Van Trang wins Y Ty 42km and answers body shamers: I run with my legs, not with other people’s mouths

When the image of Van Trang crossing the finish line at Y Ty was shared across running groups, people did not only see a tired face after a long race. They saw a woman who had just completed a 42km course in 4 hours and 26 minutes, taking first place among women and second overall. What made the story more special was her response to online comments about her body. Van Trang, nicknamed Jang Doll, was born in 2026 and is a mother of four. She did not stay silent or respond in a soft, forgiving tone. She replied directly: 'I run with my legs, not with other people's mouths.' The Y Ty Mua Vang 2026 race took place on September 6 in the beautiful but demanding mountains of northwest Vietnam. Lao Than peak, where the runners raced, stands at more than 2,860 meters above sea level. The 42km course has more than 1,300 meters of accumulated elevation gain, with long, steep slopes that force every runner to carefully manage their pace. Thin air, slippery trails and quickly changing weather created silent but real obstacles. Nobody could finish as high as Van Trang did based on luck alone. Her achievement was not simply a medal. In the overall 42km classification, she finished second, behind only one male runner. In other words, she beat almost every male competitor in the race. For a demanding trail race with this level of competition, that result proved her endurance, smart energy management and refusal to give up on the toughest climbs. Speaking after the award ceremony, Van Trang said many uphill sections pushed her body close to exhaustion. She explained that she focused on one segment at a time, controlled her breathing and fueled herself at the right moments. The phrase she repeated was: 'Stay calm, as long as you still have strength you still have a chance.' She emphasized that her stamina came from consistent training rather than last-minute preparation. Besides running, she does gym, swimming and supplementary exercises to build strength day by day. That is a quiet discipline fans do not see in slow-motion videos of her finish. Van Trang's story should have ended with praise for her sporting achievement. Instead, shortly after she left the podium, some online users turned her image into a topic of disrespectful discussion. They did not talk about her 4-hour 26-minute time or her second-place finish. They focused on her naturally large chest under tight sportswear and mocked her appearance. One comment compared her to 'carrying two grapefruits while running.' These words turned a real achievement into a cheap joke and reduced a woman doing something extraordinary to an object to be examined. Van Trang did not choose to stay silent. She responded firmly and with personality. She said: 'Let me see anyone carrying two grapefruits run 42km or 55km in the mountains! I run with my legs, not with my appearance. People feel pressure from these words, but I treat them as extra vitamin C for my spirit. What matters is that I still crossed the finish line and I still feel healthy. Judge all you want, I run with my own legs, not with other people's mouths.' Her answer quickly received support from the running community because it touched a real issue many women in Vietnamese sports face but do not always dare to name. The habit of commenting on female athletes' bodies is not new. This pressure comes from a society that tends to view sportswomen through aesthetics before achievement. A woman who runs fast, runs strong and conquers mountain trails can still be pulled down by shallow judgments. Van Trang chose to answer with her performance. She also said she hopes people will have a more civilized view of women in sports. According to her, the first thing people should recognize about a female athlete is her effort and results. Appearance is each person's private story, while achievement comes from years of training. When people look at a woman on the racecourse, she wants them to see someone challenging her own limits, not a body to gossip about. From my experience following races in Vietnam and abroad, this kind of criticism often targets female runners who stand out physically. Some choose to change their clothing to looser or more covered styles in order to avoid stares. Van Trang chose a different path. Asked whether she would cover up more to avoid unwanted attention, she said sports clothing 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. She chooses to focus on the course and her goals. Marathon taught her an important lesson: runners do not always compete in perfect conditions, and life is the same. Compliments make you happy, criticism gives you a reason to reflect, and ill-intentioned comments should simply be ignored. The Y Ty journey has ended, but for Van Trang it is only one milestone. She confirmed that her next goal is the more brutal Ultra Trail distance at the upcoming VMM 70km. Beyond that, she wants to attempt a 100km race before the end of the year. These distances are many times longer than what she has just completed, involving hours of continuous movement and extreme demands on both body and mind. After finishing second overall at 42km, there is every reason to believe she will go even further. What remains after the 2026 Y Ty Mua Vang race is not only a medal or a ranking. It is also a strong message that women have the right to run the way they want, wear what feels comfortable and take pride in the bodies that carried them through the hardest trails. Van Trang does not need to become a version of herself that others want to see. She only needs to become better than the woman she was yesterday. When the legs can still move forward, when the heart still beats fast at the starting line, the judgment of strangers is just noise along the road. She proved that a mother of four can outrun most of the race and, more importantly, stay strong when others try to tear her down. Van Trang's story also raises a question for those who posted the negative comments: when a woman beats almost every male competitor on a high mountain course, why is the first thing that draws attention her chest? Sports fan culture needs to evolve through the mindset of viewers before anyone tells athletes how to dress or behave. For everyone who loves trail running, Van Trang's success should be remembered as a milestone, not as an excuse to inspect her body. At 2,860 meters above sea level, where the air is thin and the legs feel heavy, she still reached the finish line before hundreds of people. That is what deserves to be discussed. Her next journey may be even harder, but the way she stood up for herself after this victory is just as valuable as the mountain she conquered.