Last week, the 2019 Uprace community running event ended after 26 exciting days (August 29 - September 23, 2019) of competition of over 200 running clubs nationwide.

To Ta Trach Lake. Photo: Xuan Hoa

This is a "mock" running race that offers real value. With nearly 2 million km ran, the Vietnamese runners community has been supported by event sponsors with an amount of over 2 billion VND, contributing to 3 social funds: Newborns Vietnam (to save Vietnamese babies' lives), VietSeeds (to grant scholarships to potential students) and GreenViet (to plant 1 million trees in 3 cities of Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City).

In Thua Thien Hue, the Hue Citadel Runners (HCR) - the gathering place for lovers of running in the ancient capital - enthusiastically participated in the Uprace 2019 event, significantly improving their rank and contribution amount.

Improving ranking

With a total of 5,545 km of track ran, HCR Club finished in 19th place out of 465 teams nationwide, advancing greatly compared to the 36th position of the Uprace 2018 season. The running team of Hue Imperial Capital has contributed 5,545,000 VND to the fund of Uprace.

This outstanding running achievement is thanks to the active running of nearly 60 team members. Of which, two ran more than 550 km, one ran over 450 km, two ran over 300 km and 10 people ran over 200 km in 26 days.

It is worth noting that most of HCR's runners are teachers, government officials and employees or office workers ... They had run regardless of the time of day or weather with the desire to contribute as much money for social funds as possible.

Running regularly helps improve health and optimism. Photo: Han Dang

Running for the community

This is the second time the Uprace event was held. In addition to calling for donations from donors to support the three above-mentioned charities through each kilometer ran (VND 1,000 per km), this community running event also aims to eliminate the "sad title" of Vietnam as one of the top 10 laziest sports nations in the world.

With that dual purpose, Uprace stimulates the spirit of physical training and eagerness to participate in community activities in the Vietnamese running community, as shown by the number of more than 41,000 runners, increasing 3 times compared to 2018.

Mr. Huynh Anh Thuan - a university lecturer, Chairman of HCR Club - said: “The members of Hue Citadel Runners Club started the first steps on a Thursday afternoon (August 29) in the pouring rain due to the impact of the storm Number 4. In the following days, the rain did not stop but it still could not prevent the enthusiasm of the runners.”

Even if they had to travel on business, the group members never forget to bring their running shoes to accumulate kilometers (saved on measuring devices and synchronized with Uprace software).

Ms. Huyen Ton Nu Cat Tuong - Director of Vietseeds Foundation, one of the three beneficiary organizations funded from Uprace 2019 - expressed her admiration for HCR members' efforts in the past month.

“I did not expect such an enthusiastic running club exists in Hue. You are very healthy, showing the image of the new Hue people who are active, confident, optimistic and open. You are making Hue fresher. On behalf of Vietseeds Foundation, I would like to express my sincere thanks to members of Hue Citadel Runners who have contributed significantly to the development of funding for potential students.”

Hue Half Marathon 2019 attracting athletes of all ages (Illustrated image). Photo: NP

Uprace building new faith

The club members who are already accustomed to waking up early to run are now even more determined to make more daily runs. Many members run twice a day in order to increase kilometers. There is an unspoken competition between the members. Every time someone has just edged up, the other people had to try and run just a bit more than the previous time to close the distance or pass over.

Club members joked that it was a "race to wear away the ironwood bridge" or "the ironwood bridge along the Huong River has been worn away much after this year's Uprace competition".

Having participated in the long runs of the last weekend in this year’s Uprace season of the HCR team, I felt the excitement of the run and the spirit of the runners. During the long journey of 25-30km to the sea or to the mountain, they ran and chatted and asked about each other’s lives, laughing incessantly. The runners must have undergone a hard training process in order to reach such a comfortable physical state while running.

Uprace's "mock" race is also a new milestone for runners to continue pushing their limits. Running is not only good for health but also for building an optimistic attitude to face difficulties and challenges in life.

Story: Bui Xuan Hoa

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