200 marathon runners running in the 31st SEA Games

“We have proposed to the Asian Athletics Federation and Southeast Asia to give movement athletes the chance to experience playing at the SEA Games, through running together. They welcome this idea very much. and agreed, because it will promote the jogging movement in Vietnam as well as in the region. This will be the first SEA Games to have such a companion, ”said General Secretary of the Vietnam Athletics Federation. Nguyen Manh Hung shared.

Vietnam Athletics Federation is expected to take 200 companion athletes. Talking about the selection criteria, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung said: “The athletes must meet the achievement standards set by the Vietnam Athletics Federation, on the standard track we manage. Currently, there are two awards: Tien Phong. Marathon and VP Bank Marathon These are the two prizes registered with the Federation, we evaluate, measure the road and send the referee to supervise. will look further “.

The accompanying runners will start at the same time as the official runners. However, they will be assigned a separate lane to avoid affecting the time of official athletes’ medal calculation.

“The number of selected athletes does not have to be equally divided among men and women. We will set a separate performance benchmark for two groups. For example, women are between 4 hours and 5 hours. Currently Vietnam has only about 30 to 40. The female athletes complete the marathon in about 4 hours 45 minutes. Therefore we plan to take about 30 female athletes, the rest are men, “added Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung. Vietnam did not have a few days of getting used to the road, leading to poor performance. The Vietnam Athletics Federation hopes that when playing at home, Vietnamese athletes will be able to compete fairly with competitors in the region.

18 years ago, when the SEA Games was held in Vietnam, athlete Nguyen Chi Dong won the silver medal for the men’s marathon content with a record of 2 hours 21 minutes 51 seconds. This record so far has not been broken by any Vietnamese athlete.

The fact that 200 athletes running together in the marathon has received a positive response from many groups of runners and runners in the Vietnamese running community. “Personally, I think this is a very good opportunity for amateur runners, and thereby contributing to promoting running movements in particular and sports in general”, Le Quang Hoa – champion Longbien Marathon 2019, VnExpress Quy Nhon Marathon 2019, VnExpress Hue Marathon 2020, said. With Hung Hai – the only Vietnamese runner to complete the Boston Marathon 2020, the decision for 200 athletes to run together at the 31st SEA Games is a new point to promote the running movement in Vietnam today, creating motivation for the amateur runner strives to improve performance. However, Hung Hai will not compete for the 200 spots mentioned above. He said: “I attended the 2019 SEA Games as a duathlon content national player in the Philippines, experienced the atmosphere of the highest sports competition in the region, so I wanted to give the opportunity to other eager runners. with the challenge of selecting 200 amateur athletes to attend SEA Games 2021. For the time being myself, I will only prioritize training for the goal of improving personal achievement “.

South England