VnExpress Marathon marks 4th anniversary

The system made debut with VnExpress Marathon Quy Nhon in June 2019 which attracted 5,000 participants in four distances of 5, 10, 21 and 42km. Runners enjoyed their run on coastal roads, across Thi Nai bridge, and along Phuong Mai sand dunes.

Following the success of the Quy Nhon race, in 2020, the tournament expanded to Hue and Hanoi. In total, nearly 20,000 runners participated in the three tournaments.

Runners at VM Quy Nhon 2020. Photo by VM

VnExpress Marathon Imperial Hue was a romantic race at it took runners through green roads in the heart of the ancient capital and citadel. The Hanoi night race, starting at midnight, featured the old town streets through a different lens.

Since a series of races in 2020, VnExpress Marathon has become popular to sport fans nationwide, and they are always excited for the upcoming races.

In 2022, VnExpress Marathon added two new destinations – the famous tourism cities Ha Long (11,000 athletes) and Nha Trang (8,500 athletes).

VnExpress Marathon 2022 attracted nearly 50,000 participants, 2.5 times more than in 2020.

A family at VnExpress Marathon Ha Long 2022. Photo by VM

With 70,000 runners participating in four years, VnExpress Marathon has become the largest running system in Vietnam, increasingly popular and accessible to many people, including children, women, the elderly, office employees, and farmers.

VnExpress Marathon has continuously innovated to optimize runners’ experience. The races include many sideline activities: the music night, the Kun Marathon for children, the sponsor’s booth, and the food court.

Kids run at Kun Marathon. Photo by VM

Not only spreading the sport enthusiasm in the community, VnExpress Marathon also boosts tourism in the host cities. Hundreds of thousands of visitors came to the host cities of VnExpress Marathon to enjoy holiday with their running family members.

The success of VnExpress Marathon has been contributed by more than 400 crews and tens of thousands of volunteers who took care of every stage from security, logistics, water, medicine and food supply, to warehousing and communication.

In 2023, the 5th year, VnExpress Marathon will host seven tournaments, with the addition of the Ho Chi Minh City night run and the Hai Phong race.

2023 will be a milestone of VnExpress Marathon with 70,000 more participants expected, raising the total number of runners in 5 years to 150,000.