Mai Trung and Đan Quyet in close battle for 42km lead at VM Nghe An 2026: A race told through two rhythms

At exactly 3am on September 27, 2026, the starting horn sounded at Ho Chi Minh Square in Vinh city, Nghe An. In the thin mist before dawn, two runners broke away from the full marathon field. Nguyen Mai Trung and Dan Quyet, two familiar names in Vietnamese marathon, were running side by side on Truong Thi street. After about 10 minutes, the gap between them was only about 10 meters. That gap was small, but over a 42km distance, it felt like a quiet warning about who could stay focused longer. From the virtual stands, I could feel my heart beating with the race. The VnExpress Marathon Grand Tour Nghe An 2026 is the first time the event has been held in the hometown of President Ho Chi Minh. Bib distribution took place at Nghe An Labour Culture House on September 25 and 26. The race has four distances: 5km, 10km, 21km and 42km. All runners start at Ho Chi Minh Square and finish on Truong Thi street, at the junction with Le Van Huu street. The full marathon started at 3am, the half marathon at 4am, the 10km at 5am and the 5km at 6am. The 42km route passes Ho Tung Mau street, Truong Thi street, Le Nin avenue, then connects to Vinh - Cua Lo avenue. After about 16km, the route continues on Binh Minh street, runs through the coastal area of Cua Lo and turns back at Cua Xa. The half marathon follows Ho Tung Mau - Truong Thi - Le Nin avenue, continues on Vinh - Cua Lo avenue, turns back around km 11 and returns to the finish on Truong Thi. The 10km distance turns back around km 5. The 5km distance takes place entirely in the city center. From 2:50am, full marathon runners gathered before the starting line. Familiar names included Dan Quyet, Dao Ba Thanh and Le Van Huong. The host clubs Nghe An Runners and Ha Tinh Runners appeared in bright pink shirts, adding energy to the atmosphere. Before the race, Thanh Meo of Vinh Runners said this race had the fewest 42km runners, which made it easier to compete for podium places and personal bests. He also praised the Nghe An route as nice and comfortable. A race like this cannot operate without volunteers. From the evening of September 26, hundreds of volunteers arrived at the starting area to receive their assignments and learn the operational procedures. Local police, traffic police and medical staff were mobilized for security and emergency support. Teams were placed along the route to install infrastructure, set up water stations and prepare cheering areas. Where the lights do not reach, dreams are still training. Based on my experience following many road marathons, long races are never won in the first running steps. Dan Quyet, Dao Ba Thanh and Mai Trung quickly opened a leading group. When Dao Ba Thanh settled into his own rhythm, the main duel narrowed to Mai Trung and Dan Quyet. Mai Trung looked focused, with calm expression and clean foot strikes. Dan Quyet looked relaxed, waving at the cameras with smooth and flexible strides. The difference is like two styles in a match. One style controls the inner state; the other chooses to read the atmosphere of the crowd. In running, people often talk about pace, but pace is only the visible part. The hidden part is how a runner reacts to wind, cheering, and accumulating fatigue. Mai Trung was born in 2026, works in e-commerce, and is a member of Thanh Cong Runners club in Hanoi. He impressed Hanoi runners with his time of 2 hours 41 minutes 55 seconds at VnExpress Marathon Hai Phong 2026, placing 69th on the list of fastest full marathon runners in Vietnamese history. That record is a meaningful milestone, but it will not simply repeat itself today. In the women's race, My Hien created a surprise by leading. She belongs to Nghe An Runners club and has a personal best of 3 hours 7 minutes 39 seconds. She was running on familiar streets, where local people could recognize her from afar. Her home advantage came not from cheers but from her knowledge of the route. She knows when to push, when to save energy and when to increase the tempo before the sea wind arrives. The Nghe An route has many straight sections and good road quality. But it is not as easy as many people expect. The coastal section at Cua Lo often gets strong wind in the early morning. Turning back at Cua Xa changes direction and forces runners to adjust their strides and breathing. In shorter races, turnarounds cause only a small rhythm shake. But in a full marathon, many turnarounds add up and can create damage near the end. A nice road is an advantage for personal records, but it is also a place where rivals test each other. Thanh Meo said exactly that, and the opening minutes of the race confirmed his view. In esports, people focus on map reading and timing. Marathon has a similar control system, but it happens on real streets. A runner needs to know the position of rivals, the location of water stations and the true state of his own body. The 10-meter gap between Mai Trung and Dan Quyet at 3:10am did not reveal much about the final result. It only showed that both were ready for a long waiting game. In a 42km race, runners who push too early often pay the price in the last 10 kilometers. The wind at Cua Lo, the turnaround at Cua Xa and accumulated fatigue will be the most objective judges. I also thought about the runners of the 10km and half marathon races. They are not as famous as Mai Trung, Dan Quyet or My Hien, but they chase their own goals. Some run for the first time, some want to improve their times and some simply want to feel the energy of a sports festival. The VnExpress Marathon Grand Tour Nghe An 2026 is therefore not only a battle among elites. It is a place where personal stories are shown under the city lights and finished with steps on Truong Thi street. The official cutoff times show careful preparation. The half marathon has two checkpoints: at km 10 at 5:40am and at km 16.9 at 6:50am. The route closes at 7:30am. The 10km distance has one checkpoint at km 6 at 6:15am and closes at 7am. The 5km route closes at 7:15am. These time markers are like gates in a long match. A runner who reaches a checkpoint earlier than planned may be using an aggressive strategy. A runner who arrives late must solve a new problem of saving energy for the remaining distance. Mai Trung and Dan Quyet took turns leading in the early minutes, creating a beautiful image. Mai Trung lowered his head in focus. Dan Quyet greeted the audience with a relaxed smile. If we look deeper, these images may reflect two different strategies. Mai Trung chooses to shrink the world and listen to his body. Dan Quyet chooses to open up his space to keep a relaxed mentality. Both approaches have valid reasons. Tactics are what people see; the soul is what we need to feel. One notable detail is Thanh Meo's observation about the number of full marathon runners. The race had few 42km participants. This creates a more open racing space. When the field is not crowded, runners can choose their own line, avoid chaos at water stations and keep a steadier breathing rhythm. But the downside is that leading runners cannot hide in the crowd. Every acceleration and every heavy breath can be read by opponents. A race with few full marathon runners is often more psychological. While the elites were pushing on the road, hundreds of others were silently doing their jobs. Traffic police stood at intersections, medical staff stayed along the route and volunteers prepared bottles of water. They never appear in the results, but without them, the race could not happen. When the livestream focuses only on the leading group, I remind myself that where the lights do not reach, dreams are still training. For Nghe An volunteers, this is especially true. They arrived from the night of September 26 and will be the last to leave after the finish line closes. From a storytelling perspective, My Hien was the name I paid most attention to early on. Running on her homeland, she is not just racing rivals. She is racing against the expectations of local spectators. Fans always want a local winner, and that pressure often makes runners go faster than planned. The biggest question for My Hien is not whether she can lead. It is whether she can keep her legs smooth through the coastal section. Her personal best of 3 hours 7 minutes 39 seconds shows clear ability, but every race is its own world. Dan Quyet sends a different message. When he waved at the camera, I remembered young players in esports making confident moves in front of the crowd. Relaxation can be an effective mental tool, but it can become overconfidence if the actual running rhythm is not good enough. Dan Quyet needs to keep that relaxed feeling when he reaches the windy area of Cua Lo. Without it, his first wave will become a nice memory while his opponent pulls away at km 30. In contrast, Mai Trung's focus is his weapon. But too much focus can consume nervous energy. That energy is not visible on a sports watch, but it becomes very clear in the final sprint. In a marathon, nobody wins a race with the first 10 minutes. 42km is a continuous chain of small decisions. A decision to drink at a certain station, a decision to accelerate on a flat section, a decision to slow down when the sun rises, and a decision to trust your body when every instinct says stop. Those decisions cannot be rehearsed in a gym. They can only be answered during the three hours moving on the road. For recreational runners, the most important moment is not always the finish line. It is the moment they pass the urge to quit at km 30. There are no cameras there, no fans, only breath and foot strikes. I looked at the pink shirts of Nghe An Runners and Ha Tinh Runners. They run slower than the elites, but their goal is not the podium. They want to finish, to touch Truong Thi street and to tell themselves that a new day begins with effort. As dawn broke, Vinh city began waking up and the streets watched groups of runners cross intersections. The 5km route closes at 7:15am, the 10km at 7am and the half marathon at 7:30am. These cutoffs set limits for all runners, including the marathoners. A runner like Mai Trung or Dan Quyet needs to finish before the temperature rises. The heat is not a problem at dawn, but when sunlight hits Vinh - Cua Lo avenue, the race will become much more difficult. The scene at 3:10am was only the beginning. The 10-meter gap between Mai Trung and Dan Quyet could change at any water station. It could become a few hundred meters when one runner begins to walk and the other keeps the rhythm. It could also become a spectacular sprint on Truong Thi street when both give everything in the final meters. This race is too long to talk about a champion, but it is long enough to understand that every runner is touching their own limit from the moment the horn sounds. If I have to choose one moment to save from the VnExpress Marathon Grand Tour Nghe An 2026, I will choose the moment the first steps left Ho Chi Minh Square. There was Mai Trung with his focused stride, Dan Quyet with his relaxed smile, My Hien with the determination of a Nghe An daughter and hundreds of silent runners. They all started from the same line, but each would finish with a different story. An outsider entering the marathon world can feel this too, because there is no fake ranking here. There is only sweat, breathing and unstoppable steps. The duel between Mai Trung and Dan Quyet will be one of the most memorable moments of this race. But even when they divide every meter of the route, the history of running in Nghe An is written by everyone standing at the start. The field may be empty, but the echo of passion is never silent. And when the sun rises, when medals are given to those who finish, what remains is not the best record. It is the way each person overcomes himself on the 42km road. Every step has an untold story, and today Nghe An is where those stories begin.