One of the top marathon destinations in Southeast Asia staged its 6th edition, starting at 04.30 from Bien Dong Park. Runners passed over the Tran Thi Ly Bridge, along Bach Dang Street, over Thuan Phuoc Bridge, and along Hoang Sa Street to finish on Vo Nguyen Giap Street. Under the theme ‘Because I Love Da Nang’, the event was hosted by the city’s People’s Committee with sponsorship from the insurance company Manulife. It aimed to promote Da Nang as a modern and dynamic city while encouraging a healthy lifestyle through running. Since it was launched in 2013 the race has established itself as one of the top marathon destinations in Southeast Asia and attracts thousands of runners from 52 countries and territories.

It is known as the Angkor Empire Marathon, with more than 3000 runners gathered in front of the Angkor Wat temple for the start of the 5th Angkor Empire Marathon under a cloudy sky and a temperature of 26C. Just less than half of the field was made up of foreign runners who came from 50 different countries. The full marathon started at 04.30 and headed through the quiet town streets in the early morning before turning back towards the site of the ancient temples at 16km. Ma Viro, the first runner passed the 25.5km turn point at 6:30:44 near the Banteay Samre Temple. The course then passes by 5.5km of green rice and through the old village before entering the world heritage site again at 31km. Viro finished with a time of 3:41.38, followed by Kawamoto Koji 2.5 minutes later. The race is a charity event and does not support an elite field but the organisers are appealing to more professional runners to participate.