'Many potential runners come up from MetaSports Marathon'

The information was shared by Ms. Le Thi Hoang Yen - Deputy Director of the General Department of Physical Education and Sports on the eve of the opening of the MetaSports Marathon Hue. Ms. Yen said the running movement is very developed. Over the past 10 years, an average of 60 marathons are held each year. On average, each event attracts 5,000-10,000 domestic and international athletes.

The scale of the tournament is diverse, from national to local, club, youth, semi-professional and professional levels. Thanks to that, running has become one of the "national" sports, for all people, for all ages, for all countries.

"An interesting thing, the tournaments are nationwide, not local to a certain province or city. Like the 2022 People's Olympic Running Day, held on March 27, 2022, 100% of localities will deploy at least one running," said Yen.

The nature of the tournament, it may be just a launch session for people to run 3-5km by themselves, but there are also many professional tournaments. For example, MetaSports Marathon - a tournament system with a variety of activities, great prizes, beautiful running tracks, many new experiences, attracting a large number of athletes.

The proliferation of prizes contributes to the expansion of the community. Along with the growth in number, the program is getting younger and younger, attracting both children and many family members to conquer the challenge. "These things make us very happy. More people responding to the sports movement means increased public health, better productive labor, creating an interesting playground for athletes to practice for the regional tournament. At the macro level, sport contributes to tourism promotion, making a great contribution to GDP growth", the representative of the General Department analyzed.

Breaking down each aspect, Ms. Yen said running is one of the most attractive and happy sports. Every time she reaches the finish line, she finds herself releasing stress and overcoming herself. "There are times when I don't just run for myself, but think about my family members, when they are sick or busy and can't participate. Every step on the road seems to carry the image of the most loved ones, there is more movement. strength to overcome challenges," she said.

Community value is a phrase she repeats many times when describing the meaning of running. Large-scale tournaments such as MetaSports Marathon have a wide spread, increase public health, and love for sports. Higher, the event contributes to the realization of the goal: "For a prosperous Vietnam" - as the slogan of the 2022 National Sports Festival.

Leaders of the General Department likened the running tournament organized by MetaSports as a "training furnace" to find potential young seeds, thereby fostering for larger regional and international tournaments. In fact, Ms. Yen said, through the tournament, there were many athletes who broke their personal achievements, practiced - created a drop in performance to gain momentum for bigger competitions.

Ms. Le Thi Hoang Yen has participated in the MetaSports Marathon many times in Hanoi, Nha Trang and now Hue. She often chooses a distance of 10km so as not to lose too much strength, just enough experience. The Deputy General Department assessed that year by year, the organization was more and more professional, choosing a beautiful location, an attractive sub-prize system, the number of participants therefore also increased. The communication is quite effective on multi-channels, helping runners train properly, and at the same time have interesting travel experiences.

Stimulating tourism is the most obvious effect coming from the marathon movement. Speaking at the opening night, Ms. Yen said that this morning she walked around the city and saw runner shirts everywhere to visit, visit food shops, salted coffee - Hue specialties. "More than 10,500 athletes will have about 1,000 followers who are friends and family, creating a boom for local aviation and tourism," the female leader calculated.

Collectively, sports create momentum for GDP growth. According to Ms. Yen, currently, Vietnam has no official statistics on the contribution to the economy. However, the world picture can be used to compare, as in the US and China, sport is considered an economic sector with 5-10% of national GDP.

Also at the opening night, she commented: "MetaSports Marathon was born later but attracts a large community, is a good choice for running lovers. Although there are 60 prizes a year, I have friends who only know about this tournament. ".

MetaSports Marathon Imperial Hue 2023 takes place on April 16. In the third year of organization, the tournament gathered more than 10,500 athletes, twice the number of the previous two seasons. In which, a total of 42km and 21km have 6,300 registered people. The opening event took place at 8 pm on April 15, attracting hundreds of participants. In the morning of the same day, 3,000 children from 6 to 10 years old conquered the Kun Marathon.