Late for work, lost sleep because of the race
On October 27, Mr. Tran Huy Khanh (Long Bien District, Hanoi) had an appointment at 8am in Cau Giay District with a partner. He left home at 7am but did not arrive at the meeting point until 8:30am because he had to constantly change his route when encountering barriers blocking the road for the race.
“I am a sports lover, but I never let my passion affect anyone,” said Khanh.
Ms. Hoang Kim Ngan (Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi) said that races should not be held in the inner city, around Hoan Kiem Lake or West Lake. Instead, the organizers should choose locations in the suburbs/sparsely populated areas.
Big source of revenue for Hanoi
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Ms. Tran Minh Chau - Deputy Head of the Department of Sports Management - Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports - said that according to general regulations, to organize a general mass tournament, the organizing committee only needs to make a report and send it to the host unit, the Department of Culture and Sports. The report needs to clearly state the scale, plan, organization activities, security plan, health, environmental sanitation plan, etc. After completing the procedures, the department will or will not make a written response for their unit to organize. However, for the Hanoi People's Committee, to organize sports competitions with complex elements: Marathon/Half Marathon, sports competitions with foreign elements, street sports competitions with over 5,000 people... will have to go through administrative procedures including: The organizing unit presents the plan to the governing department, the governing department will receive it and will make a document asking for opinions from relevant departments and branches such as the City Police, Department of Health, Department of Transport, People's Committee of the district/town/city where the running route passes through, Department of Foreign Affairs... After the departments and branches have opinions, the Department of Culture and Sports will synthesize and report to the City People's Committee by a submission (submit to the City to allow or not allow the running competition). Finally, the City People's Committee will respond to allow or not allow.
In 2024, the Hanoi People's Committee approved 9 marathon races such as Hanoi International Half Marathon, Tay Ho Extended Half Marathon...
“Running races bring many economic benefits, because the race organizers will pay taxes to the State and the businesses themselves will also develop very well. However, that is a very small part, the tip of the iceberg,” said Ms. Chau.
Ms. Chau analyzed that an average race has about 10 - 15,000 participants. Of these, at least 10-12% are foreigners, with up to 50% from other provinces. Race participants often have to stay in Hanoi for 3-5 days to prepare their health for the race, learn about the race route... and recover after the race. Long stays bring in large revenues for related services such as hotels, street food, sightseeing spots, tourism... This is also an opportunity for Vietnam to expand exchanges with international friends.
The Deputy Head of the Department of Sports Management said that through the races, the local government wants to promote the image of tourism, cuisine, cultural heritage, and historical and humanistic values of Hanoi.
“The running route is designed to go through the Temple of Literature, Hoa Lo Prison, Ngoc Son Temple, Quan Thanh Temple, Tran Quoc Pagoda, Long Bien Bridge… so that after finishing the race, the next day the runners will go to these places to visit. If they don’t run through these places, it will be similar to the running route in other places, why would they need to run in Vietnam. Here, sports are closely linked to culture,” Ms. Chau analyzed.
