Opening of the 30th Hai Duong Newspaper Cross Country Race and launching of "Olympic Running Day for the Health of the People"

The tournament is jointly organized by Hai Duong Newspaper, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hai Duong City People's Committee, and Sacombank Hai Duong. Hai Duong Newspaper will broadcast the event live on Hai Duong Electronic Newspaper, Hai Duong Newspaper Fanpage, and the newspaper's YouTube channel.

Comrade Le Van Hieu, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation; members of the Provincial Party Standing Committee: Nguyen Thi Ngoc Bich, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Nguyen Quang Phuc, Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department; Nguyen Duc Tuan, Chairman of the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee; Le Dinh Long, Secretary of the Hai Duong City Party Committee; Hoang Quoc Thuong, Secretary of the Chi Linh City Party Committee and comrade Nguyen Minh Hung, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, leaders of a number of departments, branches, localities, sponsors, and a large number of people attended the event.

From early morning, despite the cold weather, about 1,000 people were present at the event, the largest number ever. Many sports teams competing in the tournament had arrived in Hai Duong City the day before.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 30th Hai Duong Newspaper Cross-Country Race, comrade Nguyen Quy Trong, Editor-in-Chief of Hai Duong Newspaper, Head of the Organizing Committee, affirmed: With the desire to contribute to the development of Hai Duong's sports career, the Hai Duong Newspaper Cross-Country Race has returned after a period of interruption due to the Covid-19 epidemic, with a larger scale than before. The Organizing Committee is committed to a fair, safe tournament, with a noble sportsmanship spirit.

Launching the "Olympic Running Day for the Health of the People", Comrade Nguyen Quy Trong, Editor-in-Chief of Hai Duong Newspaper emphasized that this is an activity in response to the Campaign "The People Exercise Following the Example of Great Uncle Ho", aiming to raise people's awareness of the role, significance and effects of physical exercise and sports in protecting and improving health and quality of life.

After the opening ceremony, provincial leaders, leaders of departments, branches, localities; armed forces, the elderly, women, high-achieving athletes, students... took to the track to support and cheer for the athletes who achieved high results.

Immediately after the opening ceremony, the official competitions began. The boys and girls were the first events of the cross-country race, with a distance of 1.5 km, starting in front of the gas station on Tran Hung Dao Street, near Bach Dang Park.

The oldest athlete participating in this event, also the oldest athlete in the tournament, Mr. Vu Van Nhuan (born in 1963) of Thanh Mien, said that age is not too big an obstacle when coming to this tournament. Through the tournament, he wants to determine his own limits, at the same time, he hopes to encourage and promote the running movement for community health for the younger generation.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, Vice President of Hai Duong Runner Club - HDRC, said that 50 club members compete in the Hai Duong City jersey. The club gathers many athletes with extensive experience participating in amateur and professional running competitions nationwide, most recently the VnExpress Marathon Hai Phong 2023, 42 km distance. This is the first time club members have participated in the Hai Duong Newspaper Cross-Country Race and 5 km is not their forte, but the whole team is very confident in aiming for victory.