Home Marathon launched to honour frontline medical workers hinh anh 1Medical workers test samples at a quick COVID-19 testing site in Thanh Oai district of Hanoi (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – An online race “Home marathon in support of white-blouse angles to win the COVID-19 pandemic” has been launched by the organising board of VPBank Hanoi Marathon ASEAN 2020.

The race aims to respond to the Government's call on "staying at home and keeping social distancing" to prevent the epidemic from spreading, promote sports training at home to strengthen physical strength and immunity while the pandemic is becoming increasingly complex, and provide financial support for and honour frontline medical workers.

According to the Vietnam Sports Administration, this is the first ever an online race of this kind has been held, in which runners are required to complete certain distances of their choice, just as in regular races outdoors.

Prior to setting out, they must register an account on the Strava app, which is designed for running.

Each runner needs to complete the distances they registered for, including a full marathon of 42km, a half-marathon of 21km, and 10km and 5km events, at their home or in areas surrounding their home. Participants can run multiple times within the time limit of the race.

The fee to join the online race is 500,000 VND per person. All the proceeds from this event will be transferred to frontline hospitals fighting the COVID-19 pandemic nationwide.

The event will take place from April 8 to 22.

The VPBank Hanoi Marathon ASEAN 2020 is slated for October 18./. 

VNA