Rob West, 32, and Grant Bowdery, 41, from the U.K. and Marieke Dekkers, 39, from the Netherlands will begin a non-stop trail-running relay along the banks of the Red River in support of Newborns Vietnam on April 22.

(From L) Grant Bowdery, Marieke Dekkers, and Rob West will attend in a Red River marathon to raise fund for neonatal care in Vietanm.

The trio will now seek to maintain a pace of just over seven minutes per kilometer for 36 hours.

Taking it in turns for one or two hours each (depending on how hot it gets), while one runs, the other two will rest, rehydrate, and eat in a mini-van staffed by two support crew and a driver.

In the darkness of a 4a.m. start, the trio will begin their push from in front of the National Children’s Hospital in Hanoi, just one of many places the U.K.-registered charity Newborns Vietnam is involved with.

Once outside the capital, their route will wind past the rural market towns of Son Tay, a town on Hanoi's outskirts, and nearby Phu Tho and Yen Bai Provinces, before ascending to their final destination of Lao Cai, the frontier province that borders China and acts as a gateway to Vietnam’s storied northern highlands.

It’s a trip that most people usually make by overnight train, and as far as Bowdery is aware, no one has completed the route before on foot.

"We looked at a map of hospitals and clinics Newborns Vietnam works with, noticed that Lao Cai was the furthest away and that several other clinics could be included on a route that would connect them all on our run."

The group’s goal — to complete the 300-kilometers within 36 hours — is also symbolic. The first 36 hours of a newborn’s life are amongst the most vulnerable, and unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, many don’t survive them in Vietnam.

According to the World Health Organization’s latest data, the median rate of newborn mortality here is 10.6 deaths per 1,000 live births. By comparison, this number is 2.6 in the U.K. and 3.6 in the U.S.

In Holland, from where mental health specialist Marieke Dekkers moved with her family in 2015, this number is even lower, at 2.3. Well aware of the privilege associated with growing up with western standards of healthcare, since 2018 she has been running all of her ultra races as an ambassador for Newborns Vietnam.

She won last year's 70km Dalat Ultra Trail in the Central Highlands town, as well as the Penang Eco 100 in Malaysia, and began to question her motivation for doing so. "What do I give back to this country by trying to win races?" she has written on the charity’s website.

Soon, instigated by Bowdery, whom she had met on a run along with West not long after arriving – West, is a PE teacher, swimming coach and colleague of Bowdery — they decided to establish the Red River Run.

A Facebook photo shows Marieke Dekkers training for The Red River Run.

Dekkers, who recently completed 100 straight days of training, explains, "Rather than tagging our support onto another event, we wanted to create something solely for Newborns Vietnam, something which would be super challenging, but with no finisher’s medal, no trophy and no PB (personal best) at the end of it, only the motivation and knowledge that each kilometer we run would make a difference."

They are hoping to raise the money on JustGiving, a global online charity donation platform. At the time of publishing, they had already raised $16,100.

"We are very honored that Marieke, Rob and Grant have taken on this challenge to spread the message of Newborns, whilst at the same time raise valuable funds to reduce the rate of newborn death in Vietnam."

Thousands of Nam Dinh children to get free heart checks

Children under 16 years of age in the northern province of Nam Dinh will get free heart checks on April 6-7 within the framework of an annual programme jointly implemented by the Nam Dinh Children’s Hospital, the Central Children’s Hospital, and the military communications group Viettel.

 

Children’s painting contest contributes to environmental protection

A ceremony was held at Trung Yen Primary School in Hanoi on April 2, to launch a painting contest for children, themed ‘For a green Vietnam’.

 

RoK doctors offer free cleft palate surgery for Vietnamese children

Surgeons from the Republic of Korea (RoK) and the Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy have recently provided free surgery for 30 children with cleft palates in the central and Central Highlands regions.

 

Photo of Vietnamese ethnic minority woman, children wins prestigious international award

The Grand Prize at the Hamdan International Photography Award in Dubai this year has been won by a photo taken in Vietnam.

 

Vietnam PM calls for greater efforts to protect women and children

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called for bolder actions to guarantee the safety of women and children as cases of harassment and abuse have rocked the country in recent years.

 

Source: VnExpress