Race «HDBank Green Marathon 2026»

   No traffic lights, no hills and sea air instead of exhaust: this course crosses the Can Gio mangroves, a UNESCO biosphere reserve about two hours south-east of central Ho Chi Minh City, ferry crossing included. If you have been putting off a return to racing, a flat pre-dawn course is the friendliest place to start.

   This is the fifth edition. Last year nearly 4,000 runners took part, about five hundred more than the season before (3,500 in 2024), and the marathon went to 22-year-old Huynh Anh Khoi in a personal best of 2:27. Six distances are on offer — 42.195 km, 21.0975 km, 10 km, 5 km and kids runs over 3 km and 1.5 km — on courses measured under World Athletics certification in cooperation with AIMS.

   The race runs over two days. Saturday 19 September brings the expo, bib and race-kit pick-up, the opening ceremony and the evening starts: kids at 16:00 (1.5 km) and 16:30 (3 km), then the 6×1,000 m ekiden relay at 18:00. The main distances go off in the dark on Sunday 20 September — marathon 03:30, half 04:30, 10 km 05:05, 5 km 05:20 — with cut-offs timed from the last runner across the start line — 6 hours 30 minutes for the marathon, 3:30 for the half, 2:15 for 10 km and 1:15 for 5 km — and the course closing at 10:00.

   The «green» label comes with a task list rather than a slogan. Runners and volunteers plant trees before race day — hundreds of them in 2025 — aid stations hand out paper cups instead of plastic, you are asked to carry your own bottle, and a separate beach clean-up collects plastic from the shoreline. Both the planting and the clean-up are on this year's programme.

   The long distances head up Rung Sac road, the causeway through the mangroves: more than 20 km of flat asphalt, small bridges over tidal creeks and almost no traffic. The shorter loops stay in Can Gio town near the coast. The event sits inside the programme of the Nghinh Ong whale festival, national intangible heritage since 2013, and is run with the Ho Chi Minh City Athletics Federation.

   What you pay depends on the distance and on how early you signed up: the 500-slot flash sale closed at the end of June and the 1,000-slot early bird window on 15 July, standard pricing holds until 31 August, and whatever is left goes on late pricing from 1 to 10 September.

• — Kids Run 1.5 km (ages 6–10) and 3 km (ages 10–15) — 349,000 VND at every stage.
• — 5 km (15 and over) — 799,000 VND standard, 949,000 VND late.
• — 10 km (15 and over) — 999,000 VND and 1,199,000 VND.
• — Half marathon 21.0975 km (18 and over) — 1,199,000 VND and 1,449,000 VND.
• — Marathon 42.195 km (18 and over) — 1,349,000 VND and 1,599,000 VND.
• — Ekiden relay 6×1,000 m (teams of six, three men and three women, 15 and over) — 300,000 VND per runner, entered on the organiser's form by 12:00 on 10 September. The relay is only held if at least ten teams sign up; if fewer do, it is cancelled and the entry fees refunded.

   Clubs and companies get 5% off from ten entries, 15% from fifty and 20% from two hundred. Kids runs are excluded, and a group entry has to be filed by 31 August, because the late window takes individual registrations only. Until the same date a slot can be transferred or switched to another distance for a 300,000 VND admin fee plus the difference if the new distance costs more; from 1 September neither is accepted.

   The race kit holds your bib, a singlet (a T-shirt on the kids distances) and an event bag. Finishers collect a medal, an e-certificate and free race photos, while the finisher T-shirt goes to 21 km and 42 km runners only.

   Bibs are strictly personal: a resale without official transfer is not recognised, and you may collect kits for no more than two other runners, with their IDs in hand. In return the prize list is unusually wide — overall and age-group awards on every adult distance, an eight-person marathon team, the relay, and married couples ranked by combined age.

   Coming from the city, plan to stay in Can Gio overnight — a 03:30 marathon start is hard to reach otherwise. Entries are on the organiser's platform, register here, and questions go to [email protected].