About 10,000 domestic and international runners will join VPBank Hanoi International Marathon 2023 (VPIM 2023) on October 8 to celebrate the anniversary of Hanoi's Liberation Day (October 10, 1954-2023.

The VPIM 2022 attracted thousands of runners. Photo courtesy of the event organisers

The runners are professional athletes, professional and semi-professional athletes, diplomatic staff, international organization staff, foreign expatriates and tourists.

With the theme "Hanoi Vibes", VPIM 2023 will feature four races of 42km, 21km, 10km, 5km, all starting from the pedestrian street of Hoan Kiem Lake. Runners will run through the ancient streets of the Old Quarter to famous tourist attractions and iconic modern buildings of Hanoi City.

In particular, the course of VPIM 2023 will be standardized according to the regulations of the International Association of Marathons (AIMS).

The marathon will be held in Autumn, the most colorful season of the year in Hanoi, promising to offer domestic and international runners interesting experiences over Hanoi, with romantic runs under warm sunshine, cool wind, and a beautiful carpet of yellow leaves.

Dinh Van Luyen, head of the Sports Management Department of Hanoi's Department of Culture and Sports, said the city government hopes to hold similar marathons in the future, "so Hanoi runners will have great opportunities to learn from international professional runners," he said.

"This is also one of the capital's activities to realize the Prime Minister's 'Master Plan on Physical Development of Vietnamese for the period 2011-2030'," he added.

VPIM is a non-profit marathon. VND30,000 or US$1 will be deducted from each registered bib fee for charity purposes. Runners can buy their bibs at vpbankmarathon.com. The remaining money will be reinvested in the next races.