Vietnam Trail Marathon - A Race of Firsts. Vanja Cnops' 1st long distance victory
Vietnam Trail Marathon 2019 marked the emergence of Vanja Cnops onto the longer distance trail running scene. It was first ever race over 25km and she won it.
Vanja then came back and won the VTM 42km race again in 2020 and followed that in 2024 with a 2nd place at the VTM 70km. Vanja has also races and won every other Topas race, with victories in Pu Luong (VJM), Sapa (VMM) and Mai Chau (VUM).
Vanja said:
“I enjoyed my first VTM so much that I joined all 3 Topas VTS races that year and then VTM again the following year! Once I had discovered how pretty the trails are in the North of Vietnam, it was hard to resist.
“Vietnam Trail Marathon is very accessible for trail newbies. Everything is super well organised. Travelling there is easy and smooth, and the trails are well marked – there is no need to rely on GPX or worry about getting lost. That was important for me as a beginner when I first joined.“
Keep reading to explore why our runners love this race.