The Course: City Streets, Then 14 km of Straight Road to the Sea
Every distance starts on Tran Hung Dao at the Nguyen Du flower garden in central Hai Phong [1]. The marathon first loops through the old centre, along Quang Trung, Tam Bac and Tran Phu, past the Opera House and Tam Bac lake [1][2], then heads south-east down Le Hong Phong and Bui Vien, past Cat Bi airport, over the Rao bridge and onto Pham Van Dong [1]. After an out-and-back on road 363 it rejoins Pham Van Dong at about 26 km for more than 14 km of straight road to Do Son [1][3], finishing in front of 15/5 Square by the sea [1].
The organiser describes the course as long, straight and flat, with few sharp turns and almost no big climbs [4]. The bridges on the route include the Rao bridge on the marathon and the Nguyen Binh Khiem flyover [2]; the organiser publishes no elevation profile. The route maps carry the World Athletics and AIMS certified-course badge, and each has a QR code to a GPX file [1][5]. The organiser said all four routes were largely unchanged from 2024 [5].
The half marathon, 10 km and 5 km stay in the city. The half runs out and back along Le Hong Phong to a turn near Ngo Gia Tu, then loops back through the centre past Tam Bac and The Lu to finish at the Kim Dong flower garden on Tran Hung Dao [1].
The Weather: Milder and Wetter Than Its Reputation
Hai Phong sells itself as a cold-weather race. The organiser's own outlet described the conditions as cool, no more than 15°C [6], and reported about 12°C to 13°C on race day in 2024 and a cold, dry race in 2023 [4]. The 2025 race was different.
Cat Bi airport, about 6 km south-east of the start and on the way to Do Son, recorded 19°C with a dew point of 18°C and 94% humidity at the 2.30am start, and almost no wind (1 to 4 knots all morning) [7]. It stayed at 18°C to 19°C through 6am, mist set in from 6.30am to 8am, and it was 22°C at 8am and 23°C with 78% humidity when the marathon closed at 8.30am [7].
That is still far kinder than most Southeast Asian marathons, and the results show it did not stop fast times. But a dew point of 18°C is humid enough that sweat evaporates slowly, so the air felt heavy rather than crisp. Pace for the conditions you see in the forecast, not the ones on the poster. Wind is the other variable: the organiser's preview warned that the north-east monsoon usually blows across the open coast road in late December [3], and in 2024 continuous gusts off the sea at Do Son left finishers shivering in foil blankets while volunteers lit fires to keep warm [6].
Aid Stations and Cut-offs
The marathon had 22 aid stations in 2025, two more than in 2024, with more of them in the second half near Do Son [5][3]. The route map shows water, electrolyte drink, watermelon and banana at the stations, most of the later ones with a medical post, and toilets beside the stations [1]. The half had 11 stations [1]. At every station an elite table served runners ahead of the 3:30 marathon pacer and the 1:45 half-marathon pacer; the ordinary tables served water in cups only [8].
The cut-offs are the part to plan around. In 2025 the marathon started 30 minutes earlier than in 2024 and its limit was cut from six hours 30 to six hours, with checkpoints at km 10 (3.55am), km 19.6 (5.25am), km 29.5 (6.50am) and km 38 (8.05am), and the road closing at 8.30am [5][1]. Worked out from those times, the limit and the first checkpoint both need about 8:30 per kilometre from the gun, so there is no slack for a slow start. The half had checkpoints at 5.30am and 6.40am and closed at 7am [1]. Runners who start more than 15 minutes late are not allowed to race [8], and anyone outside the limit gets no medal or finisher shirt [9].
Roads and Organisation
The organiser said many of the marathon roads are main city arteries and that it closes the course before 8.30am to give them back to traffic [5]. On the coast roads, Pham Van Dong, Nguyen Huu Cau, Ly Thanh Tong and 15/5 Square, runners had a separate lane rather than a fully closed road [2]. The marathon started in four pens, A to D, and the organiser said the whole route was lit by street lamps on race night [2].
Ranking and prizes go on gun time, not chip time [8], so a runner starting from pen D gives away the minutes spent reaching the start line.
How Fast the Field Is
Very fast for Vietnam. The 2025 race drew about 14,000 runners over the weekend of 19 to 21 December, about 1.4 times as many as the year before [10][11], and for the first time the marathon outnumbered the half: about 5,000 against 4,500, with about 20% of all runners from Hai Phong [12]. In 2025, 134 runners broke three hours, eight of them women, up from 82 in 2023 and 91 in 2024 [13][4], and 1,905 ran under four hours [14]. The organiser's outlet compared that with 48 sub-3 runners among about 4,000 marathoners at the Techcombank Ho Chi Minh City race in 2025 and 69 among 8,932 at Singapore [13]. The last runner under three hours finished in 2:59:59 [13].
Hoang Viet Vi Ly won the men's race in 2:26:44 in a first marathon, overtaking Trinh Minh Tam, who had led at about 3:25 per kilometre until slowing at 35 km and finished in 2:28:42 [13][15]. Pham Thi Hong Le won the women's race in 2:42:20 [13]. On the official leaderboard, tenth place was 2:34:42 for men and 3:00:57 for women, and 50th man ran 2:52:55; in the half, tenth was 1:18:46 and 1:31:12 [16]. Luong Duc Phuoc and Bui Thi Thu Ha won the half in 1:09:54 and 1:20:29 on chip time [16][4].
Depth cuts both ways. Pham Thi My Duyen ran a personal best by almost five minutes and won the 30-39 age group, but missed three hours by two seconds in 3:00:01, which on the leaderboard was ninth woman [17][16]. Among mid-pack runners, a runner from Nigeria took more than 14 minutes off a personal best with 3:29 [18]. Prize money went five deep in the marathon, from 15 million VND for the winners to 8 million VND for fifth [19].
Race Weekend Logistics
Race kits were collected at the expo in the To Huu flower garden on Tran Hung Dao until 5pm on Saturday 20 December, and runners without a bib by then could not race [20]. There was no postal delivery, though someone else could collect for you [8]. About 7,000 runners collected on the Saturday afternoon, and at times the queue was more than 300 m long [21].
On race morning, bag drop opened at 1am for the marathon, 2am for the half and 4am for the 10 km and 5 km [10]. Marathon bags were taken to Do Son, and more than 30 organiser buses took marathon finishers back to the start area [20]. The organiser's ride-hailing partner Grab offered discount codes for runners [20], and the organiser warned that some roads would be diverted on race morning [20].
Early entries in 2025 cost 860,000 VND for the marathon, rising to 1.05 million VND in the next phase, when the half cost from 530,000 VND; groups of 20 or more got 5% to 25% off [6]. Fees are not refundable, and bibs cannot be transferred without the organiser's permission [8][9]. Every finisher got a medal with a ship's-wheel and anchor design [22], and marathon finishers a windbreaker [23].
Should You Enter the 2026 Race?
Yes, if you are chasing a marathon time in Vietnam and are comfortably under six hours. The flat course, the early start and a field in which 1,905 runners broke four hours are the draw, and the half marathon suits anyone wanting a fast city half without the trip to Do Son.
Think twice if you need more than about six hours, if you want fully closed roads, or if you are counting on the cold. The 2025 race was 19°C and humid at the start, and in 2024 a sea wind chilled finishers at Do Son.
The 2026 race is on Sunday 27 December, with the same four distances [23][24]. Start times, cut-offs and route maps for 2026 had not been published when this was written, so check them before you book.
Nobody from this site ran the race. This review draws on the organiser's route maps, rules and results, airport weather records, and reporting and runner interviews in VnExpress, which organises the race, and VietnamPlus.