The fourth season of VnExpress Marathon Hanoi Midnight 2024 - Hyundai Thanh Cong Cup kicked off in the middle of the night on November 23 and early morning on November 24.
In the 42km race, the "veteran" of Vietnamese Athletics Nguyen Van Lai finished first with a time of 2 hours 24 minutes 40 seconds, far surpassing his strong opponent from Kenya - Edwin Kiptoo. At the same time, with this achievement, Nguyen Van Lai broke his own record and the entire VM system (23 seconds faster than the old record).
Before the tournament, Nguyen Van Lai admitted that he was not strong enough to compete with Edwin Kiptoo, but the results proved the opposite.
To achieve such a high result, Nguyen Van Lai used a sprinting strategy from the beginning. Accordingly, he tried to separate himself from the top, not letting his opponents catch up. This strategy is understandable because the runner from Thanh Hoa knows Hanoi well and has a lot of experience running at night.
Meanwhile, his direct opponent, Edwin Kiptoo - a runner who won three VnExpress Marathons in 2024, was participating in a race that started in the middle of the night for the first time, so he was a bit cautious and did not exert himself from the start.
In the women's full marathon (42km) category, Pham Thi Hong Le successfully defended her 10th championship title at the VM system with a time of 2 hours and 57 minutes. The Binh Dinh runner kept her usual strategy of following a group of male runners to lead the pace and take cover from the wind. Around the last 10km, Le began to speed up.
Finishing in 2nd place was Nong Thi Chang. She also successfully broke sub3 (completing the distance under 3 hours - PV) in this race.
In the women's 21km distance, 36-year-old physical education teacher - Doan Thi Oanh continued to make her mark in a race in the VnExpress Marathon system when she finished first after about 1 hour and 21 minutes.
In 2024, Doan Thi Oanh started by winning the Ho Chi Minh City Night Run Championship after 1 hour and 26 minutes. In September, Doan Oanh won VM Ha Long after 1 hour and 25 minutes. With a total of three championships in the year, Doan Oanh became the second most successful female runner in the 21km distance, only behind the athlete of the same name, Nguyen Thi Oanh, with 5 championships.
In the men's 21km race, competing with a series of strong faces such as Quoc Luong, Dinh An, Quoc Anh, Thanh Hue, Nguyen Trung Cuong still showed his impressive strength and ability. From the beginning, the athlete born in 2000 did not give his opponents a chance to catch up.
Athlete Nguyen Trung Cuong finished after 1 hour and 9 minutes, the best result in the VnExpress Marathon system. Trinh Quoc Luong - champion of 42km VM Hanoi Midnight 2020 finished second, 2 minutes behind Trung Cuong.
With two distances of 5 and 10km, the championship is mostly for professional athletes.
Accordingly, the female 10km champion is Hoang Thi Ngoc Anh (born 2006). Ngoc Anh belongs to the Hai Duong athletics team, national youth team.
Athlete Sam Van Doi, a runner from Dong Nai, won the men's 10km race.
The two 5km champions are Bui Ngan (national athlete) and Ngo Luong Quang.
VnExpress Marathon Hanoi Midnight 2024 ended at 7:30 am on November 24. The organizers awarded more than 1 billion VND in prizes to excellent runners and teams. After Hanoi, VnExpress Marathon's final destination is Hai Phong, on December 15.
