The Course: From the Zoo, Along the River and Across to Thu Thiem
The marathon started in front of the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Garden at Le Duan and Nguyen Binh Khiem [1]. It looped through the old centre, around Turtle Lake, between the Central Post Office and Notre-Dame Cathedral, down Dong Khoi and along Nguyen Hue, then went west on Vo Van Kiet in the riverside motorbike lane to a U-turn at Cao Van Lau [2], at 12.5 km [1]. Back in the centre by 19.4 km, it took Nguyen Huu Canh and crossed the Saigon River on Thu Thiem Bridge, wound through Thu Thiem and ran east on Mai Chi Tho and Tran Quy Kien, over the Ca Tre and Thoi Dai bridges, to a U-turn on Quach Giai at 34.1 km [2][1]. The last 8 km came back along Mai Chi Tho to the finish at Empire City in Thu Thiem [2].
The profile is flat. It starts at 10 m and never goes above 43 m; the only sharp rise comes just before 23 km, at the Thu Thiem Bridge crossing on the map, with two smaller bumps around 31 km and 37 km on the eastern out-and-back [3]. The course is certified by AIMS and the Vietnam Athletics Federation [4][3].
The half marathon used the same start and city loop, turned on Vo Van Kiet in front of the State Bank, crossed Thu Thiem Bridge and turned on Mai Chi Tho at 16.7 km before finishing at Empire City [2][1]. The 10 km and 5 km crossed the river on Ba Son Bridge instead [2].
The Weather: Saturated Before Dawn, Hot by the Cut-off
Tan Son Nhat airport, about 6 to 7 km north-west of the start, recorded 24°C with a dew point of 24°C and 100% humidity at the 3.30am marathon start, and a 3-knot wind [5]. It stayed at 23°C to 24°C and about 94% humidity until 6.30am, with mist at 6am and 6.30am. From 7am the air dried slightly, to a dew point of 20°C, but it warmed quickly: 25°C at 8am, 26°C at 8.30am, 27°C at 9am and 29°C with 62% humidity at 10am, when the marathon closed [5].
A dew point of 24°C means the air is close to saturated: sweat barely evaporates, so the body sheds heat poorly even before sunrise. The median marathoner took 4:42 on chip time [6], finishing shortly after 8am at 25°C to 26°C, so most of the field ran its last hour after sunrise. Every aid station carried ice, and the legend of the station chart includes splash zones [1]; use both from the start, not only when you feel hot.
Aid Stations and Cut-offs
There were 23 aid stations on the course, about every 2 km, from 2.15 km to 41.3 km on the marathon, plus one at the start and three after the finish [1]. Each offered water, ion drink, ice, banana or watermelon and toilets, with energy gels at selected stations for the marathon and half [1]. Official pacers ran the marathon at targets from 3:30 to 5:00 and the half from 1:40 to 2:30 [1].
The limits are generous: six hours 30 for the marathon, four hours for the half, two hours for the 10 km and one hour for the 5 km, with the course closing at 10.15am [1]. The marathon checkpoints were at 12.5 km (5.40am), 19.4 km (6.45am), 22.5 km (7.15am), 30.4 km (8.25am), 34.1 km (9.00am) and 37.9 km (9.35am) [1]. Worked out from those times, the first checkpoint needs about 10:24 per kilometre and the finish about 9:15, so a run-walk plan fits. The catch is the start: anyone who does not cross the start within 15 minutes of their gun is disqualified [1]. Runners outside the limit are picked up by the sweep vehicle and taken to the finish [1].
The Roads: Partly Open, With Traffic Alongside
This is not a closed-road marathon. The traffic police notice for 2025 closed Le Duan and Nguyen Binh Khiem around the start from midnight on Saturday to 1pm on Sunday, and closed the riverside motorbike lane of Vo Van Kiet to motorbikes from 3.15am until the last marathoners had passed [2]. On the rest of the route, vehicles were restricted and used the remaining part of the road under police direction [2]. On the Vo Van Kiet section marathoners ran in that motorbike lane, on the way out against the normal direction of traffic [2].
Keep to the runners' side of the road and expect traffic beside you. The organiser reported spectators cheering along parts of the route [7].
How Fast the Field Is
The 2025 race had more than 23,000 runners from 81 countries, up more than 30% on 2024 [7]. The official results list 3,742 marathon finishers, 614 of them women, 6,427 in the half, 6,125 in the 10 km and 3,341 in the 5 km [6].
Ethiopian runners took the first four places in the men's marathon. Ayalew Seleshi Simaneh won in 2:23:13 after a surge in the second half, ahead of Wondale Melsew Baye (2:23:25) and Kebede Leta Girma (2:23:34) [7]; Damte Wendwesen Tilahun was fourth and Kogei Hosea of Kenya fifth [8]. Pham Thi Hong Le won the women's race in 2:48:10, ahead of three Ethiopians, with Doan Oanh fifth [7][8]. Tenth place was 2:33:02 for men and 3:05:20 for women, and 50th man ran 3:04:35 [6].
Behind the elites the field is a mass-participation one. Only 48 runners broke three hours, 8 of them women; 242 ran under 3:30 and 896 under four hours, about one in four finishers [6]. VnExpress, comparing races, counted the same 48 sub-3 runners among about 4,000 marathoners, against 134 at Hai Phong two weeks later [9]. A 120 million VND bonus for a Vietnamese record, under 2:18:42 for men or 2:39:49 for women [1], was far out of reach: the fastest Vietnamese man ran 2:27:25 [6]. The marathon winners each took 70 million VND [1].
The half was closer. Duong Minh Hung beat Pham Ngoc Phan by less than a second, both in 1:09:25 [7][8], and Hoang Thi Ngoc Anh won the women's race in 1:23:00.5 [6]. Tenth place in the half was 1:18:25 for men and 1:38:55 for women [6].
Race Weekend Logistics
Race kits were collected at the Marathon Village at The Global City on Do Xuan Hop Street in Thu Duc, on Friday 5 December from 9am to 8pm and Saturday 6 December from 8am to 8pm; runners needed the QR code from their confirmation email and ID, and could send someone else in their place [10]. The Kids Run, over 1.5 km and 3 km, was held there on the Saturday [1][4].
Because the start and finish are in different places, plan the morning carefully. The parking area at Gate 2 of the zoo opened at 1.30am, and marathon bag drop ran from 2.30am to 3.25am [1]. Bag-drop places were limited and first come, first served, and the organiser asked runners to arrive an hour before their start [1]. Bags were moved to the finish and handed back at Empire City from 6.15am to 10.30am, and a shuttle ran from Empire City back to the HTV television station near the start from 7am to 11am [1]. Runners started in pens A to E by predicted finish time, and every race kit included an event shirt [1].
Every finisher inside the limit got a medal; only marathon finishers got a finisher shirt [1], handed out in sizes by finishing order under the organiser's rules [11]. The finish area had an ice pool and a massage area [1]. Entries are not refundable; the organiser allows bib transfers only within a published window, for a 200,000 VND fee [11].
Should You Enter the 2026 Race?
Yes, if you want a big, well-supplied city marathon with limits that suit run-walkers and first-timers, or a fast half marathon with a deep local field. The aid, the ice and the six-hour-30 limit are the strengths.
Think twice if you want a personal best in cool air, a fully closed course, or a simple start-to-finish morning. The 2025 race started in 100% humidity, the roads were only partly closed, and the finish was across the river from the start.
The organiser gives a tentative date of Sunday 6 December 2026 [12], and from 2026 the 5 km moves to its own day, Saturday 5 December [13]. The 2026 course and start times had not been published when this was written; the organiser still points runners to the 2025 course maps [3][12].
Nobody from this site ran the race. This review draws on the organiser's 2025 programme booklet, course maps and rules, the official results, airport weather records, the traffic police route notice and Vietnamese news reports.