Two Vietnamese athletes won the Phuket 100K Ultra Marathon

"Mutant" Nguyen Van Long and female runner Lai Thi Xuan Huong won the 100km distances for men and women.

The Phuket 100K Ultra Marathon 2024 took place on the morning of March 2 and witnessed the dominance of Vietnamese athletes. In the men's 100km event, Nguyen Van Long finished first after 7 hours 34 minutes 21 seconds. This is Long's best achievement at this distance - breaking his personal record (PB) set at the Beyond Limits - Viet Nam Ultra Run on December 16-17, 2023 with 7 hours 48 minutes 44 seconds.

Nguyen Van Long when he won the men's 100km distance of the Phuket 100K Ultra Marathon. Photo: Phuket 100K Ultra Marathon — Nguyen Van Long when he won the men's 100km distance of the Phuket 100K Ultra Marathon. Photo: *Phuket 100K Ultra Marathon*

In the women's 100km event, the championship also belonged to a Vietnamese athlete when Lai Thi Xuan Huong finished first after 8 hours 49 minutes 01 seconds. The runner born in 1984 also achieved PB compared to the old standard of 9 hours 44 minutes 50 seconds. Van Long and Xuan Xuong both dominated in their events. Long finished 17 minutes ahead of the second place, while Huong was 29 minutes ahead of the second place.

Van Long is famous in the Vietnamese running community with the nickname "mutant" after he ran across Vietnam to raise funds in 2022. He is planning to repeat this journey in April this year.

"The track is 152m high and the weather is hot. However, the organizers arranged the distances and water stops very precisely, helping the runners not to lack water during the competition. In addition, the Thai runners also cheered enthusiastically, motivating me. This is the first time I have won a tournament abroad, and broken my own record, so for me, the joy is doubled," Van Long told VnExpress .

The Phuket 100K Ultra Marathon is one of four races in the Thailand Ultra Series, taking place in the coastal city of Phuket, southern Thailand. The race has five events: individual, women's individual 100km, men's individual, women's individual 60km and mixed team (requiring at least one woman on the team).

This year, in its second edition, the Phuket 100K Ultra Marathon will be a 20km course that will take runners through Phuket’s coastline and the surrounding national park. Runners will run five laps of the 100km course.

Quynh Chi

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