Running

 

HÀ NỘI — Running for both fitness and friendship, about 4,000 athletes will take part in the 50th Hà Nội Mới Newspaper Run for Peace on September 28 in Hà Nội, one of the capital’s landmark sporting events.

The annual tournament is jointly organised by the newspaper and the city’s Department of Culture and Sports.

After the launch on March 23, numerous qualification races were staged in wards across Hà Nội while runners from neighbouring cities and provinces prepared their teams for the tournament.

The launch coincided with Olympic Days, an event encouraging people to take part in physical training and sports.

According to organisers, this year’s event has seen a sharp rise in both the number of participants and the quality of competition.

"All wards and communes held qualifiers and the number of runners surpassed our expectation," said deputy editor-in-chief of Hànộimới Lại Bá Hà, at a press conference on September 22.

"Following the results, the final race will be held on September 28 in the Hoàn Kiếm Lake area," he said. "It is one of the key sports events of Hà Nội to celebrate the 71st anniversary of its Liberation Day and 26 years since Hà Nội was recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a City for Peace."

Among the participants, 3,000 are official competitors and 1,000 will run in response to the call for sport practice. As many as 250 foreign runners from 20 embassies, international organisations and schools will also join the race.

 

They will compete in elite and amateur disciplines over distances ranging from 1,750m (one lap of the lake) to 8,750m (five laps).

This year, the tournament’s sponsors will also have their own races for men and women.

Title contenders include Trần Văn Đảng of Hà Nội, Nguyễn Trung Cường of Hà Tĩnh, Trịnh Quốc Lượng of the Military and Lê Văn Thao of Thanh Hóa in the elite men’s side, and Nguyễn Thu Hà of Nam Định, Hán Thị Bích Thư of the Military, Trần Minh Vân of Thái Nguyên and Bùi Thu Hà of Thanh Hóa in the elite women’s side.

They are national team members who have won many international medals.

The organisers will present awards to the top five runners in each category, with total bonuses of VNĐ250 million (US$9,500). VNS