The Course: Out and Back Along the Coast Road
The 2025 race was on Sunday 23 November [1], in the race's tenth anniversary year [2], and the organiser put the field at over 14,000 runners, more than 3,000 of them from abroad [3]. The marathon started at 4am, the half marathon at 5am, the 10 km at 6am and the 5 km at 7.30am [1]. The results list 2,579 marathon and 3,425 half-marathon finishers [4].
The marathon starts on Tran Quoc Nghien street by 30/10 Square in Ha Long, runs east along Tran Quoc Nghien onto the Ha Long–Cam Pha coast road, turns just before the road into the KM6 Quang Hanh fuel depot, and comes back the same way to finish on 30/10 street beside the provincial exhibition centre [3]. The shorter races use the western part of the same road: the half marathon turns on a bridge past the Khe Ca interchange, the 10 km turns at the Tran Thai Tong–Ngo Thi Nham junction, and the 5 km turns near Bai Tho bridge 2 [3].
Marathon runners go through a tunnel on the coast road [5]. The organiser warned that the course includes a mountain tunnel and other complex traffic zones, and asked runners not to train through those sections before or after race day [6]. The marathon's checkpoints at 16.5 km and 26 km sit on the stretch from the tunnel exit to the Quang Hanh roundabout [7], so the tunnel comes before 16.5 km on the way out and after 26 km on the way back.
The organiser says the 2025 course had fewer sharp turns than before and was fully closed to traffic [6], in both directions [8]. AIMS describes it as a straight and flat course [9]. The 2026 route map, published in January 2026, shows the same course, U-turn and station layout as 2025 [10].
The Weather: Cool and Humid, With Little Wind
Van Don airport, about 40 km north-east of the start, recorded 18°C at 4am on race morning, with a dew point of 16°C, 88% humidity and a 2-knot wind [11]. It barely warmed for the next four hours: 19°C at 6am and 8am, 20°C at 9am, then 22°C and 65% humidity at 10.30am, when the marathon closed [11].
A dew point of 15°C to 16°C feels comfortable to most runners, because sweat still evaporates, and the temperature stayed at 18°C to 19°C until 8am. Nguoi Lao Dong called the weather ideal [2]. Pham Thi Hong Le, the first Vietnamese woman home, said the weather and the scenery were impressive, and that the finish time was faster than in two previous seasons in Ha Long [12]. Ian Ranson, a marathoner from the UK, called the weather amazing [13].
Aid Stations and Cut-offs
The 2025 marathon map shows ten water stations on the way out, from 3 km to 18.4 km and 1.5 to 2 km apart, and twelve on the way back, 1 to 2.3 km apart, the last at 41 km; every one is paired with a medical post [3]. The organiser's race information promised first aid, water, electrolyte drinks and bananas every 3 to 4 km [14], so the map is more generous than the text. Ranson praised the numerous water points [13]. Pacers carried balloons printed with their target time [14].
The marathon limit was six and a half hours (10.30am), with checkpoints at 16.5 km by 6.30am, 26 km by 7.50am, 33 km by 9am and 39.2 km by 10am; the half marathon closed at 8.30am, with checkpoints at 12 km by 7am and 18.1 km by 8am [7]. The 26 km checkpoint, at 3 hours 50 after the start, is the tightest: it works out to about 8:51 per km, against about 9:14 per km for the full six and a half hours. Runners outside the limit get no finisher shirt or medal and no recorded time [15].
The results suggest the marathon limit was enforced and the half-marathon limit less so: only one marathoner is listed slower than 6:30, in 6:36:40, while 66 half marathoners are listed slower than 3:30, the slowest in 4:17:50 [4].
How Fast the Field Is
Kennedy Kiprop Chelimo won the marathon in 2:13:57, a race record [8], which Nguoi Lao Dong called a record for a marathon held in Vietnam [2]. Five men broke 2:19, and the first Vietnamese man, Huynh Anh Khoi, was sixth in 2:23:33. Caroline Jepkemei Kimosop won the women's race in 2:43:26, from Naomi Jepkogei Maiyo in 2:44:15 and Pham Thi Hong Le in 2:48:05 [4].
Tenth place in the marathon was 2:32:35 for men and 3:09:02 for women. In the half marathon, Edwin Yebei Kiptoo won in 1:11:24 and Doan Thi Oanh in 1:19:53, and tenth place was 1:18:06 and 1:29:39 [4]. Behind the front, this is a big, fairly quick field: the median marathon finisher took 4:08:12, 86 of the 2,579 finishers broke three hours and 1,182 broke four [4].
The organiser offered a 300 million VND bonus to the first man under 2:05 and the first woman under 2:30, and 20 million VND each to the first Vietnamese man and woman [3].
Race Weekend Logistics
Race kits were handed out at the exhibition centre on Tran Quoc Nghien on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 November, until 7pm on both days [16]. A week before the race the organiser emailed a link to an online waiver; signing it produced a QR code, which runners showed with their original ID card or passport, and anyone collecting for someone else needed an online authorisation [3]. The opening ceremony was on the Saturday afternoon, and the awards ran from 8.30am to 10.30am on race day [3].
Bag drop opened at 3am for marathoners and took only items packed inside a bag [3]. The organiser said it would not be responsible for runners who missed their start because of bag-check or parking delays, and recommended public transport or ride-hailing [1]. Foreign runners not staying at an official hotel had to give the organiser their hotel address at least three weeks before race day [14].
The organiser's travel advice is to fly into Hanoi's Noi Bai airport and take a bus from My Dinh bus station, which costs 260,000 to 300,000 VND, leaves every 30 minutes and takes about three and a half hours [17]. A promotional price from 24 April to 28 May 2025 set the marathon at 650,000 VND, the half at 550,000, the 10 km at 450,000 and the 5 km at 350,000 [18]. Entries were not refundable; transfers cost 300,000 VND, and the deadline for transfers and distance changes was 30 September 2025. Marathon runners had to be at least 16 [19].
Should You Enter the 2026 Race?
Yes, if you want a fast, closed-road marathon in cool air, or a first marathon on a course with water every couple of kilometres. The front of the race is quick, but the median finish time is a realistic target for a trained club runner.
Think twice if you expect to take more than about six hours, because the 26 km checkpoint comes early, or if you do not want a three-and-a-half-hour transfer from Hanoi on either side of the race.
The 2026 race is on Sunday 22 November, the 11th edition, with the race weekend running from 20 November [8]. The organiser has published the same start times as in 2025 [20] and the same course [10]. In 2025 the cut-off table came out three days before the race [7], so check it before you settle on a pace plan. In August 2026 Quang Ninh police warned about fake social-media pages selling bibs and discounts for the race, and advised registering only through official channels [21].
Nobody from this site ran the race. This review draws on the organiser's guidebook, notices and maps, the full results, airport weather records, Vietnamese and English-language news reports, and runners' comments to the press.