Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, Vietnam – Ethiopian runner Tesfaye Tsegaye Keress deftly made his method by way of practically 18,000 individuals to place himself close to the beginning line of the Techcombank Ho Chi Minh Metropolis Worldwide Marathon in December.
Keress stated his diminutive dimension – he stands simply 1.62 metres (5.3ft) tall and weighs about 50kg (116 kilos) – allowed the 27-year-old to slink simply by way of the throngs of runners to safe a strategic spot close to the entrance simply earlier than the beginning pistol was fired, in what was billed as Vietnam’s largest marathon.
Simply days earlier, Keress had landed in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis – Vietnam’s industrial capital. He was accompanied by fellow Ethiopian runner, Dereje Alemu Miko, who got here to compete within the 21km (13-mile) half-marathon on the occasion the place Keress would run the complete 42.1km marathon.
In a contest consisting primarily of 1000’s of native Vietnamese runners, the participation of Keress and Miko instantly stirred curiosity. Native media wished to know who the opponents from East Africa have been.
As Keress instructed Al Jazeera, love for the game of working was not the one motive for his or her journey to Vietnam.
Keress knew that taking first place within the Ho Chi Minh Metropolis marathon would earn him a $2,500 money prize.
Successful was necessary, he stated.
“I’ve a spouse and two sons, and we stay in Sendafa,” Keress stated, naming his hometown in Ethiopia’s Oromia area, about 38km (24 miles) northeast of the capital, Addis Ababa.
“We run a rooster farm and have two cows for milk. We plan to increase our farm utilizing the cash from marathon races,” he stated.
To win, he wouldn’t solely should beat a few of Vietnam’s greatest long-distance runners but in addition Kenya’s Edwin Kiptoo – a fellow East African who presently dominates Vietnam’s marathon working circuit after profitable a string of main races.
Discovering their ft on Vietnam’s streets
Keress is likely to be thought of a mean runner in his native Ethiopia – a rustic that has produced among the world’s most famous monitor athletes.
His private greatest velocity to finish a marathon is 2:23:50, which he achieved in 2023 in a marathon in Thailand. Although spectacular, that velocity would nonetheless rule him out of top-tier marathon competitions – the Boston Marathon requires speeds of lower than 2 hours 13 minutes for entrants in its skilled division.
In Vietnam, nevertheless, Keress’s velocity makes him a championship contender in a rustic the place working has seen a steep rise in recognition.
Over the previous decade, marathons have boomed in Vietnam – a growth partly attributed to the nation’s more and more rich center class searching for methods to maintain match within the nation’s burgeoning massive cities. There’s additionally a brand new social facet to working in Vietnam’s well-attended marathons, based on stories, which have seen a steep rise in recognition because the mid-2010s.
Regardless of a years-long droop throughout COVID, the recognition of working got here again even stronger post-pandemic, with many individuals targeted on preserving wholesome. Native information web site VnExpress reported in 2023 {that a} complete of 41 full marathon races, with some 264,000 entrants, passed off in 27 provinces and cities throughout Vietnam that yr. That was 10 extra marathons than have been held in Vietnam in 2022.
With a whole lot of 1000’s of runners participating in a plethora of marathons up and down this nation of 100 million individuals, main personal sponsors have stepped in with prize cash.
Vietnam’s many marathons and profitable prizes of 1000’s of {dollars} for winners are actually attracting high-performing athletes – like Keress and Kiptoo – from the elite working centres of East Africa.
East African athletes have lengthy been a dominant drive in aggressive working, with world-famous monitor stars like Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge – who in 2019 turned the primary individual in recorded historical past to run a 42-km marathon in lower than two hours – and Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie who is taken into account one of many biggest long-distance runners in historical past, having set 27 world data.
Sporting scouts have for years flocked to Kenya and Ethiopia, amongst different East African international locations, to establish promising expertise. Offers to compete in competitions all over the world are sometimes mediated by sport brokers, who sponsor a runner and in return could take a lower of their winnings if profitable. There’s additionally the chance to capitalise on media consideration with product and model offers that race victories accrue for people and working groups.
Such an association introduced Keress and Miko to compete within the Ho Chi Minh Metropolis marathon and half-marathon in December. They’re each managed by a promoter from Thailand who sponsors a group of runners and likewise operates an organization specialising in vitality dietary supplements for athletes.
Marathon working has additionally taken off in Thailand, together with a rising marketplace for working gear and different companies. And when runners akin to Keress and Miko win races, there’s a excessive return for sponsoring model names and their services and products.
From prize hunter to movie star athlete in Vietnam
When Edwin Kiptoo – who shouldn’t be confused with one other youthful Kenyan runner with the identical title however of a lot better worldwide acclaim – first arrived in Vietnam in December 2023, he described how he was initially unprepared for the nation and its prices.
Merely discovering lodging on arrival was difficult for Kiptoo, who arrived with a finances of simply 150,000 Vietnamese dong (lower than $6), hoping to discover a easy place to relaxation one evening earlier than the race. In downtown Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, the most cost effective room Kiptoo may discover was double that value.
However luck appeared to favour Kiptoo when he was befriended by native runner Le Hoan whom he met on the race station the place they went to gather their working bibs the day earlier than the race. Studying of Kiptoo’s wrestle to seek out someplace low-cost to remain, Le Hoan tried to assist in the seek for lodging utilizing a reserving app. Nonetheless no luck.
As Kiptoo had handed Le Hoan his passport in the course of the seek for someplace to remain, the Vietnamese runner noticed that they have been each born in the identical yr, and that the Kenyan’s birthday was on the identical day as his spouse’s. Taking the alignment of dates as an auspicious signal, Le Hoan invited the Kenyan to his house. Over dinner with Le Hoan’s household, Kiptoo instructed them how he was working to help his household and needed to save as a lot as potential.
Le Hoan paid for the runner’s keep in a hostel that evening – on the eve of the massive Techcombank Ho Chi Minh Metropolis. The following day, Kiptoo would run sooner than Vietnam’s two greatest marathon runners, Hoang Nguyen Thanh and Nguyen Van Lai, to win the race and pocket a $2,500 money prize on the spot.
“Mr Hoan took me house and supplied me meals along with his household. He additionally rented me a hostel room for the evening,” Kiptoo recounted to Al Jazeera. “After I gained my first race, I supplied to pay Hoan again however he merely refused,” he stated.
“The generosity of him and his household actually stunned me,” he added.
Kiptoo’s wins and public profile in Vietnam have rocketed since. He shortly turned a star runner in Vietnam and his participation in races is now wanted. His winnings have additionally stacked up, incomes a mean of about $1,000 every week for taking first place in races throughout the nation.
However that was only the start.
In October 2024, Kiptoo signed a serious sponsorship contract with sportswear firm Do-Win Vietnam.
The corporate introduced in a celebratory Fb put up the way it had entered “a proper partnership with famend runner Kiptoo!”
“This collaboration will create new breakthroughs and additional strengthen the model’s place within the sports activities business,” it stated.
The deal covers the runner’s dwelling bills, competitors entrance charges, and, crucially, secures a visa permitting Kiptoo to compete professionally in Vietnam. Up to now, visas and visa extensions for Africans in Vietnam have been problematic, partly on account of a crackdown on foreigners concerned in crime within the nation.
So having a serious sponsor behind him offers runners akin to Kiptoo a big diploma of safety.
The 38-year-old, whose spouse and daughter are nonetheless in Kenya, has even been given entry to unique, publicly funded sports activities services and assets, that are sometimes reserved for provincial or national-level Vietnamese athletes.
Now free of monetary stress and logistical considerations relating to race participation, Kiptoo stated he has been in a position to absolutely dedicate himself to coaching, making him a drive practically unimaginable to beat in Vietnam’s marathons.
“The help from Vietnamese individuals makes me really feel at house,” Kiptoo instructed Al Jazeera.
Success in Vietnam has not solely introduced Kiptoo monetary rewards but in addition elevated him to a type of sports activities movie star standing amongst native individuals. He has been featured many occasions by native Vietnamese media due to his working success and his posts on Fb obtain 1000’s of reactions – principally from his Vietnamese followers.
Competing in Vietnam remains to be a bet
A marathon, which often lasts at the least two hours for top-level runners, inherently carries dangers because it challenges an individual’s bodily and psychological limits.
For African runners competing in Vietnam, challenges exist not solely in the course of the race but in addition within the many twists and turns their skilled journey takes.
In March 2023, runners Kemboi Ezekiel from Kenya and Marta Tinsae Birehan from Ethiopia have been stuffed with hope on getting into a race in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis after listening to that breaking the Vietnamese marathon document would win them a automotive. After arriving within the nation, they found that the automotive prize had been a one-time provide obtainable solely within the earlier yr’s race.
Regardless of their disappointment, each runners went on to compete. Whereas Ezekiel confronted little competitors within the males’s race, Marta unexpectedly collapsed whereas main the ladies’s race. She had mistakenly consumed an electrolyte drink at a water station, which upset her digestive system.
Even Kiptoo, with extra expertise and lots of marathon championships underneath his belt in Vietnam, can’t escape challenges. In late 2024, he was sponsored to compete in a marathon in Hanoi. As a consequence of a misunderstanding, a sponsor didn’t register Kiptoo among the many skilled athletes competing. Because of this, regardless of profitable the marathon, Kiptoo solely acquired an age-group prize of $200, reasonably than the $2,100 winner’s takings. He stated he didn’t wish to complain in regards to the final result, saying “all of us should observe the foundations.”
Working within the Ho Chi Minh Metropolis Marathon in December alongside an already acquainted course and accustomed to the local weather, Kiptoo cruised to victory over Keress and 1000’s of others to additional cement his reign over the Vietnamese marathon scene.
Ending simply behind Kiptoo, Keress limped throughout the end line, grimacing in ache. He attributed his efficiency to fatigue from one other current marathon.
After receiving remedy within the restoration space, Keress’s ache subsided however his frustration lingered till his temper was lifted when he found that he had gained $1,000 in prize cash for taking third place – a welcome contribution to his dream of increasing his farm again house. Nonetheless, as his promoter will even take a lower of his winnings, his precise takings wouldn’t be so massive.
His teammate Miko dominated the half marathon, securing a $600 prize.
![Ethiopian runner Miko applies balm to teammate Keress's leg before a race in Vietnam [Danh Nguyen]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/IMG_5182-1743152733.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C702)
‘Unpredictable dangers’
After their races, each runners have been taken again to their resort to relaxation earlier than returning to Thailand, the place they’d been primarily based for the earlier six months in a coaching camp exterior the capital, Bangkok. Their Thai promoter oversees all features of their working careers in Southeast Asia – from journey and lodging to coaching plans, race entries and immigration visas.
For runners akin to Keress and Miko, who’ve travelled little past their house international locations, such administration offers are indispensable. They instructed Al Jazeera how they maintain their Thai supervisor in excessive regard, viewing him as a type of father determine.
However the relationship appears nearer to worker and employer, with the runners being very a lot sure by the overriding crucial of reaching good efficiency for his or her group and sponsor – in an unstated energy dynamic.
Keress and Miko recounted how they’d plans to return to Ethiopia and reunite with their households.
They didn’t know the way a lot prize cash they might be bringing house with them as the price of their journey bills to competitions, lodging and meals are deducted from their winnings.
And never all marathons pay winners instantly – some prizes are delayed for months and monetary safety is way from assured for a lot of runners.
Regardless of the issue and uncertainty confronted by prize-hunting runners in Vietnam, rumours in regards to the nation as a life-changing vacation spot for athletes are spreading in East Africa, based on Kiptoo, Keress and others.
Beforehand a trainer in Eldoret, in Kenya’s Rift Valley area, Kiptoo’s meagre wage barely supported his household. Then COVID-19 hit and his household’s funds have been devastated. That was, he stated, when he took up working critically as a method out of poverty.
His success in Vietnam has not solely allowed him to help his household but in addition to purchase a number of properties as investments in Kenya.
Kiptoo recounted how he by no means anticipated that Vietnam would develop into so central to his life as an athlete and breadwinner for his household.
“In Kenya, we watch lots of Vietnamese movies, however only a few individuals really know what the nation is de facto like,” Kiptoo stated.
He didn’t know both, originally.
Now with marathon working projected to proceed rising in coming years, the draw of Vietnam for African runners will not be more likely to wane quickly.
“Maybe extra Kenyan athletes will come right here sooner or later to earn cash by way of working occasions. However it’s not straightforward,” he stated.
“The 2 international locations are very far aside, and marathons at all times carry unpredictable dangers.”
