VTM 70: Nowicki surprises Cnops, while Orange races solo to course record
On a truly beautiful running day in and around Moc Chau, Vietnam-based Frenchman Valentin Orange won the Vietnam Trail Marathon 70km just inside the course record time set by Quang Tran earlier! It’s Orange’s first ever ATM points race victory in a time of 7h01'40". He ran solo for basically the entire race as co-favourite Hung Hai had an off-day and never challenged for the win. It’s the kind of performance that would make Valentin Orange a favourite for this season’s ATM Championship. Until halfway, Nguyen Si Hieu was able to keep the gap at around 15 minutes, but in the second half of the runable but steep rollercoaster Orange boosted his advantage to an impressive margin of over 1 hour at the finish. Nguyen Si Hieu still got caught by the ever improving Nguyen Duc Tuan Anh (better known as Tu Do) and the two finished side-by-side. Si Hieu admitted that Tu Do had waited for him in the final kilometers. Nguyen Tien Vo was fourth and kept the podium within reach but was unable to close the gap in the end. Hung Hai appeared somewhat disinterested but still finished fifth. Who knows those ATM points can still be important later in the season.. Tomohiro Mizukoshi was running 6th for as far as 50 km, but then began to suffer from the midday sun and dropped down the order quite dramatically to finish 12th. Brian Angwin did well in the second half to take sixth ahead of Luis Alvelais.
Men's Top Results:
1. Valentin Orange
2. Nguyen Duc Tuan Anh (Tu Do) at 1h03'48"
2. Nguyen Si Hieu (VIE) at 1h03'48"
4. Nguyen Tien Vo (VIE) at 1h'18'12"
5. Hung Hai (VIE) at 1h35'42"
6. Brian Angwin (GBR/VIE) at 2h30'17"
7. Luis Alvelais (MEX/HKG) at 2h31'38"
8. Tran Van Bac (VIE) at 2h40'34"
9. Ivan Grigoriev (RUS) at 2h42'46"
10.Nguyen Hoang Nghia (VIE) at 2h49'57"
In the women’s race, New Caledonia’s Leslie Nowicki won convincingly ahead of pre-race favourite Vanja Cnops. It was Nowicki’s first race in Vietnam, and nobody had seen her coming, but she is quite experienced as a trail runner. A surprised Vanja Cnops never realised until only halfway into the race that she was running in second. Still, Cnops admitted she did not have the best of race days and finished 23 minutes after Nowicki. Both Nowicki (5th) and Cnops (7th) finished high up the overall result list, indicating their high level of performance. Vietnam-based Japanese Akane Nemoto, 6th in the ATM Final early December, confirmed her competitive progress in long distance races once more with third place on the podium. Vietnam’s Le Thi Hang came fourth (after running a marathon on each day of 2023) just two minutes ahead of Thailand’s duo Tara Savage and Sutinee Rasp.
VTM was the first Vietnamese points race of this season’s ATM Championship series. The next one is Cuc Phuong Jungle Paths early April.
Women's Top Results:
1. Leslie Nowicki (FRA/NCD)
2. Vanja Cnops (BEL/SIN) at 23'22"
3. Akane Nemoto (JPN) at 1h41'19"
4. Le Thi Hang (VIE) at 2h18'17"
5. Tara Savage (USA/THA) at 2h19'35"
6. Sutinee Rasp (THA) at 2h33'30"
7. Mai Thi Hoa (VIE) at 2h52'34"
8. Thuy Nguyen Thu (VIE) at 3h19'26"
