This is a destination race for international runners. Marathon Tours comes here and the marathon is part of the Abbot series. No big international elite field, but a lot more western runners than we have seen at other races in South East Asia. There is a marathon, a ½ marathon, a 10k and a 5k. All the courses follow the local road along the sea which looks out onto the world famous UNESCO heritage site Halong Bay. Unlike the Korat City Marathon, other than the language and very early start, this race was much like any medium-big event in North America.
Pre-race
We received several pre-race emails which were in Vietnamese and English. The one thing we had issues figuring out was where exactly the race kit pick-up was. We took a guess and found it.
The race kit pick up was in a giant tent. Well organised and straight forward. Beside a funky looking exhibition centre which was closed. Race shirts were included in the price. There were the usual photo ops and a sign with everyones name on it which seems to be standard these days. Maps of the course and race day set-up. Also a few vendors selling run gear and Gu. Harold got a really nice tank for $5.50. Sportstats was even there.
There were lots of runners in town for the race and here everyone wears the race shirt to walk around before the race. It’s kind of nice because you meet random runners around town. We don’t speak the same language but running is a universal language.
Race Day
The marathon which had 3500 runners started at 3:30 am. Our hotel was on the course so we cheered them on as we walked to the start.
The half marathon we were running started at 5:00 am. Sunrise was at 6:04 am. It was 23 and pretty humid at the start. There were 3700 in the half. We were arranged in corals by predicted time. The corals were separated and well marked, but they were not really checking bibs. I was in the second coral and it took me two minutes to cross the start line. They used gun time not chip time for the results.
The first couple of km involved a lot of bobbing and weaving and there were definitely people who did not belong in the coral, but that is normal.
There were water stops every 2-2.5 km. They were well stocked with water although you had to stop to grab it. Some had bottles of water which were great for dunking on your head. Some had a fizzy sports drink which was in the same cups as the water. Some of it was orange, but some of it was clear so it was important to take a sip to check what it was before you dumped it on your head. Some stations also had watermelon, bananas and a mystery fruit which we could not identify.
The course was basically flat and followed the coastline. It was lit by street lights although they were out in a few places. This area was hit by Typhoon Yagi in early September and they are still cleaning up so the electrical issues may be related.
The course went out 5.5km turned and came back by the finish area then went 5k out and back the other way. There were a few spectators near the start/ finish, but in general the course was pretty quiet. There were groups of ladies doing dance/exercise to music but you see that a lot here in the early mornings and evenings so I think they were just doing what they always do.
The oldest age group in this race was 50 plus. There were 138 women and 268 men over 50 and I would be curious about how many were over 60. I suspect it’s a pretty low number. Running here is definitely a young person’s sport. It’s been less than 50 years since the Vietnam war ended and life post war probably did not include running.
There were other foreigners here, but Harold and I still stand out. During the race an older women on the sidelines yelled” Go Old Lady” and a couple of younger male runners who passed me in the last couple of km gave me the thumbs up as they passed.
My run was pretty uneventful. I ran a couple of minutes faster than I did in Korat last week and it felt easier, but I am not as jet lagged and exhausted as I was a week ago. I had no expectations as we are on vacation and I was running in 50 plus. I did manage to finish 4th in the age group, but there were no age group awards which is probably a good thing. It will leave more space in our luggage.
At the finish we received medals, two kinds of sports drinks, a banana and a cookie/wafer kind of thing. Standard post race kind of stuff.
We wore the race shirts around town in the afternoon and continued to make new friends.
Overall. A well organised event, on a flat course in a beautiful part of the world. Great destination event, but to be honest we had more fun at the Korat City Marathon in Thailand.
Run K2J 