The Manulife Da Nang International Marathon (DNIM) 2022 themed ‘Run it,Beat it’ will officially resume on March 20 with the participation of about 5,000 runners across the country. The excitement is evident, especially among members of the city’s running community.

DNR-ANTA-organised Breaking Half-Marathon (21.0975km) with the participation of nearly 100 athletes will definitely contribute to add more excitement to DNIM 2022. Photo: DNR-ANTA

Mr. Vo Quoc Tuan, a member of the Da Nang Runner (DNR - ANTA) group said: “I contracted COVID-19 just a few weeks before the launching of DNIM 2022, so the preparation process was greatly affected.

Now I face a physical limitation after recovery from the disease, but I will be strongly determined to compete in the run with the goal of completing the race, rather than aiming for the best performance possible."

Many members of DNR-ANTA - including members of the following groups: Cam Le Runner, Son Tra Runner, Hoa Cuong Bac Runner – are practicing hard in the hope of satisfying their love of running and contributing to the overall success of the DNIM 2022.

Just a week before DNIM 2022 kicks off, DNR-ANTA organised the Breaking Half-Marathon (21.0975km) with the participation of nearly 100 athletes, aiming for male athletes to complete the run with a time of 1 hour 45 minutes and the female ones with 1 hour 55 minutes.

Almost all participants made good performances. With this parameter, members of the largest running community in Da Nang are forecast to achieve positive results at DNIM 2022.

Recently, many members of the city’s running community have contracted COVID-19, so the process of training and preparing for DNIM 2022 did not take place as initially planned.

According to Mr. Pham Thanh Vy, a member of the DNR-ANTA Board of Directors, despite great difficulties triggered by the pandemic, about 400 DNR-ANTA members have registered to participate in

DNIM 2022 with more than 150 competing in the 42,195 km full marathon, 200 joining the 21.0975km half marathon and the remaining ones participating in the 10km and 5km tracks.

In addition to the preparation for the event, DNR-ANTA greatly assisted the DNIM 2022 organisers from surveying the running track to gathering forces and training the pacer team for the full marathon and half marathon races.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Tuan, who is responsible for the organisation of pacer training said: “When we receives the proposal by the organisers, we developed a training plan for 6 weeks. Through the training process, we checked the performance of each candidate and only those who complete the prescribed exercises with experience as a pacer in the major races will be selected.”

Certainly, the success of DNIM 2022 will be partly been attributed the great contributions made by the Da Nang running community, not only in the pacer team but also from the athletes competing in the tracks as all of them are aiming for the goal of ‘running to conquer’.

Director of the Department of Culture and Sports Pham Tan Xu hailed DNIM 2022 as a major and important sporting event in Da Nang, marking the return of professional and prestigious sports activities on an international scale in the city after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19. The contest is proud to be recognised as having the most beautiful running track in Asia.

In addition to its tourism and economic value, DNIM also contributes to promoting the running movement and a healthy lifestyle for people, and it is an opportunity to widely advertise Da Nang’s image as a dynamic and modern city.

The city is committed to ensuring the best conditions in terms of security, order, environment and medical hygiene so that DNIM 2022 can take place safely, excitingly and attractively.

Over the past eight years, the scale and attraction of DNIM has grown continuously. The number of runners climbed from 1,000 in 2013 to nearly 10,000  in 2019 and this event attracted a total of more than 9,000 international athletes from more than 65 countries and territories worldwide.

Not only brings the number of tourists growing steadily every year to the city, but the contest also creates a highly-inviting playground, thereby helping to promote the development of physical training and sports movements in Da Nang.

Reporting by NGUYEN AN – Translating by A.THU