VnExpress Marathon Nha Trang a breeze for 8,500 runners

By Staff reporters August 27, 2022 | 07:23 pm PT

Around 8,500 athletes joined the VnExpress Marathon Nha Trang Sunday morning, with many breasting the tape earlier than expected thanks to the cool weather.

Many runners comfortably reached their finishing lines after four hours at around 7 a.m., still looking like they have energy in store, helped by mild temperatures of around 25 degrees Celsius.

Pham Thi Binh reaches the finish line. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Dong

Pham Thi Binh reaches the finish line in the 42-km distance at VnExpress Marathon Nha Trang, August 28, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Dong

The event attracted many celebrity runners who achieved good results.

Finishing first in the full marathon race among women was Pham Thi Binh, who won Vietnam's first SEA Games gold medal in the full marathon event, in Myanmar in 2013. Binh has been providing training in recent years and has joined many domestic marathon events, instead of tournaments.

SEA Games gold medalists Nguyen Thi Oanh and Nguyen Van Lai finished first in the 21km distance among women and men, respectively.

Nguyen Quoc Dung, a familiar runner in Nha Trang, finished first in the 42km distance among men.

The VnExpress Marathon Nha Trang seen from above. Photo by VnExpress/Phuoc Tuan

The 42-km (full marathon) distance included more than 15km of coastline, while half of the 10km distance run was along the coast, making it the route with the longest coastline of all VnExpress marathons.

The route took runners from downtown Nha Trang to the outskirts, from the inner city to the coast, and they were able to enjoy moments of sunrise on the beach.

A runner splashes water on his face on Luong Son Pass. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Hue

A runner splashes water on his face on Luong Son Pass, part of VnExpress Marathon Nha Trang route, August 22, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Hue

Most of the runners came from outside Nha Trang, looking at the marathon as a new way to experience the popular tourist town.

Full-marathon runners got to surmount the Luong Son Pass challenge from its foot to top. The pass is not very steep but running its 10-km length back and forth proved a tough task for many runners.