Japanese sweep titles in Đà Nẵng

Japanese sweep titles in Đà Nẵng

And they’re off: Runners take part in the Đà Nẵng International Marathon Race in the central city of Đà Nẵng on Saturday. Over  四, 五00 participants joined the annual race along the pristine beach of Đà Nẵng. — VNS Photo Công Thành

Japanese marathoners sweep titles in Đà Nẵng Marathon

ĐÀ NẴNG — Japanese marathoners Kentaro Masuda and Kyoko Otsuka won the men’s and women’s titles of the annual Đà Nẵng International Marathon  二0 一 六 on Saturday.

Kentaro clocked in two hours and  五 七min  五 三sec to take the men’s  四 二km title in the fourth edition of the race in the coastal central city with the participation of over  四, 五00 runners.

Vietnamese Trần Duy Quang came in second with a time of  三hr 0 九min  一 六sec, two minutes ahead of Japanese Ishida Takashi who finished third with  三hr  一 一min  三 三sec.

Starting at  四. 三0am this weekend, Kyoko Otsuka finished her race at sunrise after clocking in  三hr  四 四min  三0sec.

Came second was Louise Adderley of Australia at  三hr  四 七min  一0sec, and Swiss Anneli Sodergards, in third with a time of  四hr 0 三min  一 七sec.

Vietnamese Lê Tấn Lâm completed the men’s half marathon ( 二 一km) race first in  一hr  二 八min  三 六sec. The second winner was Simon Smith from the UK finished the division in  一hr  二 九min  五 六sec.

Third came Yoichi Sato of Japan at  一hr  三0min  一 六sec.

In the women’s  二 一km, Ashley Lin from the US finished first with a time of  一hr  三 一min 0 六sec, ahead of her fellow American Rebecca Shore, who clocked in at  一hr  四 一min  五 六sec.

Vietnamese Dương Thị Khánh took  一hr  四 四min  四 六sec to finish third.

In the  一0km race, Philip Seseman from the UK won the title with  三0. 四 六 minutes, while Mai Thị Loan from Việt Nam won the women’s title in  四 二. 一0 minutes.

Over  四, 二00 runners also joined a  五km Fun Run to raise money for Agent Orange (AO) children and underprivileged people in the city.

The race, which was organised by the city, the World Marathon Company and Pulse Active, is the first professional Marathon in Việt Nam certified by IAAF - AIMS (International Association of Athletics Federations and Association of International Marathons and Distance Races). Time results in the Đà Nẵng International Marathon would qualify for the Boston Marathon. — VNS