The 2016 Da Nang International Marathon (DNIM 2016) took place from the Bien Dong (East Sea) Park in Son Tra District last Saturday.

Runners crossing Thuan Phuoc Bridge

This year’s event attracted around 4,000 professional and amateur runners from 35 countries worldwide.  Specifically, 402 runners competed in the 42 km full marathon, 556 in the 21 km half-marathon, 325 in the 10 km race, and the remainder in the 5 km run and walk.

Between 50,000 and 200,000 VND from each registration fee for the 5 km run and walk was donated to local charitable activities.  As a result, 10 million VND was given to each of 10 local very poor families, and 30 million VND was donated to the city’s Association of Agent Orange (AO) Victims.

Mr Dennis Zaborac from the USA, a war veteran who was based in Da Nang, competed in the event.  He raised a total of 4,500 USD from generous donors, and the money was shared equally between 3 of Da Nang’s charities - the Association of AO Victims, the Hy Vong (Hope) Village, and the Association of Disabled People.

In the men’s marathon, Masuda Kentaro from Japan took the first prize, whilst Tran Duy Quang from Viet Nam and Takashi Ishida from Japan came second and third respectively.

In the women’s marathon, first prize went to Otsuka Kyoko from Japan, Louise Adderley from Australia was in second place, and Anneli Sodergards from Switzerland finished third.

In the men’s half-marathon, Le Tan Lam and Dang Van Bao, both from Viet Nam, took the first and second prizes respectively, whilst Simon Smith from England came third.

The top 3 finishers in the women’s half-marathon were Ashley Lin from the USA, Rebecca Shore also from the USA, and Duong Thi Khanh from Viet Nam.

In the men’s 10 km race, Philip Sesemann from England came first, whilst Nguyen Duc Huu and Tran Huu Hoanh, both from Viet Nam, finished in second and third places respectively.

In the women’s 10 km race, the top 3 finishers were Mai Thi Loan, Nguyen Thi Hoai, both from Viet Nam, and Saiko Tomoko from Japan.