Vietnam Jungle Marathon will be held at the stunning Pu Luong Nature Reserve in the central province of Thanh Hoa on October 24 (Photo courtesy of organisers) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - More than 1,100 runners on October 24 will race up to70km in the Vietnam Jungle Marathon (VJM) in Pu Luong Nature Reserve in thecentral province of Thanh Hoa.
Runners from 31 nations will race in distances of 70km, 55km, 42km, 25km and 10km.
British Ambassador Gareth Ward and some of the nation’s top ultra runners suchas Quang Tran, Quang Nguyen and Nguyen Thi Duong are slated to compete.
Despite the challenges presented by COVID-19 and the postponement of therace in May, the number of runners at the fourth edition of VJM is up by 30 percentcompared to 2019, making this the biggest event ever.
The race usually attracts a high number of athletes from overseas, so thisgrowth, despite the closure of borders, highlights the growing enthusiasm amongVietnam’s runners to discover Pu Luong.
“We are delighted to be able to organise this race in a year when many eventshave been cancelled due to COVID-19,” says David Lloyd, founder of VJM anddirector of sport at Topas Travel.
“We have worked closely with the authorities of Thanh Hoa to ensure it can goahead and we now look forward to welcoming runners who have waited a long timeto get out into the beautiful hills of Pu Luong,” he added.
This year, the race will take place amid Pu Luong's second golden harvestseason. Normally held in May, the VJM has developed a reputation as thetoughest race in Vietnam thanks to the hot conditions the runners usually face.
“This year’s October race is a unique opportunity for runners to run in coolertemperatures, so we expect to see some very fast times on Saturday - courserecords could potentially fall,” says Lloyd.
“The race is also providing a welcome tourism boost to an area that has seentourism numbers fall dramatically this year. Some of the homestay owners wehave spoken to have had almost no guests for months, so bringing people back toPu Luong and helping to re-invigorate the tourism economy is an importantaspect of the event.”
This year, the battle among the hot favourites will be very different. Therunners are all now based in Vietnam, so they will be familiar with the trails,the climate and also their opponents.
In the men’s 70km distance race, second-placed runner of VJM2019 in the 70km,Nguyen of Vietnam will face Vietnam-based Markus Gnirck, winner of Vietnam TrailMarathon (VTM), which takes place in Son La province every January.Besides them, many other fast runners will be on the start line, including LanhLe, who was second at the Da Lat Ultra Trail last year in the 100km.
In the women’s ultra field, the first, second and fourth runners of Vietnam TrailMarathon 70km, Duong, Nguyen Thuy Dung and Hien Tran will compete at theVJM 70km this year.
In the 55km battle, winner of Sa Pa’s Vietnam Mountain Marathon (VMM) 42km,Paul Rioux of France, will be competing with a regular Vietnam Trail Seriesrunner, Trung Nguyen, who placed third at the VTM 70km last year.
Meanwhile, in the women’s 55km field, VMM 100km champion Champ Nathalie Cochetof France will go head to head with her compatriot Constance Louasse, thirdplace at the VMM 70km and also VJM 55km champion. They will be competing with astrong runner from Indonesia, Sara Valentina, who has won the VJM 42km.
In the 42km, the battle will likely be between one of the nation’s top ultrarunners, Tran, winner of multiple Vietnam Trail Series races, and elite runnerPham Tien San, VTM 21km champion.
Last year, San won the event with a very fast time of 1:51.55, beating some of Vietnam’sfastest trail runners in the process, so his duel with Tran will be one towatch.
The race is organised by Topas Travel, part of the Topas Explorer Group, ownerof the Vietnam Trail Series which also includes the VTM and VMM.
Topas races have a charitable focus and hundreds of thousands of dollars havebeen donated to good causes since 2013. Up to now, the Vietnam Trail Series hasgiven 285,400 USD to charity thanks to the donations that come from the racefee.
In the past three years, the race has funded life-changing surgery for childrenthrough Operation Smile and drowning prevention programmes through Hue Help.
This year, the VJM comes just amonth ahead of the highlight of the mountain running year, Sa Pa’s Vietnam MountainMarathon, which will take place on the November 20. Last year, the VMM saw morethan 4,000 runners competing.
Registration for the VMM 2020 is still open and runners can choose distancesfrom 10km up to 100km./.
VNA
