A Marathon in Vietnam

I am planning to participate in an exciting race in the Himalayan Mountains. To qualify, I need to have run two marathons, each within 5 hours between October 2022 and September 2023. 

I already completed one marathon, in Munich. A second marathon is missing so far, so I register myself spontaneously and with only two weeks to go. It was not easy to find one, there are not too many official marathons in India. The marathon in Da Nang, Vietnam, is one of the few that will take place until September and registration is still open. So I spontaneously book flights and hotel, register and confess about it to the coach of my running group.

The two weeks before the marathon I continue to train normally, I do not want to achieve a best time, but try to see the marathon as a long run in my training plan.

I start on Friday evening. At 11 p.m. I fly via Bangkok to Da Nang. I try to sleep as good as possible in the plane. At 9 a.m. I arrive in Da Nang and after only 45 minutes I reach the  hotel. Fortunately I can check in early. The room is not very clean, but bed linen and towels are fresh and I decide that this is sufficient. The starting point of the marathon is only 1.5 kilometers away from the hotel, which is already a feature.

Now it it's time to pick up the starting documents. The heat almost kills me, it is 35 degrees. The marathon is well organized and so it does not take long until I get all the required documents. I stroll a bit through the Expo, buy gels and a cap, then I walk along the beach and find myself a nice restaurant for lunch.

While I'm waiting for dinner, it feels like a heavy curtain is falling over me. Now I feel the bad sleep of last night. After lunch I go to the hotel and take a nap. Around 4 p.m. I wake up, watch 'Brittany runs a Marathon' and provide myself with carbohydrates, aka salty pretzels and cookies. After that I take a tiny walk, pack my stuff and go back to sleep.

At 1 a.m. it is time to get up again. I slept well, feel fit and eat a muesli bar for breakfast. I jog the 1.5 kilometers to the start to warm up. On the spot I already get into conversation with a few runners, for example Marc from China. After the most important things are clarified - which target time, which shoes, which clock 😅 he asks me whether from a German perspective Hong Kong and Taiwan are a country or a city / region in China.

At 3 a.m. the starting signal is given. I am so motivated that I would love to shoot off, but I would regret that very much in the end. So I keep an eye on my pace via my sports watch and soon find a group of runners running at a similar pace.

At night it is still pleasant, 28 degrees and a regular breeze make running quite possible. The path leads constantly along the sea, first in one, then the other direction.

The first 35 kilometers I enjoy a lot. It's flat, my playlist/podcast is great and the sun is rising over the sea. Fishing boats rock in the gentle swell and on the beach people meet to watch the sunrise or do Thai Chi (or something like that).

After 35 kilometers it starts to get hard. Nothing hurts, but with the sun it is slowly getting warmer and anyway, I am running since almost four hours. But I keep on running, from one life base to the next. At every station I take a sip of water, walk two three steps and then continue running. 

The last two kilometers are the most annoying. No one jogs anymore, everyone walks comfortably to the finish line. That makes it even more difficult for me to keep on running. But I rather want to reach the finish line fast than to be baked by the sun and so I get up for the final sprint. The moderator cheers me on, then I cross the finish line after 4 hours, 27 minutes and 53 seconds.

I get my medal, meet Marc again, the Chinese runner, and together we pick up my finisher shirt. He has already crossed the finish line an hour before me and has achieved his target time. I am happy and after a joint photo I walk very slowly back to the hotel.

I take a shower, pack and then take a cab to a small vegan café for breakfast. From there I head back to Bangalore via Bangkok. What a great weekend!

Are you interested in more experiences? Then take a look at the challenges I face while running in India.
Read the article Old Passion in a new Environment - about Running in India now.