Runners trial VnExpress Marathon Hue route

Twenty pacers and runners took part in the VM Hue trial last weekend, starting off at 4:30 a.m. from Phu Van Lau Pavilion on Le Duan Street.

Local authorities in Thua Thien Hue mobilized two mobile police officers to ensure participant safety amid a gentle bout of rain.

Both 21 and 42 kilometer routes cross Truong Tien Bridge spanning the Huong River. Like Long Bien in Hanoi, Truong Tien was one of the first steel bridges built during the Indochina period of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Le Loi Street, lined with camphor trees, features a flat and wide surface ideal for sprinting.

After about 20 minutes, the runners cross Da Vien, another bridge over the iconic Huong River.

Le Loi Street includes monuments like Diem Phung Thi Museum, Hue Cultural Museum, Hue High School for the Gifted and Hue University.

Hue High School for the Gifted (pictured) served as Hue's first high school, built by the Nguyen Dynasty emperor Thanh Thai in 1896.

The route also passes by ancient garden houses.

Participants runs past Thien Mu, the most famous pagoda in Hue, located on the banks of the Huong River. It was built in 1601.

After completing the trial run, pacer Tran Hoang Phuong (leading) from Da Nang said the VM Hue course was both poetic and romantic. She particularly loved passing by Thien Mu Pagoda and the famous Truong Tien Bridge.