“Running to raise funds for the community makes my running meaningful”

In September 2022, Quang Tran became the first person to win the 160km distance held in Vietnam. But that was not the most memorable milestone in his 8 years of running. In 2018, Quang Tran successfully conquered the "Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc dream" (UTMB) with a distance of 171km, one of the most extreme challenges on the planet.

Quang Tran at UTMB Mont Blanc - the world's largest ultra trail race

At that time, Quang Tran was acting as Ambassador for UpRace - a charity running project initiated by VNG . Accordingly, for every kilometer run recorded on the UpRace app, VNG and sponsoring businesses would donate at least 1,000 VND to social organizations. Mr. Nguyen Hoanh Tien, the founder of UpRace, was the one who invited Quang Tran to participate in this event to inspire running in the community.

“The time I ran the Mont Blanc was right in the first UpRace season. At that time, UpRace's rule was to record the results on the same day, but my UTMB race took place over 2 days (32 consecutive hours), so many people wondered if UpRace would recognize this race,” Quang Tran shared a memorable memory from that year.

This year, UpRace takes place from October 28 to November 20 and the community's running steps will be converted into cash to support two large social organizations: the Association for the Support of the Disabled and Orphans of Vietnam; and the Wildlife Conservation Center in Vietnam.

Run with UpRace 2022 to help people with disabilities and orphans change their lives

Quang Tran said he practices 1 to 2 hours every day whenever he has free time. On weekends, he will go to practice terrain, mainly at Dinh Mountain ( Ba Ria - Vung Tau ) for about 4-5 hours to get used to the competition conditions. 90% of the training time is spent running, causing Quang Tran to contribute hundreds of kilometers to UpRace. "When my training also contributes to charity funds, I realize that my passion for running becomes more meaningful and has a deeper mission."

Wish more and more Vietnamese people run

In 2022, grassroots running competitions in Vietnam will be held with increasing frequency, with diverse scales and locations. This makes many people concerned about the negative impact of running on the health of non-professional athletes. However, for Quang Tran, this is a good sign. “I see that the number of competitions is still small compared to our population. If we look at Thailand, the population is smaller than ours but the number of competitions is many times more than ours. I think the more competitions there are, the more people will come to running.”

The expectation that more and more people will run makes Quang Tran always actively invite friends around to run, especially those who have never run before. “UpRace is also a convincing enough reason for me to invite people who have never run to join in running, because running is not only for my own health but also to help others”. This is also the reason why he has quietly been a companion of UpRace, spreading the project's mission and actively inspiring passion for running over the past 5 years.