Tran Duy Quang and Nguyen Thi Duong triumphed in the 100km race of the Viet Nam Mountain Marathon 2020 which concluded in Sa Pa township in northern Lao Cai province.

The Viet Nam Mountain Marathon 2020 takes place in Sa Pa township (Photo: baolaocai.vn)

The 100km male battle saw an extremely competitive race between Vietnamese and French runners going head to head in Viet Nam’s most challenging race.

The winner was Quang of Viet Nam, who broke the new 100km course record with a time of 13:01.11.

Quang beat two strong competitors from France including Romain Berion and Gaetan Morizur who crossed the finish line second together in a total time of 13:04.54, just three minutes behind Quang.

The female 100km saw Duong also of Viet Nam take first place in a time of 17:20.35. She beat Nathalie Cochet of France who was VMM 100km champion in 2016. Cochet was ahead of Duong until checkpoint four but then Duong powered ahead to finish 16 minutes before Cochet. Duong also set a personal record on the VMM 100km course in 2020 with three hours faster than in 2017.

Also in the women’s ultra field, Nguyen Thuy Dung of Viet Nam came first in the 70km with a time of 11:03.28. She beat Constance Louasse of France in second place and Vu Lan Huong of Viet Nam in third place.

In the men’s 70km, Singapore-based Vietnamese runner Trung Nguyen took first place while his running friend Vu Tien Viet Dung and Lorenzo Revelant from Italy came second and third.

The race, organised by Topas Travel and supported by Topas Ecolodge, attracted more than 2,200 runners competing from 10km to 100km.

Usually held in September, the race was held for the first time in autumn following a postponement due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Source: VNA