Hanoi (VNA), Oct. 20 -- A ceremony to start the VPBank Hanoi Marathon was held in the heart of Hanoi on October 20, with 7,000 professional and amateur athletes taking part, over 1,500 of them foreigners.

The race started in front of Ba Kieu temple near Hoan Kiem lake , with 5km, 10km, 21km and 42km categories.

Participants ran through major tourist landmarks such as Hoan Kiem lake and West lake, Long Bien bridge, Hanoi Flag tower, Temple of Literature, and Tran Quoc pagoda,

In the women's 42km event, Pham Thi Hong Le from the Vietnamese track-and-field team finished first in a time of 2:55:42.7. As for the men's event, Liu Hongliang from China finished first within 2:33:50.4.

In the women's 21km event, Pham Thi Hue from the Vietnames...