VPBank Ha Noi Marathon ASEAN 2020 held

Illustration photo

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ha Noi People's Committee and other agencies jointly held the ASEAN Marathon 2020 titled “Greeting the Dawn, Welcoming the New Normal”.

To comply better social distancing, the race organising committee has decided to trim the size of the event from the expected 8,000 to 10,000 people to 5,500 people, of which 3,000 joined the race directly in Ha Noi and about 2,500 competed at mini race spots throughout the country, in ASEAN and some other countries.

The start line was located in front of Ba Kieu Temple in Hoan Kiem district and VPHM took runners through six Hanoi districts, with tracks going past heritages and architectural works such as the Old Quarter, Long Bien Bridge, West Lake, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and several historic buildings part of the capital city’s history and development.

Runners competing in the VPHM categories started every two hours.

The start times began at 00:00 on October 18 for the 42km full marathon, at 3am for the 21km half marathon, at 4.30am for the 10km distance and at 8am for the 5km category.

There were also multiple slots for starting at each time to ensure the marathon was safe for all.

Held annually since 2018, the VPBank Ha Noi Marathon is recognised as a member of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS), with the running course standardised by AIMS experts.

In addition to this event, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will coordinate with the embassies of ASEAN countries in HaNoi and relevant agencies to organize an exhibition on traditional clothing of ASEAN countries from October 21 to 28 at the National History Museum, No. 1 Trang Tien street./.

By Vien Nhu