LookAtVietnam – Top runner Truong Thanh Hang will get back on track in the National Half Marathon Race in Ha Noi on Sunday after missing the race last year.

Truong Thanh Hang. (Photo: VNE)

In the men’s race, Khanh Hoa’s Nguyen Dang Duc Bao, who won the men’s 10km title last year, will confront Phung Manh Dung and Nguyen Van Lai of the Army team.

The race meet, taking place for the 51st time, is organised by the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper, and will see 217 athletes from 32 teams racing in the men’s and women’s distances of 21km, 10km, 5km, and a youth and amateur men’s 7km and women’s 3km.

“All teams will send their best athletes because it is part of the National Games, and preparation for the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China later this year,” said Duong Duc Thuy, an official from Viet Nam Athletics Federation.

The event, the biggest of its kind in Viet Nam, carries total prize money exceeding VND140 million (over US$7,300).

The organising committee also said at a press conference that over 1,000 students, Hanoians and foreign residents in the capital will also take part in the race to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of capital Ha Noi.

In its 50 years history, the half marathon has seen Hanoian Bui Luong take nine race titles, and Nam Dinh’s Nguyen Van Thuyet win six. In the women’s section, the favourites are Ha Noi’s Dang Thi Teo and Nghe Tinh’s Tran Thi Xoa, who have won seven and six titles respectively.

The first race, solely a 5km event held in Ha Noi in 1958, attracted 72 athletes, including the great Czech runner Emil Zatopek.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News