ability. She is only 21 and always under my close supervision, while Hien is training without a coach at present and she also spends time focusing on her academics at college," Anh said.

Binh, the only Vietnamese runner to win an award at the Standard Chartered Bank's Greatest Race on Earth in 2009, is targeted to run 42km in 2hrs 49min to set a new record at the National Marathon Championship in September in HCM City, and a place in the SEA Games' top three if she was selected after Pattaya race.

On the men's side, Nguyen Van Long of Gia Lai won the gold, followed by Nguyen Truong Sinh also of Gia Lai and Dinh Quang Phuong of Lam Dong.

This year's marathon also saw some overthrows. SEA Game champion Truong Thanh Hang took back her crown in the women's 5km after losing last year. Khanh Hoa Province-based Nguyen Dang Duc Bao, who has dominated the national marathon, took third place in the men's 10km. The winner was Nguyen Van Lai from Gia Lai with a time of 33:24.89.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News