«Vietnam Jungle Marathon 2026»

   A few hours from Hanoi the road runs out into old-growth forest, limestone towers, rice terraces and villages where daily life has not changed much. The course threads through exactly that, and one bamboo bridge over the stream is built for a single day of the year.

   Four distances, measured rather than rounded: 11.4 km (+270 m), 25.1 km (+700 m), 49.2 km (+2,000 m) and 68.1 km (+3,100 m). Start times run backwards from the longest — 70 km at 04:00, 50 km at 05:00, 25 km at 07:00, 10 km at 08:00. Finish cut-offs are 15:00 for the 10 km, 20:00 for the 25 km and midnight for both ultras.

   Every distance starts and finishes at the VJM race village in Leo hamlet, near Ban Don, where most of Pu Luong's stilt-house guesthouses are — so you sleep beside the finish line rather than driving to it at 3 a.m.

   The entry fee covers a competitor shirt for all distances, a separate finisher shirt for 50 and 70 km, a chip-timed bib, a medal, water and nutrition at checkpoints, the finisher buffet, race photos and a charity donation on distances from 25 km up. Groups of 10 get 5% off, groups of 50 get 10%.

   All distances require entrants to be 18 or over on race day. Age-group prizes run under 30, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, 60–69 and 70+.

   This is the same organiser as the Vietnam Mountain Marathon in Sapa, and the jungle version is the quieter, greener half of that pair. Entries at vietnamtrailseries.com.