Ly A Song from Sa Pa district, the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai, came first in the men’s half-marathon category (21km) of the first international mountain marathon in Vietnam which closed in Lao Cai on October 6.

He was followed by Swedish runner Joakim Esaiasson and Philp Martin Eggold from the US.

In the men’s full marathon (42km) event, Yong Wai Cheng from Singapore was the first to cross the goal line while Jacob Green of Denmark came in second and Nicolas Perret Ducray cam third.

Meanwhile, Danish Simon Grimstrup was the fastest in the ultra-marathon event (70km), followed by Meyer from Germany and Yeo Joon Kiat from Singapore.

In the women’s events, Samantha Janae Young from the US won the 21km competition while Carolina Andres Abdo of Mexio came second and Camilla Nielsen from Denmark was third.

Annemette Skov from Denmark was the winner of the 42km event. The second and third prize winners were Patricia Pei Voon Lee from Malaysia and Sanja Burns of Australia, respectively.

Coming first in the ultra-marathon (70 km) race was Shiri Leventhal from the US, who was followed by Camilla Gry from Denmark and Nora Barbara Senn from Sweden.

Addressing the closing ceremony, Danish Ambassador to Vietnam John Nielsen, who is also head of the Organising Board, thanked local authorities for creating favourable conditions for the organisation of the event.

He expressed his admiration for the spirit of the runners, especially those from Vietnam.

He said he hopes the event would draw more tourists to Sa Pa in particular and Vietnam in general as the town is preparing to mark its 110th anniversary.

The event drew more than 170 runners from 28 countries.-VNA