Turtle Tower on Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi, with the lake reflecting the trees

Race guide for Sunday 4 October 2026, Hanoi

Techcombank Hanoi International Marathon 2026

An independent guide for international runners: race week, kit pickup, the start line, the course, the finish and where to stay.

Find your result

Read the race guide

Photo: P. Hughes, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Results are out

Updated 22 Oct 2026. Race day has passed. Find your result and finisher certificate on Sportstats. The 7-day appeal window closed on Sun 11 Oct. We keep this guide online as a reference and will refresh it when the 2027 edition is announced.

Race day: Sun 4 Oct 2026
Distances: 42.195 kmplus 21.1, 10 and 5 km
Marathon cut-off: 6 hr 30 min
Runners: About 14,000

The 5th edition ran on 4 October 2026 in Hanoi. The one thing to plan around: the start line and the race kit pickup are in two different parts of the city, roughly 10 km apart, and the kit is not handed out on race day.

Start line

Hoàn Kiếm

Den Ba Kieu Garden on Dinh Tien Hoang St, beside the lake. All six partner hotels are a 4 to 16 minute walk.

Sunday morning

~10 km

Red River

About 10 km by road. Allow an hour each way.

Kit pickup and finish

Long Biên

Marathon Village on Chu Huy Man St, Phuc Loi Ward. Kits are handed out here on Friday and Saturday only.

Friday, Saturday and the finish

You cross the river twice: once before race day to collect your kit, and once on foot, over the Nhat Tan and Dong Tru bridges, to finish beside it.

Race week at a glance

Three days, two venues. Race kit pickup happens Friday and Saturday only — there is no collection on race morning.

Fri 2 Oct
10:00–20:00
Race kit pickup opens
Marathon Village, Long Bien
Sat 3 Oct
08:00–20:00
Last day to collect your kit. Kids Run 1.5 km and 3 km.
Marathon Village, Long Bien
No kits after Saturday 20:00
Sun 4 Oct
Race morning
42.195 km, 21.1 km, 10 km and 5 km
Start at Den Ba Kieu Garden, Hoan Kiem

Cut-off times run from the last wave start, not from your own crossing of the line.

Distance	Cut-off	Minimum age on race day
Marathon 42.195 km	6 hr 30 min	18
Half marathon 21.1 km	4 hr	16
10 km	2 hr	14
5 km	1 hr	10

The organiser expected around 14,000 runners across all distances. Entries for the 5th edition closed before race week; a waiting list was the only remaining route to a place.

Collect your race kit

No kit on race morning. This is the step that catches visiting runners out. Race kits are not posted, not delivered to hotels, and not available on race morning. If you land late on Saturday evening, you may have no BIB.

Bring two things to Marathon Village:

Your QR code

From the registration confirmation email — on your phone or printed.

Photo ID

Your passport works.

The kit contains your BIB with the timing chip attached, your race shirt, and sponsor items. Shirt sizes cannot be exchanged at the venue, whatever size problem you have.

If your flight makes the pickup window impossible, someone else can collect for you. They need your QR code and their own photo ID — not yours. This is worth arranging before you fly rather than after you land.

If your BIB number has not appeared by the time you travel, check your spam folder first, then email the organiser with your full name and the email address you registered with. The hotline is 0989 024 825 and Messenger is m.me/TechcombankHaNoiMarathon.

For your driver: Marathon Village, Đường Chu Huy Mân, Phường Phúc Lợi, Long Biên

Getting to the start line

The marathon and half marathon start at Den Ba Kieu Garden on Dinh Tien Hoang Street, on the eastern edge of Hoan Kiem Lake, in the middle of the old city. The course finishes at Vinhomes Riverside in Long Bien, across the river. Marathon Village, where you collect your kit, sits beside the finish, not the start.

Den Ba Kieu temple gate beside Hoan Kiem Lake, near the race start — The start: Den Ba Kieu, on the eastern shore of Hoan Kiem Lake.Photo: Linhcandng, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Motorbike traffic on a Hanoi street — Old Quarter traffic is slow at any hour. Walk to the start if you can.Photo: Nicolas Lannuzel from Singapore, Singapore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

So you will make that crossing twice: once for your kit, once for the return after you finish. A few things follow from this:

Stay in Hoan Kiem

Staying in Hoan Kiem puts you within walking distance of the start. Every partner hotel the organiser lists is a 4 to 16 minute walk.

Allow an hour to Marathon Village

Give yourself an hour for the trip out to Marathon Village. It is roughly 10 km from Hoan Kiem and traffic in the old quarter is slow, even outside peak hours.

Grab or Xanh SM

Grab and Xanh SM both work in Hanoi and both take card payment in the app. On race morning, book earlier than you think you need to — demand spikes and road closures start well before the gun. More in our race-morning transport guide.

Walk to the start

Walking to the start beats booking a car if you are close. Roads around Hoan Kiem close progressively, and drivers will drop you further away than you expect.

Start waves are assigned by estimated finish time, and you must be in your own wave. You have 15 minutes from your designated start time to cross the line; after that you are recorded as disqualified.

For your driver: Vườn hoa Đền Bà Kiệu, Đường Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Hoàn Kiếm

The course

The marathon is point to point and almost entirely flat, with the bridges providing the only real climbs. From Hoan Kiem it runs through the Old Quarter and past the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, out along West Lake on Xuan Dieu and To Ngoc Van, over Nhat Tan Bridge into Dong Anh, then back across Dong Tru Bridge into Long Bien to finish at Vinhomes Riverside.

Shophouses and balconies in Hanoi’s Old Quarter — 01Hoan Kiem and the Old QuarterNarrow streets and colonial facades: the most atmospheric kilometres.Photo: Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

West Lake in Hanoi under a cloudy sky — 02West LakeLong open roads by the water, exposed once the sun is up.Photo: Rungbachduong, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Nhat Tan Bridge lit up at dawn over the Red River — 03Nhat Tan BridgeThe signature cable-stayed crossing and a gradual climb.Photo: cloud.shepherd, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The course in order, from the start at Hoan Kiem to the first river crossing.

Hoan Kiem and the Old QuarterNarrow streets, colonial facades, the most atmospheric kilometres of the race
West LakeLong open water-side roads, exposed once the sun is up
Nhat Tan BridgeThe signature crossing, cable-stayed and wide; a gradual climb
Dong AnhQuieter and more suburban, thinner crowd support
Dong Tru Bridge to the finishSecond river crossing, then into Long Bien

Racing in the heat

70–85%humidity at dawn in early October

Early October in Hanoi is the start of autumn and among the better months to race here, but it is still tropical. Expect humidity in the 70 to 85 percent range at dawn and temperatures climbing steadily through the morning. Runners coming from a temperate autumn should treat this as a hot race: start slower than your goal pace, take every water station, and do not chase a personal best on your first Hanoi start. Read more in Racing in Vietnam’s heat.

The surface is city asphalt throughout. Watch the seams, the drain covers and the kerbs in the Old Quarter, which are not as even as the road surface suggests.

The finish

You finish at Vinhomes Riverside in Long Bien, back at Marathon Village.

Medal

Medals are handed out at the Finisher Tent near the line once you give your BIB number to staff, so keep your BIB on you rather than stripping it off at the line.

Finisher shirt

Marathon finishers also receive a finisher shirt, given out in finishing order in whatever sizes remain. The size you chose at registration does not apply here. Half marathon, 10 km and 5 km finishers receive a medal but no finisher shirt.

Bag drop

Bag drop is available, but the organiser accepts no liability for loss or damage and reserves the right to inspect bags. Unclaimed bags are held for five days, after which they are disposed of at the organiser’s discretion. Leave anything valuable at your hotel.

Results and appeals

Results appear at sportstats.one/event/ha-noi-marathon, searchable by name or BIB number, and your finisher certificate downloads from the same page. Appeals must be made within seven days of race day.

The organiser is explicit that unclaimed items are not resolved after the event, so collect everything before you leave the finish area.

Where to stay

The organiser negotiated rates with six hotels, all in Hoan Kiem and all within walking distance of the 42 km and 21 km start line. Walking to the start removes the single biggest race-morning risk, so proximity matters more here than it does at most races.

Hotel	Address	Walk to 42K / 21K start
La Passion Premium Cau Go	7 Cau Go St	~260 m, 4 min
La Passion Hanoi Hotel & Spa	26 Hang Thung St	~280 m, 4 min
Thang Long Opera Hotel	1C Tong Dan St	~550 m, 8 min
M Village Ho Guom	38 Hai Ba Trung St	~850 m, 11 min
Signature by M Village Tho Nhuom	84 Tho Nhuom St	~1.0 km, 13 min
M Village Hotel Tho Nhuom	54 Tho Nhuom St	~1.2 km, 16 min

Rooms at the negotiated rate were limited and the organiser noted rates may change. Bookings went through the organiser’s booking form, with hotel questions to the organising committee rather than the hotel directly. We have no commercial arrangement with any of these hotels.

One timing note: race weekend fell inside China’s National Day holiday, so Hanoi was busier and room rates higher than a normal early-October weekend. Expect the same if the 2027 date lands in the same week.

Rules worth knowing before you travel

Most of these are standard, but a few are stricter here than at races elsewhere.

Medical costs are yours

The organiser states plainly that athletes are responsible for all medical expenses arising from the event, including ambulance, hospital and medication. Travel insurance that covers competitive endurance running is not optional. See travel insurance that actually covers a marathon.

BIBs cannot be transferred or sold

Running on someone else’s BIB voids the result and can mean a ban from future Sunrise Events races. It also means the organiser accepts no responsibility for your safety on course.

No entry fee refunds

Under any circumstances, including cancellation for weather or other force majeure.

No pacers or companions of your own

Anyone on course without an official BIB is not permitted, and accepting support from anyone other than official staff and volunteers is grounds for disqualification. Family cannot run the last kilometre with you.

Emergency contact details go on the back of your BIB

Fill this in. If you are travelling alone, use a contact who can be reached from Vietnam.

One timing chip only

Wearing a second chip voids your result.

Your image may be used commercially

By the organiser and by the title sponsor. This is accepted as part of registration.

Gun time, not chip time, decides the overall winners.

Always to check

Show the four open questions

Four details matter to a visiting runner and were not published in a form we could quote before race day. The organiser’s event schedule carried them as images, and the athlete handbook is the authority.

Open question	Why it matters	Where to check
Exact start time for each distance	Decides your alarm, your breakfast and your car booking	Event schedule, Sunday page
Where the 10K and 5K start	Partner hotel distances are quoted only to the 42K and 21K start, suggesting the shorter distances may begin elsewhere	Course maps, per distance
Bag drop location and whether bags move from start to finish	On a point-to-point course this decides what you can carry	Athlete handbook
Shuttle transport between start and finish	Whether you need your own ride back after 42 km	Athlete handbook

The organising committee answers on Messenger at m.me/TechcombankHaNoiMarathon, by hotline on 0989 024 825, and through the organiser’s runner group on Facebook, which is where late schedule changes appear first.

Sources

Show sources and photo credits

All race facts here come from the organiser, Sunrise Events Vietnam, on the race website. Heat, traffic and travel notes are our own.

Course maps — start and finish locations, route
Rules and regulations — cut-offs, age limits, bag drop, medical liability
FAQ — race kit pickup times, proxy collection, kit contents
Check-in procedure — Marathon Village location, required documents
Accommodation offers — partner hotels and walking distances
Event schedule — three-day programme
Athlete handbook — the full official guide

Photo credits

Photos are used under Creative Commons licences. Diagrams are our own.

Turtle Tower on Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi, with the lake reflecting the trees. Photo: P. Hughes, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Den Ba Kieu temple gate beside Hoan Kiem Lake, near the race start. Photo: Linhcandng, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Motorbike traffic on a Hanoi street. Photo: Nicolas Lannuzel from Singapore, Singapore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Shophouses and balconies in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Photo: Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
West Lake in Hanoi under a cloudy sky. Photo: Rungbachduong, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Nhat Tan Bridge lit up at dawn over the Red River. Photo: cloud.shepherd, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Vietnam Sports Events is an independent guide for international runners. This page is not produced or endorsed by the organiser or the title sponsor. Details change; the race website is always the authority. Read our disclosure.