Vietnam Mountain Marathon 2026

Come challenge the dragons in the clouds of Sapa! 🐲

Get ready for a unique experience in the land of misty mountains ☁️, where every stride brings you a little closer to the Vietnamese sky 🇻🇳. The Vietnam Mountain Marathon (VMM) is far more than a simple trail goal—it’s a pilgrimage into Lào Cai Province, on the Chinese border 🇨🇳. Here in Sapa, you’re not racing on asphalt, but on the trails of a land nicknamed the “sand city,” even though what you’ll mostly find is mud and rock 🪨. You’ll run through a movie-set landscape, amid terraced rice fields that mirror the sky 😍. This is the playground of the Black Hmong, Red Dao, and Tay minorities, who have cultivated these mountains for centuries with an ingenuity that commands respect. Sapa became a hill station as early as 1913, when French soldiers came here to seek cool air and escape the stifling heat of the plains 🥵. Be prepared, because the climate here is fickle: it can go from a blazing sun to thick fog in just a few minutes 😅.

The program looks packed, with races that will set your thighs on fire 🦵. We’re talking serious distances: the 100 miles (160 km) with its 8,800 m D+ for the boldest; the 100 km with roughly 5,500 m of positive elevation gain; the 70 km (4,000 m D+); the 50 km (2,800 m D+), not to mention the smaller formats of 21 km and 10 km. This nature race generally takes place in mid-September, when the rice fields turn golden yellow just before harvest ☀️. You’ll pass through isolated villages and meet children and their families cheering you on throughout your race 👏. It’s a total immersion in the biodiversity of Hoang Lien National Park, home to more than 2,000 plant species 🪴, including rare orchids that are hard to admire while trying not to slip 😬. The atmosphere is electric, especially at the start by headlamp glow, with a community of runners coming from more than 50 different countries 🌏.

On the performance side, the VMM has given rise to local legends 🏆. In 2024, Vietnamese runner Ngô Van Chinh shattered the course record in the 100 km with a time of 13h 00min 10s 🤯. Proof that the local mountain folks have dynamite in their legs! 💥 Running here, you feel the proximity of Mount Fansipan ⛰️, the “Roof of Indochina” rising to 3,143 meters, with every stride. If you’ve still got the energy after the effort, pay your respects to the giant statue of the Great Buddha Amitabha at the summit—the tallest seated Buddha statue in Asia 🤓. The region’s heritage is everywhere, like the old Sapa stone cathedral, built in 1895, which stands proudly in the city center 📍. It’s a striking contrast between colonial architecture and the colorful traditional costumes of the Red Dao, famous for their turbans and their knowledge of medicinal plants 🍀. After the effort comes culinary comfort, because Lào Cai knows how to welcome hungry athletes 🍽️. On the menu: Thang Co, a local specialty made with horse meat and medicinal herbs, or Com Lam, sticky rice cooked in bamboo tubes that will give you your energy back 🔋.

The VMM is now part of the World Trail Majors 🥇, placing this event among the most prestigious on the planet, alongside the Hong Kong 100, the Black Canyon Ultras in the USA 🇺🇸, Transgrancanaria in Spain 🇪🇸, the Mt. Fuji 100 in Japan 🇯🇵, the MIUT in Madeira 🇵🇹, the South Downs Way in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧, the Québec Mega Trail in Canada 🇨🇦, and the Ultra-Trail Cape Town in South Africa 🇿🇦.

So, have you decided to trade comfort for an unforgettable adventure atop Vietnam’s mountains? 😎