Van Trang: “I run with my legs, not with gossips”

When numbers can tell names, the whole course has to listen. At the 2026 Y Ty Golden Season trail race, the women's 42km result board was not just a list. Hidden behind the 4-hour-26-minute time was a woman who had just come down from Lao Than mountain, stepped onto the podium, and then turned to face the whispers about her body. Van Trang, nicknamed Jang Doll, born in 2026 and mother of four, finished first among women in the 42km distance and second overall in the entire race. She lost to only one male runner, meaning nearly all the male participants were left behind by a mother of four on a brutally demanding mountain course. That detail matters because it changes how we see female endurance in trail running. According to race organisers, the 42km course at Y Ty has more than 1,300m of cumulative elevation gain, passing through highland villages, terraced rice fields and steep slopes. It left no room for carelessness. At altitudes above 2,000m, thin air forces the heart and lungs to work harder, while steep climbs push the muscles to their limit. For many people, simply finishing this distance is an achievement. Van Trang chose to conquer it at the pace of a leader. Talking to reporters, Van Trang said she never thought too far ahead during the race. “On the 42km course, there are climbs that leave the body almost drained. At those moments I focused only on the next section of trail, kept my breathing steady, managed my energy and refuelled at the right time. I kept telling myself: stay calm, as long as I still have strength, I still have a chance.” She credited her endurance to consistent training: besides running, she does gym work, swimming and other supplementary exercises. It was not an overnight miracle but years of repetition. The sporting world always wants to rank people into fastest and slowest. I only want to understand why a mother of four chooses to sweat on mountain trails, and why she smiles when she crosses the line. In many years of following trail running in Vietnam, I have rarely seen a woman handle mental pressure so decisively. In a country where female athletes still face prejudice, a mother of four running a mountain marathon is already unusual. The fact that she ran fast enough to beat nearly every male competitor made some people even more uncomfortable. What deserves attention is that, soon after her result was announced, a group of social media users did not talk about her performance. They focused on Van Trang's naturally large bust under her tight sportswear, using the crude phrase “carrying two grapefruits while running” to mock her. The image of a woman sweating and conquering a mountain was reduced to an object of rude gossip. Van Trang did not stay silent. She responded directly, drawing as much attention as her achievement: “I dare anyone to carry two grapefruits for 42km or 55km of mountain trails! I run with my legs, not with my appearance, so why do you put me on groups to gossip? Others feel pressure, but I see it as vitamin C for my spirit. What matters is that I still finished, and I am still happy and healthy.” She ended with a sentence that spread widely among runners: “I run with my own legs, not with other people's mouths.” That statement is bold but not impulsive. It reflects the principle of a woman born in 2026: she will not let other people's stares define her. When asked whether she would choose looser clothing to avoid unwanted attention, she shook her head. For her, sportswear must first be comfortable and safe. If she changed herself out of fear of judgment, she would have to live under other people's eyes for the rest of her life. The most memorable moment of the Y Ty Golden Season race, in my view, was not just her first-place finish in the women's 42km. It was the way Van Trang responded to criticism: “Marathon taught me that I will not always run in perfect conditions. Life is the same. Praise makes me happy, criticism helps me reflect, and malicious remarks I learn to ignore." A counter-intuitive angle in this story is that the higher you climb, the closer you get to the finish line, the more meaningless physical appearance becomes. On long slopes, the body is only a moving tool; performance is the only measure that matters. If society still spends time counting the bust size of a female champion instead of reading the results she just produced, women's sport still has a long way to go. And in that journey, people like Van Trang do not need to shout too much. They just need to keep running. With the glory on Lao Than behind her, the mother of four now targets the brutal Ultra Trail category at VMM 70km and later the 100km race at the end of the year. She said: “Let your achievements speak. I do not need to become the version others want to see. Becoming a better version of myself every day is enough.” At 35, Van Trang is proof that women's sport should not have to apologise for a woman's body. She runs with her legs, with her training volume, and with the perseverance of a mother of four. No amount of gossip can create a 4-hour-26-minute record.