Ho Chi Minh City Two famous amateur runners spent months training and accumulating with the expectation of achieving a time under 2 hours and 40 minutes at the Ho Chi Minh City night run on March 3.
Dan Quyet and Truong Van Tam arrived very early at the Expo area of the VPBank VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City Midnight on the afternoon of March 1. They quickly received their items and stayed to chat with many runners. In two days, Van Tam and Dan Quyet will compete for the second season of the Ho Chi Minh City Night Running Championship.
Dan Quyet had a long break when he did not participate in the two most recent races in the VnExpress Marathon system in Hanoi and Hai Phong at the end of 2023. Over the past 3 months, he has spent most of his time accumulating and increasing his intensity with the goal of winning the VnExpress Marathon for the first time. The runner born in 1990 starts each day with long run, interval, and tempo exercises from 4am. The accumulated distance each month is up to 500km. In addition to maintaining volume, Dan Quyet focuses on improving the quality of training sessions and improving speed.
"This time I'm quite confident about winning the championship because I've accumulated enough time and my physical strength is also guaranteed," the 34-year-old runner shared.
Dan Quyet (right), Van Tam (left) received the Bib for the night run on the afternoon of March 1. Photo: Hai Long
Last year, Dan Quyet completed the Ho Chi Minh City night race with a time of 2 hours and 43 minutes. He assessed the race course as beautiful, with few challenges, and only two short bridges, Thu Thiem and Ba Son. However, the 2km section of Thu Thiem without street lights is a "headache" for high-performance athletes. Dan Quyet had to slow down many times for fear of tripping over rocks and potholes when passing through this section of road. This year, the organizers arranged a special lighting plan, helping runners to confidently accelerate through Thu Thiem urban area.
Similar to Dan Quyet, Truong Van Tam also considers VPBank VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City Midnight as a key tournament in the first half of 2024. The runner born in 1989 trains throughout Tet. In the first months of the year, the tournament density is not dense, allowing Van Tam time to prepare and accumulate for the goal of competing for the championship.
According to the athlete under T-Coaching, the Ho Chi Minh City race course is ideal, bringing a lot of inspiration when passing through the city's iconic buildings. However, last year, he had an accident with his energy gel, which led to an unsatisfactory result, reaching 2 hours and 46 minutes. "I learned a lot from last year's incident and am eager to correct my mistakes. Running in the place where I live gives me more motivation to run faster," said Truong Van Tam.
Dan Quyet and Truong Van Tam will participate in the 42km distance, starting at 1am on March 3. The route runs from Tao Dan Park, through many central routes, to Vo Van Kiet Avenue and then turns towards Thu Thiem urban area. The athletes will finish at the Zoo. This time, many athletes from the national team are absent because they are preparing for the national marathon championship, creating conditions for amateur runners to compete for the championship.
Dan Quyet runs at night in Ho Chi Minh City 2023. Photo: VM
Although confident in their goals, both Dan Quyet and Van Tam believe it is difficult to predict who will be crowned. The races in the VnExpress Marathon system always attract a series of high-achieving athletes and have a high level of competition. In addition to familiar domestic faces, many foreign runners can also create surprises, such as the case of Hiroki Nakajima when he unexpectedly won the VM Nha Trang 2023.
Witnessing the explosion of the marathon movement and the continuous improvement of runners' achievements, Dan Quyet and Van Tam said that it was a good sign but also a pressure because the level of competition was increasingly fierce. This required athletes like Quyet and Tam to make more efforts to improve their achievements and break the limits. "I really want to win the championship but I can't say anything in advance because marathon runners are getting faster and faster and there are many mysterious factors that can appear at any time," Dan Quyet shared.
VPBank VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City Midnight built the route with the highest safety standards. The entire race track is secured and traffic-controlled by hundreds of volunteers, police, and militia. The race time is calculated to avoid runner congestion, ensuring smooth and convenient traffic in the city and people's lives. The organizing committee has arranged 19 water stations and 11 medical stations throughout the journey. The organizing committee has prepared special lighting plans for sections lacking street lights in Thu Thiem peninsula such as Bui Thien Ngo and Nguyen Thien Thanh streets.
Xanh SM will coordinate with the Organizing Committee of VPBank VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City Midnight 2024 to ensure lighting solutions for about 3km of the road leading to Sala. With the pioneering mission "For a Green Future", Xanh SM supports Green mobility activities by providing 100 Green electric cars and 100 drivers to work all night to "light up" this road, ensuring the necessary light for the athletes.
On the professional side, the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) measures and certifies the route to international standards. The Ho Chi Minh City Athletics Federation and the Department of Culture and Sports act as professional advisors, providing a team of referees to ensure the verification of results is accurate and quick.
VPBank VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City Midnight marks two prestigious and experienced names in organizing and operating major running systems: VPBank and VnExpress Marathon. Previously, the two sides signed a strategic cooperation agreement to accompany the Ho Chi Minh City night race for 5 years from 2024 - 2028. In October 2023, VPBank and VnExpress successfully coordinated to organize the VPBank Hanoi International Marathon in Hanoi.
Hoai Phuong
Thousands of 50% discount codes (up to 50,000 VND) for athletes who book electric vehicles on the Xanh SM app and enter the departure and destination points of the running area (Mai Chi Tho and Nguyen Thien Thanh streets) on March 3, 2024. Applicable to Xanh SM Bike, Xanh SM Taxi and Xanh SM Luxury services.
Source link
Comment (0)