HOI AN HEARTBEAT
The children follow for a few metres, giggling and waving as I run past before peeling off and rejoining their friends. Puffing and blowing I manage to smile back.Then I realise that they’re not laughing in that way children seem to do so beautifully for National Geographic photographers looking to bag a cover shot. No, they’re genuinely laughing at me. Red, panting and soaked in sweat I soldier on following the man in front steadily stretching the gap between us. Before long I notice he’s wearing an Ironman triathlon T-shirt from an event the previous year… it dawns on me that I’ve agreed to go on a run with a near-professional athlete in the searing heat and soaking humidity of Vietnam’s wet season. I’m close to death.
The Ironman setting the pace, all lean sinew now that he’s not wearing his work attire, is David Macklin, resort manager of Four Seasons Resort, The Nam Hai, a collection of luxury villas set amidst a forest of palms hugging an endless stretch
