To be the fastest person in a VnExpress Marathon, the average athlete must run at a pace of 3:38 - 3:40, finishing before the 2 hour 33 minute mark.
VnExpress Marathon closes 2023 with 7 tournaments stretching from North to South, through many types of terrain such as plains, steep roads, coastal running, mountain passes, bridges and all kinds of weather from sunny, windy, rainy to cold, high humidity,... With a diverse series of tournaments, many experiences, no year has witnessed the achievements of VnExpress Marathon athletes as high as this year.
The champion is getting faster and faster
The full marathon distance has welcomed 6 different male and 5 female champions in the past year. Ezekiel Kemboi, a Kenyan runner, started the impressive streak when he won the VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City Midnight (February 12) in 2:30:03 (2 hours 30 minutes 3 seconds). Ezekiel's achievement broke Trinh Quoc Luong's two-year-old record of 2:31:06, set at VM Hanoi Midnight 2020. He also became the first foreign runner to win a race in the system, paving the way for a wave of international athletes to come to Vietnam in the past year.
Finishing 26 minutes after Ezekiel was Ha Thi Hau. Vietnam's number one female amateur runner pocketed her second VnExpress Marathon championship after an impressive sprint, finishing with a PR of 2:56:51.
At VnExpress Marathon Imperial Hue on April 16, Nguyen Van Lai was the most mentioned name. The former national athlete on the journey to conquer the sub 2:30 marathon milestone chose Hue as her stopover. On the day Hue poured heavy rain in the early morning, Lai did not complete the goal, finishing after 2:31:29. However, this parameter was among the best in Vietnam, far surpassing the following competitors. In the women's category, Pham Thi Binh finished first after 3:05:25.
After VM Hue is a series of 3 summer races in Quy Nhon, Nha Trang and Ha Long. These are all challenging tournaments with steep routes, high temperatures and wind. In Quy Nhon, Pham Ngoc Phan (2:40:57) and Shelith Muriuki (2:47:41) are the two champions. Of which, Shelith, from Kenya, became the first foreign female champion, and also broke the previous system record belonging to Pham Thi Hue (2:50:33, VM Hue 2022).
Just two months later, Shelith won the VnExpress Marathon for the second time when she finished first in Nha Trang (2:52:40). Nha Trang was also the only locality to witness foreign athletes dominate both the men's and women's categories when in the remaining category, Hiroki Nakajima, a Japanese, won with a time of 2:33:54. The two names announced at VM Ha Long were Pham Tien San (2:38:26) and Leo Thi Tinh (3:06:57).
The most explosive achievements were the two year-end tournaments in Hanoi (November 26) and Hai Phong (December 17). Nguyen Van Lai returned and won the VM Hanoi Midnight impressively after 2:25:04, breaking the record set by Ezekiel Kemboi in Ho Chi Minh City at the beginning of the year. This parameter is the 4th best in the history of the Vietnamese marathon of all time, according to the statistics page Vietnam Best Marathon. At VM Hai Phong, Hua Thuan Long recorded his name in the number one position in the ranking of the fastest amateur runners in Vietnam with an index of 2:34:29. In both of these tournaments, Pham Thi Hong Le won the first place for women. In which, the number 2:46:44 at VM Hai Phong officially helped Le break the record that had only existed for 6 months of Shelith Muriuki, approaching the national record mark.
New records are constantly breaking old records. On average, to win a VnExpress Marathon in 2023, male athletes need a time of 2:33:29, with a pace of 2:38 - 2:40; female athletes need 2:56:03, with a pace of 4:10 - 4:12.
Compared to 2022, the time needed to win the VnExpress Marathon has been significantly shortened. Last year, the average male champion finished after 2:39:39, and the average female champion finished after 3:02:18.
There are many reasons for this growth. The three decisive factors are the ever-improving competition conditions, the increased ability of athletes and the fierce competition leading to a more fiery mentality.
According to Nguyen Van Lai, the cool weather of only about 19 degrees Celsius in Hanoi on November 26 helped him accelerate strongly from the start, saving energy. The route was also almost flat, without any challenges. The former SEA Games champion said that if the temperature was below 15 degrees Celsius, he could have completely reached the 2 hour 23 minute mark. The 36-year-old athlete's achievement also came from the fact that he set a sub 2:25 goal from the beginning of the year and trained hard for a long time. He rarely participates in competitions and only participates if he feels he is in the best form, capable of reaching new milestones. He also said that he wants to beat foreign athletes to affirm the position of Vietnamese runners.
Female record holder Pham Thi Hong Le also agreed that the competition conditions were a factor that helped her conquer the PR of 2:46:44. Moreover, the fierce pursuit of her opponent Bui Thi Thu Ha also helped her to be more determined in each step of the race. "I competed in ideal conditions. The outdoor temperature was 11-13 degrees Celsius. Moreover, the race track was also very beautiful. Running from the city center to Do Son was a very long, flat straight section. These two factors helped me to run very comfortably without losing much energy. The water stations were also quite dense," said the athlete from Binh Dinh.
Why are runners getting faster?
The gap between runners’ achievements is getting narrower and there are more runners running faster. According to Mr. Tien Mai - Vice President of GMC Running Club, this reflects the strong development of the marathon movement in both quantity and quality.
The birth of tournaments, including the VnExpress Marathon series, has attracted thousands of people to join the sport in the past few years and the proliferation of clubs across the country. According to Mr. Tien, in 2018 there were only about 35 clubs from North to South. Up to now, the number may have exceeded 200. Many have thousands of athletes, with professional, systematic processes, operations, and training plans. "The more members there are, the more enthusiastic the training spirit is. They work together, pull each other through difficult exercises, and invite each other to race. Thanks to that, their physical condition and achievements are constantly improved. The general mentality of runners is to break their own limits," said Mr. Tien.
The next factor is that the training plans for athletes are becoming more and more professional and detailed. According to Mr. Tien, in the past, amateur athletes had almost no chance to interact with professional players or coaches. Information sources about training plans, training regimens, and nutrition were quite limited.
"It's different now," he affirmed, adding that there are now many experienced running coaches and high-achieving runners willing to share their secrets. There are countless books, newspapers, videos, information sources, and documents about running in and outside the country. Clubs, teams, and groups have dedicated core teams who design personalized training plans for each group of runners with specific goals.
Giving a specific example, Mr. Tien talked about Fleet Runner - a project in collaboration with marathon legend Bui Luong, to advise and plan training according to goals for runners who want to break through their achievements. In this small group alone, 55 people set a goal of conquering the sub 2:55 mark, 179 people want to reach sub 3. "We have a training plan so that within three months, runners can reach their goals. Therefore, it will not be surprising if the number of runners reaching sub 3 continues to increase in the future," Mr. Tien explained.
Another factor is the choice of tournament. According to many high-achieving runners, they prioritize choosing tournaments with professional organization, beautiful race courses, and good on-track support. VnExpress Marathon almost meets this requirement.
According to Vy Phan, who broke her personal record 6 times in 7 times participating in the VnExpress Marathon 2023. In addition to the training factor, the support of the organizing committee plays an important role. The races all choose beautiful and convenient routes for runners to compete comfortably. For example, the road in Hue is almost completely flat with cool weather. Hai Phong is a route with few turns, a 20km long straight section, and a temperature of only 11 degrees Celsius. Traffic control, locking, and guidance are always ensured by the security team, police, and hundreds of volunteers.
On average, each VnExpress Marathon has about 20 water stations, many fixed and mobile medical stations, and many toilets. "VnExpress Marathon always ensures safe and optimal competition conditions. Support from the organizing committee helps runners to comfortably give their all and limit the fear of injury," said Vy Phan.
'The Rain' sub 3
In early 2022, according to unofficial statistics, it is estimated that the whole country has less than 100 runners who can run a full marathon in under 3 hours (sub 3). By the end of 2023, this number has increased rapidly, reaching more than 250 people with 236 men and 18 women. VnExpress Marathon tournaments contribute many runners to this "golden achievement list".
VnExpress Marathon Hai Phong, which took place on the morning of December 17, became the race with the largest number of athletes running a full marathon under 3 hours in the VnExpress Marathon system with 81 people. Three of them were women, which has never happened in any tournament across Vietnam. Hai Phong ranked above Hanoi Midnight (50 people), Imperial Hue (41 people), Ho Chi Minh City Midnight (32 people) in the ranking of races with the most sub 3 athletes of VM. All of these races are in the top events with the largest number of sub 3 runners in Vietnam.
Sub 3 marathon is considered an important milestone because of its difficulty and rarity for runners. In Vietnam, if a runner can run sub 3, they will be considered "famous" in the community's funny way of calling it. Running sub 3 requires the runner to have a cumulative training process lasting for years, a methodical training plan, and suitable physical conditions.
At the sub 3:30 mark, the number also increased rapidly. At the HCMC Midnight race at the beginning of the year, there were 98 athletes running under 3 hours and 30 minutes. By the end of the year in Hai Phong, this number had increased nearly 4 times, reaching 374 athletes. Similarly, the number of sub 4 runners has mushroomed, from 319 to 886.
The numbers partly show the "expansion" of the movement. Two years ago, an athlete finishing with a sub-3 result was almost certain to stand on the podium in the overall or age group. To date, if running for about 2 hours and 55 minutes, an athlete still has difficulty entering the top 10 overall in VnExpress Marathon races.
Along with the growth in achievements, potential factors and new birds have also emerged, creating a more vibrant and diverse marathon picture instead of just being limited to a few dozen familiar runners like before.
Truong Van Quan, a physical education teacher in Thai Nguyen, who ran a marathon for the first time, achieved the milestone of 2:41:25, entering the top 5 of VM Hanoi Midnight. Pham Duc Tho, who ran a marathon for the second time, achieved a result of 2:40:54, top 4 of VM Hanoi Midnight. Vy Phan, a 22-year-old runner from Gia Lai, started the new year with a result of 4:5155, but by the end of the year, she had reduced it to 3:34:18 seconds, breaking her personal record 6 times. Similarly, Tra Giang of Ha Tinh Runners improved her parameters from 3:35:07 to 3:14:25 in just one year.
In 2024, VnExpress Marathon continues to expand the series of races with a series of improvements in organization. With the current development momentum, many top runners predict that next year's races will soon witness 100 sub-3 runners or even 120, 150.
Hoai Phuong
Source link
![[Photo] Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs Government Conference with localities on economic growth](https://vstatic.vietnam.vn/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/2/21/f34583484f2643a2a2b72168a0d64baa)
Comment (0)