British teacher wins 5 km distance at Ho Chi Minh City midnight race

The 2024 Ho Chi Minh City midnight race witnessed many new names achieving top results in the short distances.

Fushia Emily Clayton, an English teacher in HCMC, finished first in the 5 km event. She came second in the same distance at the race last year.

Fushia Emily Clayton finishes first among women in the 5km distance of VPBank VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City Midnight, March 3, 2024. Photo courtesy of VM

Clayton could not hide her joy. She was happy to achieve good results at the same tournament for two consecutive years.

Having worked and lived in Vietnam for more than two years, Clayton is familiar with the weather. She said that this year's midnight race was professional, had a variety of items in the racekit, and attracted a large number of international runners. In the near future, she plans to participate in other VM tournaments in other cities.

Ly Toan Phat Di continuously led the 5km distance of VPBank VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City Midnight, March 3, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Dong

The men's 5 km champion was Ly Toan Phat Di, 21, a student majoring in athletics at Ho Chi Minh City University of Physical Education and Sports.

Running the first race under the VnExpress Marathon system, Di could not surpass his personal record of 16 minutes and 30 seconds, he was still satisfied with finishing first, in 17 minutes and 5 seconds.

"This was the first time I ran at night. Racing at night has many advantages, such as beautiful scenery and cool weather, and doesn't require too much effort. However, I hardly had a chance to demonstrate individual techniques," Di said.

Di's path to sports encountered many obstacles. From a young age, he loved football but soon stopped due to frequent injuries. Then he switched to traditional martial arts but could not find his passion.

At the age of 11, Di took up running and participated in the national athletic tournament for students. In 2020, Di won his first gold medal and met many people who shared his interest.

Nguyen Dang Khoa celebrates winning the men's 10 km race of VPBank VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City Midnight on March 3, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Dong

In the 10 km race, Nguyen Dang Khoa, 36, crossed the finish line after 33 minutes and 53 seconds. He spent five minutes after that walking around, stretching, and shaking hands with other athletes.

Khoa was happy because he was able to overcome many strong opponents, accomplishing his set goals while watching the sparkling city at night.

The member of Binh Duong Running Club revealed that in the first 5 km, he maintained his strength but still fell behind Lai Terence and Van Loi.

From the Ba Son bridge and Thu Thiem bridge slopes, he decided to accelerate, maintaining a speed of 3 minutes and 23 seconds per kilometer, leaving the remaining runners far behind. As soon as he crossed the finish line, Khoa performed a salute to celebrate.

Last year, Khoa was the half-marathon champion and finished first in the team event at the Aquaman Vietnam Biathlon.

VPBank VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City Midnight 2024 welcomed 11,000 runners, including nearly 600 international ones. The tournament was held by two prestigious names with a lot of experience in organizing and operating running tournaments: VPBank and VnExpress Marathon.

The two partners have signed a strategic cooperation agreement on accompanying the Ho Chi Minh City night race for five years, from 2024 to 2028.

In October 2023, VPBank and VnExpress successfully coordinated to organize the VPBank Hanoi International Marathon in Hanoi.