Athletes test Longbien Marathon route. The annual tournament will be held on October 28-29 in Hà Nội. — Photo courtesy of Longbien Marathon

Proving itself the largest marathon in Việt Nam, the Longbien Marathon is set to welcome about 15,000 athletes to run in its seventh season this weekend in Hà Nội.

As usual, runners will either run for podium or enjoy their leisure time in four different categories of 42km, 21km, 10km and 5km, with the track routes designed to lead them around Long Biên District located on the other side of the Red River.

This year, in addition to running for 'My Next PR' as in the tournament's slogan, people will also run to celebrate the 20th year of the establishment of Long Biên District which falls on November 6.

Longbien Marathon was first organised in 2016 with its principle of being a running event by runners and for runners, which is still maintained until now. 

The organisers expected to build up a strong running community and raise people's awareness about running.

As the earliest marathon in the capital city, the Longbien Marathon hosted 700 competitors of which 70 took part in the full marathon category in its first season.

Over the years, the competition has received great feedback and respect from participants who returned again and again.

This year, among 15,000 runners, 5,000 are to run in the 42km which, along with other routes, has reached the standards of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS). Runners can apply their results at the Longbien Marathon to take part in the World Marathon Majors.

According to organisers, the incredible number of runners marked a big step in the development of Longbien Marathon in particular and Việt Nam's marathon movement in general.

Over the past years, the marathon and its participants have spread the spirit of healthy sports, contributing to the development of an active sports community in Việt Nam.

The tournament has been highlighted in the AIMS's online Distance Running magazine as "the most popular marathon in Việt Nam thanks to its fast courses and cutting-edge runner-centric technology".

"The Longbien Marathon is held in early autumn, when the weather is dry and cool. It’s ideal for a marathon, providing beautiful autumnal scenes in light sunshine," AIMS reported.

"The event is located in Hà Nội’s Long Biên District and features a flat course and relatively few turns. The race is held in late October, when the weather is dry and cool, and it has all the attributes to be the destination Marathon of Việt Nam."

Longbien Marathon 2022 attracted a large number of participants. As many as 15,000 runners are expected to join the seventh Longbien Marathon on October 28-29 in Hà Nội. — Photo courtesy of Longbien Marathon

Vice President and Technical Director of AIMS Dave Cundy arrived in Việt Nam to measure the course in mid October. The leading expert highly appreciated the Longbien Marathon organising activities and believed that many runners could make their new PRs.

Cundy said he was in the country for the fourth time to measure the Longbien course, which has been changing with a lot of improvement, to be better and better every time. It was picturesque and flat, making it a potentially fast course.

The Australian also gave suggestions to runners who aim to have PRs, asking them to pay attention to conditions such as warmth and humidity, well research the route and try to take advantage of the early time of the race when the temperature was cool. 

Last year, Lê Tấn Hi and Lèo Thị Tình were champions of the men's and women's full marathon categories.

Nguyễn Danh Cao and Nguyễn Thị Thành topped the half marathon podiums.

Cao Ngọc Hà and Khuất Phương Anh won the 10km categories, while Nguyễn Quang Hùng and Nguyễn Thị Gia Tuệ took titles of 5km classes. VNS