HCM City hosts Vietnam’s biggest marathon event on December 2

The event has attracted professional athletes from Kenya and Ethiopia, including Keter Peter of Kenya who won the gold medal in the men’s category and other winners in the men and women’s categories last year.

The runners will compete in three races: a full marathon at 42.2km, a half-marathon at 21km and a 10km race, with more than 1,050 registrants for a full marathon.

The races will start at the Zoological and Botanical Garden in District 1 and finish at the Empire City Complex in District 2’s Thu Thiem area, passing by the city’s historic landmarks such as the HCM City Post Office, Saigon Opera House, City Hall and others.

There will also be a Kid’s Run and a 5km race on December 1 at the Marathon Village inside the Empire City Complex.

The 5km race, which is new this year, was established to encourage more residents to get involved in running and have a healthy lifestyle, Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Tourism, said at the opening ceremony of Marathon Village in HCM City’s District 2 on November 30.

The tournament is one of the key events in a series of activities to celebrate HCM City’s 300th birthday, she said.

The total prizes, worth nearly US$30,000, include a cash prize of US$5,000 each for top prize in the male and female Marathon Open category, and US$2,000 each for best male and female athlete in the Marathon Vietnamese Open category.

The event is co-organised by the HCM City departments of Tourism; Culture and Sports, the city’s Athletics Federation; Sunrise Events Vietnam, and Techcombank.

Techcombank will donate VND10,000 to every 1km finished within a time (to be set by the organisers) to the HCM City Fund for the Poor and the Promotion Fund for Young Talents of HCM City.

More than 5,000 athletes from 44 countries participated in the first edition of the event in 2017, which raised over VND600 million (US$25,735) for the charity.