Ho Chi Minh City International Marathon Sees Huge Increase in Runners for 2019

The running scene in Vietnam is getting bigger with each passing year, and the Techcombank Ho Chi Minh City International Marathon 2019 which took place on December 8, drew in nearly 13,000 runners from 66 countries worldwide.

Organised by the municipal Department of Tourism, together with the Department of Culture and Sports and the HCM City Athletics Federation, the event consisted of four categories, the full marathon, half marathon, 10km and 5km races.

It’s a fascinating way to see Ho Chi Minh City as the streets are usually packed with cars and motorcycles. For this one weekend, runners had full use of the roads that run through the city’s six central business districts, starting from Thao Cam Vien, the Zoological and Botanical Gardens, in District 1 and finishing at Empire City in District 2.

The first Techcombank Ho Chi Minh City International Marathon was held only three years ago in 2017. It attracted just over 4,000 domestic and foreign runners. The race has seen a threefold increase in numbers since then.

There is also a charity element to the marathon, as organisers donated 10,000 VND (0.43 USD) for every kilometre run at the event to the HCM City Fund for the Poor and Promotion Fund for Young Talents of HCM City.

The men’s marathon was won by Geoffrey Birgen with a finishing time of 02:16:16, while the fastest woman was Immaculate Chemutai with a time of 02:52:48.

Find out more at https://hcmcmarathon.com/

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