About 5,000 Vietnamese and foreigners gathered in Da Nang City on Sunday morning to participate in the Manulife Da Nang International Marathon 2022, the city’s largest outdoor sporting event after over-two-year stagnation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event attracted a lot of residents, athletes, and tourists, who all believed that the hardest days of the pandemic are over and that life is returning to normal.

There race consisted of four different lengths, 41 kilometers, 21 kilometers, 10 kilometers, and five kilometers.

Pham Quang Thai, a 30-year-old Da Nang resident, said this was his first time taking part in a marathon as he wanted to personally enjoy the bustling and exciting atmosphere.

“I have not witnessed such a joyful moment for quite a long time,” Thai said.

“The city has regained its vitality, which is what the locals have been longing for.”

Aeron Foster, a Briton who has lived in Ho Chi Minh City for six years, stated that large-scale sporting events such as the Manulife Da Nang International Marathon 2022 signaled that life was back to normal in Vietnam.

In his first time competing in the event in Da Nang, a coastal city in central Vietnam, Foster finished third in the 21-kilometer race.

The pandemic in Vietnam has been well put under control, allowing people to feel safe and joyful when partaking in such a crowded event.

The marathon was aimed at promoting Da Nang and its people after the two-year pandemic has subsided, according to Nguyen Trong Thao, deputy director of the municipal Department of Culture and Sports.

Sang Lee, CEO of Manulife Vietnam, the main sponsor of the marathon, said that large-scale sporting events play an important role in the post-COVID recovery of the tourism industry

Lee added he looks forward to the return of the event in 2023.

Vietnam has documented 7,791,841 COVID-19 cases and 41,817 pathogen-related deaths since the pandemic first struck the country in early 2020.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!