Running is my life

Over the past 10 years, the running movement has grown strongly. “Running is my life” is the saying of many running lovers and has become a slogan for the runner community.

Now, running in Vietnam has gone beyond the boundaries of a sport, becoming an indispensable spiritual food for the running community.

The cross-country running movement in Vietnam appeared early. Talking about grassroots marathon competitions, there were previously two traditional competitions: the Hanoi Moi newspaper race and the Tien Phong newspaper cross-country race. The movement really expanded and became closer to the community in 2013, when the Ho Chi Minh City marathon was organized and up to now, there are several races almost every month.

According to Statista (an online statistics platform), the revenue of Vietnam's sports shoe market increased from 191.9 million USD in 2021 to 257.7 million USD in 2022. By 2023, this figure jumped to 332.2 million USD and is forecast to increase steadily at 5% from 2024 to 2028. In total, Vietnamese people consumed 2.02 million pairs of shoes in 2022 and 2.51 million pairs in 2023. It is expected to reach 2.7 million pairs in 2028.

The growing marathon craze has clearly boosted people’s exercise habits. Running is talked about everywhere. Organizers see it as an opportunity to open up new, more attractive running routes. This has in fact created a lever for tourism development, boosting the economy and promoting the local image.

Initially, many localities were hesitant to host large-scale races. Organizing them would involve blocking off roads in the center, affecting people's lives. However, revenue from tourism is the answer to the effectiveness of organizing races. Because a race attracting 10,000-18,000 people like today can attract 4-5 times more tourists.

According to a survey by Outbox (a unit specializing in market research and in-depth data analysis on tourism and hotels), in 2023, Vietnam will have more than 35 large-scale marathon races with the participation of about 200,000 participants (from August 2022 to August 2023) scattered across provinces and cities. In 2023, there will be 13 races with at least 10,000 participants, an increase of 46%. The scale of each race is also gradually increasing. In 2024, there are expected to be nearly 80 large-scale races and the number of participants in one race last November has increased to 18,000 and promises to increase further next year.

The strong development of the jogging movement is good, but development without quality will lead to many consequences. Vietnam does not have a jogging sports industry, so it has stopped at the movement. Therefore, in the immediate future, the government, management agencies as well as people and businesses need to coordinate to organize with heart and quality.

Commercialization is a key factor in making sports more professional and open, but heavy commercialism and reduced quality of tournaments are also headaches for runners.

In the long run, it is time for the running movement to be planned into a professional playground, with an organized management so that the running movement can develop but go hand in hand with quality, so that the running event can actually benefit the lives of each person in a positive way like the spirit it brings.