Winners of the men's half marathon event at the sixth Manulife Da Nang International Marathon in the central city on August 12. (Photo: VNA)Da Nang (VNA) – Over 7,000 runners from 52countries competed at the sixth Manulife Da Nang International Marathon in thecentral city on August 12.
This year, the marathon offered four distances – a fullmarathon (42km), half marathon (21km), a 10km run and a 5km fun run for localsand donors. Most of the titles went to Vietnamese and Japanese athletes.
Two Vietnamese athletes – Pham Thi Hong Le and NguyenLinh Chi – won the first and second places while Marion Torres from France camethird at the women’s full marathon event. For men’s event, Huyen Tan Tien ofVietnam ranked third after Suzaki Yuuya and Koji Nishizawa, both from Japan.
For the women’s half marathon, Lo Thi Thanh and NguyenThuy Phuong of Vietnam finished first and third while Tomomi Nakajima of Japancame second. Japan’s Hiroki Nakajima got the men’s half marathon title,followed by Nguyen Dang Khoa and Doan Ngoc Hoang from Vietnam.
Vietnamese runners dominated all the titles of thewomen’s 10km run – Nguyen Thi Huong first, Bui Thi Mai second, and Dinh ThiNgat third. Le Dinh Tuan and Le Cong Bang from Vietnam claimed first and secondplaces and Kim Seongwon from the Republic of Korea came third at the men’sevent.
After the run, the organizer presented more than 225million VND (nearly 10,000 USD) raised from donors and organisations for theprovince’s people with disabilities, orphans, AO/dioxin victims, anddisadvantaged children and women.
The race is sponsored by Manulife and organised by PulseActive and Da Nang. It is the first Vietnamese marathon certified by theInternational Amateur Athletics Association (IAAF) and the Association ofInternational Marathons and Distance Races.
Last year, more than 5,700 athletes from 44 countries andterritories joined the race, and more than 21,000 USD was raised forhandicapped people and orphans, victims of Agent Orange/dioxin, disabledpeople, the Village of Hope and 15 low-income families in the city.
The Eat Play Surf also selected the Da Nang International Marathon as one ofthe 10 best marathons to conquer in Southeast Asia and has the most beautifulsetting. –VNA
VNA
