The Course: Paved Forest Roads Through the Yen Tu Heritage Site
The 2025 race started from the area of the Yen Tu Legacy stone gate, inside the special national heritage site at Yen Tu. The marathon wound through the forest past the Regiment 5 memorial temple, Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen monastery and the Cam Thuc and Suoi Tam pagodas, and at about 22 to 23 km ran around the Yen Trung lake tourist area, among pine forest [1]. The organiser's event schedule listed Lang Nuong - Yen Tu as the race-day venue [2].
According to the reported organiser figures, 99.99% of the marathon was on asphalt and the whole course was lit for the early start [1][3]. No route map, elevation profile or list of aid stations for 2025 could be found.
Expect climbing. The first race at Yen Tu, in 2024, was planned with 5 km, 10 km and 21 km only [4], and drew more than 6,000 runners [5]. Bao Quang Ninh described its course as a string of gradually steepening sections, and a runner from Ha Long told the paper it was different from many marathon courses [5]. The 2025 marathon is twice as long through the same forest, so check the profile with the organiser before you set a goal time.
The 2025 race was the second held at Yen Tu and the first co-organised by the new Yen Tu ward, the Quang Ninh Journalists' Association and a private operator [1]. It was staged to mark the UNESCO World Heritage listing of the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac complex [1].
The Weather: Cool Enough at Dawn, Warm by Late Morning
The nearest airport with weather records, Cat Bi in Hai Phong, is about 35 km south of Yen Tu and close to sea level, so the forest course may have been slightly cooler. At 5am on race day it recorded 23°C, a dew point of 19°C, 78% humidity and almost no wind; at 6am, 22°C and 83% humidity [6]. It warmed to 25°C by 8am and 28°C by 11am, with humidity falling to 55%. No rain was reported [6].
A dew point of 18-19°C is humid but manageable: far easier than the 24-25°C air of southern Vietnam, though you will still sweat heavily on the climbs. Because start times were not published in anything we could read, the hour you finish is uncertain. A slow marathoner using most of the six-and-a-half-hour limit should expect to finish in temperatures of about 28°C.
Cut-offs, Rules and Finisher Items
The limits were generous: six hours 30 minutes for the marathon, four hours for the half, two hours for the 10 km and one hour 30 for the 5 km [7][2]. Runners had to stop if they missed a checkpoint cut-off announced in advance, and anyone outside the limit was put on an organiser's vehicle and driven to the finish [7]. Anyone starting more than 15 minutes after the gun had no official result, and runners were told to be at the start 30 minutes early [7].
Marathon finishers received a finisher jacket and half-marathon finishers a finisher T-shirt [7]. Top places were decided on gun time [7]. Total prize money was more than 200 million VND [1]. The marathon was won by Nguyen Van Hong [1]; no finishing times could be found.
Race Weekend Logistics
Race packs were collected on Saturday 15 November at Lang Nuong - Yen Tu, where the event booths and a kids' run were also held; the organiser marked the schedule and venue as provisional [2].
From 7 October to 10 November 2025, promotional prices were 299,000 VND for the kids' run, 499,000 VND for 5 km, 549,000 VND for 10 km, 649,000 VND for 21 km and 799,000 VND for 42 km, with 10% off for groups of five or more [8]. Changing personal details or distance cost 150,000 VND each and closed on 23 October; moving down a distance brought no refund of the difference, and fees were not refunded if the race was called off in the last 13 days for weather or other outside causes [7].
The race drew runners from Vietnam and from countries including the United States, Britain, Germany, Canada, India, South Africa, China, Japan and South Korea [1]; about 340 came from 11 countries and territories [3]. The field was reported as more than 3,000 by Bao Quang Ninh [1] and nearly 3,000 by Bao Phap Luat [9]. At the 2024 race, finishers rode the Yen Tu cable car free, and the city published lists of 88 places to stay and 34 restaurants near the course [5].
Should You Enter the 2026 Race?
Yes, if you want a small race with a long cut-off and a heritage-site setting, and you are comfortable with forest-road climbing. The six-and-a-half-hour marathon limit and a four-hour half suit slower runners, and the finisher jacket is a draw for marathoners.
Think twice if you want a flat course or a personal best, or if you need to know the course profile, aid-station spacing and start times well in advance: none of those were found for 2025.
The 2026 race is on 28-29 November [10]. Check the route map and start times when they are published, before booking a place to stay.
Nobody from this site ran the race. This review draws on the organiser's race rules, schedule and price list, airport weather records, and Vietnamese press reports of the 2024 and 2025 races.