The Course: From the Independence Palace, Under and Over the Saigon River
All three races start and finish at 30/4 Park on Le Duan Street, in front of the Independence Palace [1][2]. The organiser calls it the only race that starts and finishes in the heart of Saigon [2]. In 2026 the route passed City Hall, the Nguyen Hue walking street, Ben Thanh market, the Bitexco tower, Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Ba Son Bridge [1], and ran through six wards: Saigon, An Khanh, Cat Lai, Thao Dien, Thanh My Tay and Binh Trung [3].
The marathon map on the official site shows a loop through the old centre on Ton Duc Thang, Dong Khoi and Nguyen Hue; an out-and-back along Vo Van Kiet to a U-turn at Nguyen Van Cu; the Thu Thiem tunnel under the Saigon River; a long leg east along Mai Chi Tho and Tran Quy Kien, past Diamond Island, to a U-turn on Nguyen Van Kinh; and crossings of the Thu Thiem Bridge and the Ba Son Bridge [4]. The 2026 police road notice names the same riverside section of Vo Van Kiet, from Nguyen Van Cu to the tunnel [5]. Timing mats in 2026 were at 7.4 km, 10 km, 12.8 km, 27.5 km, 35.5 km and 39.6 km [6].
The Weather: Cool for Saigon
Tan Son Nhat airport, about 6.5 km north-west of the start, recorded 21°C at 3am on race morning, with a dew point of 19°C, 88% humidity and no wind [7]. It stayed at 21°C to 22°C, with a dew point of 18°C to 19°C, until 7.30am, with mist from 6am. It then warmed to 23°C at 8am, 25°C at 9am and 26°C, with 61% humidity, at 9.30am, when the marathon course closed [7].
A dew point of 18°C to 19°C is humid but manageable, well below the mid-20s that make tropical racing punishing. The men's winner, Huynh Anh Khoi, credited the cool weather and a favourable course for a best-ever result in the city [8]. Runners still out after 8am finished in 23°C to 26°C air [7].
Time Limits, Aid and Finisher Items
The 2026 rules set a maximum finish time of six hours from the marathon start, with the course reopening to traffic on a rolling schedule and the aid stations closing with the streets [9]. In practice the police notice kept the marathon course closed until 9.30am, six and a half hours after the 3am start; the half marathon ran from 3.30am to 7am and the 10 km from 4.15am to 6.15am [5]. The results list 118 official marathon finishers slower than six hours, the slowest in 6:30:42 [6].
The route map on the official site gives closing times for six marathon checkpoints: 4.10am at the Vo Van Kiet U-turn, 5.25am on To Huu, 7.15am at the Nguyen Van Kinh U-turn, 8.05am on Tran Quy Kien, 8.30am on Bui Thien Ngo and 9.10am near the Ba Son Bridge [4]. The organiser says runners are not allowed to continue past a checkpoint after its cut-off, and that water and medical stations close once traffic is back [10].
The race listing for 2026 describes refreshment stations every 2 km with water, electrolyte drinks and fruit [11]. Finishers inside the limit get a medal, and marathon finishers a finisher shirt [9]. The results also list 36 marathon entrants as disqualified, 33 of them with a finish time [6]; the rules say runners with missing or irregular split times are reviewed for disqualification [9].
The Roads: Partly Open, With Traffic Lights
Only part of each road is closed. The 2026 police notice kept vehicles off the race lanes along the route but let traffic use the rest of the road; two-wheelers were barred from the riverside lane of Vo Van Kiet from 3am to 9.30am, and the stretch of Le Duan beside the start was closed to all vehicles from 9 to 12 January [5]. The organiser warns that because the race runs through the city centre, runners may be held up by traffic lights, and asks them to follow the event staff's instructions [10]. The early start is there partly to reduce traffic pressure in the centre [2].
How Fast the Field Is
Huynh Anh Khoi won the marathon in 2:25:44, Khoi's first marathon win at the race after three straight years of taking part, ahead of Cambodia's Vann Pheara in 2:27:24 and Le Van Tuan in 2:34:18 [12][8]. Pham Thi Hong Le won the women's race in 2:46:18, from Le Thi Ha (2:57:28) and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan (2:58:39) [12][8].
The field thins fast behind them. Tenth place was 2:46:37 for men and 3:31:30 for women, and only 36 runners broke three hours. Of 1,829 official finishers, 171 ran under 3:30 and 572 under four hours, and the median was 4:29:01 [6]. The marathon is mostly Vietnamese: 1,476 finishers were listed as Vietnamese, followed by Japan (53), China (49) and South Korea (42) [6].
The half marathon was won by Hoang Nguyen Thanh in 1:08:31 and Hoang Thi Ngoc Hoa in 1:20:56 [8]. Tenth place was 1:19:26 for men and 1:37:11 for women, and the median of 3,410 finishers was 2:26:14 [6]. The SEA Games gold medallist Nguyen Trung Cuong won the 10 km on a first appearance at the race [8], in 31:18 [6].
Race Weekend Logistics
The race opened on Friday 9 January at the Hoa Lu Sports Centre, and bibs and race kits were collected on 9 and 10 January [1][11]. A marathon village of nearly 40 booths ran alongside [3].
For 2027 the organiser lists bib collection at the Hoa Lu Sports Center, 2 Dinh Tien Hoang Street, on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 January, and none on race morning; you need your passport or ID [10]. The 2027 kit is a singlet, bib with chip, finisher medal, finisher T-shirt, e-certificate, post-race food and bag drop [10]. Fees are not refundable; a transfer costs VND 300,000 and a change of distance VND 100,000 [10]. Marathon fees for non-residents run from VND 1,250,000 to VND 2,450,000 (about US$48 to US$93) depending on when you enter, and from VND 810,000 to VND 1,925,000 for residents [13].
Should You Enter the 2027 Race?
Yes, if you want a big January marathon in Vietnam with a central start and finish, air that was 21°C to 22°C for most of the 2026 race, and a field where a sub-3:30 marathon puts you in roughly the top 170.
Think twice if you need fully closed roads, or if you need more than six hours: in 2026, 118 finishers took longer, and the organiser's 2027 rules say no one may continue past a checkpoint after its cut-off.
The 2027 race is on Sunday 17 January, from 30/4 Park, with the marathon starting at 3am and a six-hour limit (9am); the half marathon has three and a half hours and the 10 km two [10][14][15]. It is a different race from the Techcombank Ho Chi Minh City International Marathon, which Sunrise Events Vietnam holds in December, next on 6 December 2026 [16]; the HCMC Marathon is run by Pulse Active [15].
Nobody from this site ran the race. This review draws on the organiser's race information and route map, the 2026 rules, the full results, the police road notice, airport weather records and Vietnamese press reports.