Chi becomes first Vietnamese woman to complete Boston Marathon

She reached the finish line in a time of three hours, nine minutes and 31 seconds, which qualified her for next year’s event.

To qualify this year Chi ran in the 2018 Mountains 2 Beach Marathon in California, completing it in three hours and 23 minutes, which is 12 minutes faster than the qualification standard for her 30-39 age group.

Chi, 36, from Ho Chi Minh City, is a familiar face in the Vietnamese marathon community. She finished fourth in the 2018 Tien Phong marathon, the oldest in Vietnam which is in its 60th year. Six years ago she became the first Vietnamese to complete the 100-kilometer run in the world summit of trail-running UTMB system in Mont Blanc, Switzerland.

The Boston Marathon is an annual race hosted by several cities in Greater Boston in the U.S. It is the world's oldest marathon and one of the world's best-known road racing events.

Considered one of six world marathon majors, it attracts 500,000 spectators every year.

This year it was won by Worknesh Degafa of Ethiopia in two hours, 23 minutes and 31 seconds. The men’s race was won by Lawrence Cherono of Kenya in two hours, seven minutes and 57 seconds.