Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, Vietnam – Ethiopian runner Tesfaye Tsegaye Keress deftly made his approach by almost 18,000 members to place himself close to the beginning line of the Techcombank Ho Chi Minh Metropolis Worldwide Marathon in December.
Keress mentioned 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 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 total 42.1km marathon.
In a contest consisting primarily of hundreds of native Vietnamese runners, the participation of Keress and Miko instantly stirred curiosity. Native media wished to know who the rivals from East Africa had been.
As Keress instructed Al Jazeera, love for the game of operating 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 essential, he mentioned.
“I’ve a spouse and two sons, and we stay in Sendafa,” Keress mentioned, 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 broaden our farm utilizing the cash from marathon races,” he mentioned.
To win, he wouldn’t solely need to 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 operating circuit after successful a string of main races.
Discovering their ft on Vietnam’s streets
Keress may be thought-about a median runner in his native Ethiopia – a rustic that has produced among the world’s most famous monitor athletes.
His private greatest pace to finish a marathon is 2:23:50, which he achieved in 2023 in a marathon in Thailand. Although spectacular, that pace 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, nonetheless, Keress’s pace makes him a championship contender in a rustic the place operating has seen a steep rise in reputation.
Over the previous decade, marathons have boomed in Vietnam – a growth partly attributed to the nation’s more and more rich center class looking for methods to maintain match within the nation’s burgeoning large cities. There’s additionally a brand new social facet to operating in Vietnam’s well-attended marathons, in keeping with experiences, which have seen a steep rise in reputation for the reason that mid-2010s.
Regardless of a years-long droop throughout COVID, the recognition of operating got here again even stronger post-pandemic, with many individuals centered on holding 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 had been held in Vietnam in 2022.
With a whole lot of hundreds of runners participating in a plethora of marathons up and down this nation of 100 million folks, main personal sponsors have stepped in with prize cash.
Vietnam’s many marathons and profitable prizes of hundreds of {dollars} for winners are actually attracting high-performing athletes – like Keress and Kiptoo – from the elite operating centres of East Africa.
East African athletes have lengthy been a dominant drive in aggressive operating, with world-famous monitor stars like Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge – who in 2019 grew to become the primary particular person 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 information.
Sporting scouts have for years flocked to Kenya and Ethiopia, amongst different East African nations, to determine promising expertise. Offers to compete in competitions world wide 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 operating 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 in addition operates an organization specialising in power dietary supplements for athletes.
Marathon operating has additionally taken off in Thailand, together with a rising marketplace for operating 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.
Ethiopian runners Dereje Alemu Miko, left, and Tesfaye Tsegaye Keress, proper, store for groceries in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, Vietnam (Danh Nguyen/Al Jazeera)
From prize hunter to celeb athlete in Vietnam
When Edwin Kiptoo – who shouldn’t be confused with one other youthful Kenyan runner with the identical identify 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 funds of simply 150,000 Vietnamese dong (lower than $6), hoping to discover a easy place to relaxation one night time earlier than the race. In downtown Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, the most affordable 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 operating 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 throughout the seek for someplace to remain, the Vietnamese runner noticed that they had 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 operating to help his household and needed to save as a lot as attainable.
Le Hoan paid for the runner’s keep in a hostel that night time – 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 provided me meals together with his household. He additionally rented me a hostel room for the night time,” Kiptoo recounted to Al Jazeera. “After I gained my first race, I provided to pay Hoan again however he merely refused,” he mentioned.
“The generosity of him and his household actually stunned me,” he added.
Edwin Kiptoo, entrance left, and Le Hoan, entrance proper, with Le household kinfolk in Hanoi, Vietnam, in April 2024 (Danh Nguyen/Al Jazeera)
Kiptoo’s wins and public profile in Vietnam have rocketed since. He shortly grew to become a star runner in Vietnam and his participation in races is now wanted. His winnings have additionally stacked up, incomes a median of about $1,000 every week for taking first place in races throughout the nation.
However that was just the start.
In October 2024, Kiptoo signed a significant 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 mentioned.
The deal covers the runner’s residing bills, competitors entrance charges, and, crucially, secures a visa permitting Kiptoo to compete professionally in Vietnam. Prior 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 significant 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 sources, that are sometimes reserved for provincial or national-level Vietnamese athletes.
Now free of monetary strain and logistical considerations concerning race participation, Kiptoo mentioned he has been capable of totally dedicate himself to coaching, making him a drive almost unattainable to beat in Vietnam’s marathons.
“The help from Vietnamese folks 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 celeb standing amongst native folks. He has been featured many instances by native Vietnamese media due to his operating success and his posts on Fb obtain hundreds of reactions – principally from his Vietnamese followers.
Competing in Vietnam continues to be a big gamble
A marathon, which normally lasts a minimum of 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 throughout 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 had been filled with hope on getting into a race in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis after listening to that breaking the Vietnamese marathon report would win them a automotive. After arriving within the nation, they found that the automotive prize had been a one-time provide out there 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 beneath his belt in Vietnam, can not escape challenges. In late 2024, he was sponsored to compete in a marathon in Hanoi. On account of a misunderstanding, a sponsor didn’t register Kiptoo among the many skilled athletes competing. Because of this, regardless of successful the marathon, Kiptoo solely obtained an age-group prize of $200, reasonably than the $2,100 winner’s takings. He mentioned he didn’t need to complain concerning the consequence, saying “all of us need to comply with 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 hundreds 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 latest 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. Nevertheless, as his promoter may also take a lower of his winnings, his precise takings wouldn’t be so large.
His teammate Miko dominated the half marathon, securing a $600 prize.
Ethiopian runner Miko applies balm to teammate Keress’s leg earlier than a race in Vietnam (Danh Nguyen/Al Jazeera)
‘Unpredictable dangers’
After their races, each runners had been taken again to their lodge to relaxation earlier than returning to Thailand, the place that they had been based mostly for the earlier six months in a coaching camp exterior the capital, Bangkok. Their Thai promoter oversees all points of their operating 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 nations, 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 certain by the overriding crucial of attaining good efficiency for his or her group and sponsor – in an unstated energy dynamic.
Keress and Miko recounted how that they had plans to return to Ethiopia and reunite with their households.
They didn’t understand how a lot prize cash they’d 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 much from assured for a lot of runners.
Regardless of the problem and uncertainty confronted by prize-hunting runners in Vietnam, rumours concerning the nation as a life-changing vacation spot for athletes are spreading in East Africa, in keeping with Kiptoo, Keress and others.
Beforehand a instructor 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 had been devastated. That was, he mentioned, when he took up operating significantly as a approach 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 grow to be so central to his life as an athlete and breadwinner for his household.
“In Kenya, we watch plenty of Vietnamese movies, however only a few folks really know what the nation is actually like,” Kiptoo mentioned.
He didn’t know both, firstly.
Now with marathon operating projected to proceed rising in coming years, the draw of Vietnam for African runners shouldn’t be more likely to wane quickly.
“Maybe extra Kenyan athletes will come right here sooner or later to earn cash by operating occasions. However it’s not straightforward,” he mentioned.
“The 2 nations are very far aside, and marathons at all times carry unpredictable dangers.”
