The 42km race will start at 4:30am on October 20 in front ofBa Kieu temple near Hoan Kiem lake in the very heart of the city, with 5km,10km, 21km and 42km categories.
The event will attract about 7,000 professional and amateur athletes,over 1,500 of them foreigners. They will run through major tourist landmarkssuch as Hoan Kiem lake and West Lake, Long Bien bridge, Hanoi Flag Tower,Temple of Literature, and Tran Quoc pagoda, which will popularise Hanoi’stourism to foreign friends.
For each km or each photo at the VPBank Hanoi Marathon – Run& Share competition, VPBank will contribute 5,000 VND to one of the fivecharity funds chosen by participating athletes.
In September, VPBank Hanoi Marathon officially became amember of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) andmet the Boston Marathon standards recognised by the International Associationof Athletics Federations and AIMS.
It is also one of the two official marathon tournaments bythe Vietnam Athletics Federation.
Director of the municipal Department of Culture, Sports andTourism To Van Dong expressed his hope that VPBank Hanoi Marathon will becomean international cultural-sport event, contributing to the popularisation ofHanoi’s culture, tourism and food to the world./.