A 42-year-old Vietnamese man will be conquering the 2,500km route from Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem (Sword) Lake to Thailand, will begin at 5:00 am on November 5.
Nguyen Hoa Viet and one of his friends have planned the journey and found sponsors for the run. Le Hoang, a local marathoner, will be cycling along Viet during his journey.
The man will be pushing a cart carrying about 40 kilograms of necessities, including a tent, a hammock, cooking tools, and running gear. He expects to complete 50km on a daily basis.
Viet also plans to post a tracklog for others to follow and join him along his journey.
Many members of the running community have promised to donate certain amounts of money to the Newborns Vietnam for every kilometer that Viet completes.
“Viet’s healthy, spiritual, and optimistic lifestyle is a dream of many. He is also loved by a lot of people,” said Trang Ha, a writer and marathoner who has known Viet for 21 years as cited from tuoitrenews.vn.
Viet has been running circles around the country’s fitness community, after notching achievements which include a 1,200km journey over the past month.
The man who was born in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue and raised in Ho Chi Minh City, is doing his best to use running to promote environmental awareness in the Vietnamese sporting community.
“The more you connect with nature, the more you learn to appreciate what it has to offer. It makes you want to try harder to protect the environment that you live in,” Viet remarked, sharing that he even keeps a strictly vegetarian diet.