Before I’d even booked flights to Thailand I was already signed up to the Da Nang International Marathon.
So, after a few months of laid-back travelling, I got serious on the streets of Da Nang and started putting in the miles. This is documented in more detail in my March Training post.
To tell you just how serious I was about the marathon (borrowing a great quote from Eugene McGee), I hadn’t had a pint since Monday night! It was Paddy’s Day after all so I felt duty-bound to wet my beak.
On the morning of the ‘82 All Ireland a journalist asked Eugene how badly Offaly wanted to win. He replied “there’s men in that dressing room who haven’t had a pint since last Wednesday night!”
Build up
The Expo, Start, and End point are located by the beach at Công viên Biển Đông (East Side Park) which is just a 15 minute stroll to where I’m staying (took twice as long to stroll back after the race). The Expo was open Friday and Saturday to pick up your race pack.
On Friday afternoon I swung by to pick up my bib and also got a nice pair of Tag socks and gels for the race.
As usual, during race week I followed the Scandinavian Dissociated Diet—this is a blog post by Jerome, my old coach with the Galway City Harriers. I swear by this as it’s been the diet for my 3 best-paced marathons (Limerick, Seville, Da Nang).
tl;dr: drain the glycogen stores in the first half of the week and fill them up before the race.
On Saturday I had a big bowl of plain pasta before heading to bed around 7pm. Managed to get a decent enough sleep before the 3am start.
Race Report
The race went great! Finishing 20 minutes faster than Chiang Mai in a time of 3:27—good going since I’ve been on the road for the 3 months between races. The pacing in particular is what I’m most proud of.
Looks like just over 1000 people completed the full marathon, with 72 nations represented, and I think I was the fastest Irishman!
Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the race itself:
| KM | Experience |
|---|---|
| 🏁 0-1k – Easing in | First km in 5:22 to ease into the race. |
| 🔄 1-10k – Smooth start | Ran along the beach road before turning back—suddenly 10k done. First gel at 8k. |
| 🏡 12k – Temptation! | Passed my gaff. Briefly considered calling it a day. Didn't. |
| 🌉 12-18k – Bridges & river views | Crossed the Tran Thi Ly Bridge, continued along the river to Thuan Phuoc Bridge, feeling fine. |
| ⏳ 21k – Halfway there | Soles feeling sore. Runners? Lack of training? Not sure. |
| ✈️ 22-25k – Long stretch | Ran close to the airport before turning around, still feeling steady. |
| 🚀 25-28k – Pushing through | Kept floating between 4:50-5:00 pace. Quietly confident I'd get through. |
| 🔥 30k – The countdown | At 2:27, figured I could do the last 12k in an hour. |
| 😢 32k – Rip the nips | 20 mile mark and the chaffing is getting harder to ignore. |
| 🌉 35k – Back to the bridge | Slower pace due to the elevation over the bridge. |
| 🌅 36k – Sunrise & support | Daylight breaking. More people out cheering—huge boost. |
| 🏁 38k – Final stretch | Turned the corner to see the sunrise. Stunning moment. |
| ⚡ 38-42k – Strong finish | Upped to 4:20 pace for 4k, then settled back to 4:40 to bring it home. |
| 🎉 42k – Sub 3:30 achieved! | Finished in 3:27. Watch read 42.4k—some inefficient lines, ah yeah. B Goal ✅! |
Post-Race
Picked up my finishers t-shirt and then sunk into a beanbag for ages. It was great to bump into Tom—whom I met through Darren in Phnom Penh—and we had a post-race debrief and got a pic.
Hopped in the ice bath and then slowly strolled back to the gaff to chill out for a bit, before making my way over to Maia Beach Bar for some drinks with the Tag Fitness Club.
In the evening, I tipped up to the Shamrock and witnessed some of the best pool players of my life. Gave it a go myself and did shite—blaming it on the post-race stiffness. The bar was showing the Ireland Vs Bulgaria game but KO wasn’t until 2:45am and I had been up nearly 24hours—literally having ran a marathon— so was juiced. Delighted to wake up and see the result thought!
Reflections
A couple of quick takeaways on the event as a whole:
Let’s Go Girls
- 🌤️ Great weather for running
- 🏁 Overall a very flat course
- 🚰 Plenty of water stations
- 🌅 Stunning final bend as the sun rises over the sea
- 💙 Really nice singlet
- 🎁 No unnecessary freebies—just the essentials
- 📸 Race photography package is very affordable
That Don’t Impress Me Much
- 🎏 No pacers for anything quicker than 3:45 was unusual
- 🏃♂️ Finishing with the half marathon makes it very crowded
- 🔄 Bib swaps are done through a Facebook group, which isn’t ideal
- 💆♂️ No sign of a post-race leg massage
Overall, a very enjoyable event, and I’m delighted with how it went. I’ll be based in Da Nang a while longer and am aiming to make good use of the good running conditions here.
I’ve already got my sights set on the next marathon—training begins now!
DavAI SummAIriser
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