The Vietnam Mountain Marathon has done it again. The 2026 edition delivered everything that has made this race a fixture on the global trail running calendar: brutal elevation, breathtaking scenery, and a finish line that runners from over 40 countries crossed with a mix of exhaustion and pure elation.
Results are now official across all distance categories. Here's a full breakdown of who topped the podiums, how the field performed, and what set this year apart from previous editions.
Race Overview: What the 2026 Edition Looked Like
The Vietnam Mountain Marathon takes place in and around Sapa, a highland town in Lào Cai Province in northern Vietnam, close to the Chinese border. The terrain here is unlike anything you'll find on a road circuit. Runners navigate narrow ridgelines, descend into valley villages, and climb through layered terraces of rice paddies that have been carved into the mountains over centuries.
The 2026 course conditions were described by race organizers as "technical but fair." Overnight rain in the days before the event softened some trail sections, adding a mud factor to the climbs. Temperatures at altitude stayed between 12°C and 18°C (54°F to 64°F) during race hours, which most runners reported as ideal for performance.
Total elevation gain across the flagship 70km course reached approximately 4,200 meters. That's not a number to take lightly. For context, that's more vertical than many full mountain ultras in Europe or North America.
2026 Results: The 70km Elite Race
The 70km category remains the headline event, drawing the strongest international field and the most competitive racing across both the men's and women's divisions.
Men's 70km Top 5:
- 1st: Tsering Dorje Lama (Nepal) – 7:41:22
- 2nd: François Bouchard (France) – 7:48:09
- 3rd: Dang Minh Tuan (Vietnam) – 7:53:44
- 4th: Ryan Calloway (Australia) – 8:02:17
- 5th: Park Joon-ho (South Korea) – 8:11:50
Tsering Dorje Lama ran a commanding race from the front, opening a gap on the first major climb and never surrendering it. His high-altitude background, training regularly above 3,500 meters in Nepal, was visibly evident in how efficiently he managed the ascents. Bouchard pushed hard in the final 15km but couldn't close the margin.
Local favorite Dang Minh Tuan's third-place finish drew the loudest crowd reaction at the finish line in Sapa town center. It was his best result at this race in four years of competing.
Women's 70km Top 5:
- 1st: Yuki Tanaka (Japan) – 8:29:55
- 2nd: Priya Mehta (India) – 8:41:30
- 3rd: Sarah Okonkwo (UK) – 8:57:12
- 4th: Linh Nguyen (Vietnam) – 9:04:48
- 5th: Camille Renard (Canada) – 9:18:37
Yuki Tanaka's win was one of the most impressive performances of the day. She ran the second half of the course nearly three minutes faster than her first half, a reverse-split strategy that's rare at this distance on mountain terrain. Priya Mehta's podium finish marks a breakthrough for Indian trail running on the international stage, and the trail community is paying attention.
Results Across the Shorter Distance Categories
One of the Vietnam Mountain Marathon's defining qualities is how genuinely accessible it is. While elite runners compete at the 70km distance, the race also offers 42km, 21km, and 10km categories. That structure means you don't need to be a seasoned ultra runner to experience the Sapa mountains in a race environment.
The 42km category drew the largest field overall, with more than 1,200 finishers across the men's and women's divisions. The men's category was won by Kim Soo-jin (South Korea) in 4:12:38, while Anna Bergström (Sweden) topped the women's race in 4:44:51.
The 21km distance saw strong participation from first-time trail runners making the trip specifically for this event. Finish rates remained high across all distances, which race officials attributed to well-staffed aid stations and clear course marking, even on the more technical ridge sections.
The 10km race, which follows the lower valley trails and allows participants to experience the iconic rice terrace scenery without extreme elevation, attracted over 800 runners including families and recreational runners who traveled to Sapa primarily as tourists.
What Makes Sapa an Unmatchable Race Setting
Race results tell part of the story. The other part is why runners keep coming back, and why first-timers fly from the UK, the US, and Australia just to toe the start line here.
The Sapa region sits at elevations between 1,200 and 3,100 meters. The Muong Hoa Valley, which the race passes through, contains some of the most photographed rice terraces in the world. Running through them at dawn, with mist hanging in the valley below and the terraces catching early morning light, is the kind of experience that doesn't translate fully through race photos. You have to be there.
The local Hmong and Dao communities live and work along sections of the course. Organizers work with local authorities to ensure the race respects those communities, and many runners describe interactions with villagers along the trail as among the most memorable moments of the event.
If you're building a trail running bucket list and Sapa isn't on it yet, that's worth reconsidering. The race has drawn comparisons to events like the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in terms of cultural immersion, though at a fraction of the logistical complexity to enter.
Training and Nutrition for High-Altitude Trail Racing
Finishing well at the Vietnam Mountain Marathon requires specific preparation, and that goes beyond logging kilometers. The elevation profile demands strong legs and smart fueling. Carbohydrate management across a 7 to 12-hour effort in varied temperature conditions is a skill that takes deliberate practice to develop.
Several elite finishers in this year's race mentioned incorporating local Vietnamese staple foods into their pre-race nutrition. Vietnam's highland regions produce distinctive varieties of rice, and there's growing evidence that certain varieties of colored rice offer meaningful nutritional properties for endurance athletes. Black and green rice carry a nutritional profile that deserves more attention in trail running circles, particularly around antioxidant load and sustained energy release.
Strength training also plays an increasingly documented role in mountain running performance. The muscular demands of repeated descents on technical terrain are significant, and research consistently supports resistance training as protective against injury during high-volume race efforts. as little as two hours of lifting per week has been linked to meaningful physical resilience benefits, which matters when you're 50km into a mountain race and your quads are starting to negotiate.
The International Field: Who's Showing Up and Why
The 2026 edition confirmed what organizers have been tracking for several years. The Vietnam Mountain Marathon is no longer primarily an Asian regional event. Runners from Europe, North America, and Australia now make up a significant share of the total field.
UK participants represented the largest European national group, followed by French, German, and Spanish runners. Australian participation grew notably compared to 2025, driven in part by increasing trail running culture in that market and Vietnam's accessibility as a travel destination from major Australian cities.
Registration for the event typically opens months in advance and fills quickly across the longer distances. Entry costs vary by category and registration timing, but the 70km distance is priced in the range of $80 to $120 USD for standard registration, making it competitive with comparable trail events globally. The race's value proposition is hard to argue with when you factor in the setting.
Trail running's global growth is part of a broader pattern. Races like the Vietnam Mountain Marathon exist alongside a wave of events rethinking what running means as a sport and a community experience. initiatives like ATHLOS are rethinking how running events can better serve athletes at every level, and that spirit resonates across the trail running world too.
What to Expect if You're Planning to Enter in Future Years
If the 2026 results have you thinking about signing up for a future edition, here's what you should know going in.
- Start altitude matters. Even if you're not racing at the highest peaks, spending a few days in Sapa before race day will help your body adjust. Arriving directly from sea level and racing the following morning is not a strategy that works well here.
- Poles are allowed and widely used. The climbs are steep enough that hiking poles offer a real mechanical advantage, particularly on the longer distances. Many top-10 finishers use them.
- Weather is variable. The pre-monsoon shoulder period when the race typically falls can bring anything from perfect clear skies to fog and rain. Pack layers and treat your waterproof shell as mandatory gear, not optional.
- The descent sections are technical. Loose rock, narrow paths, and steep grades mean that confident downhill running technique is worth developing before race day. That skill gap is where time is most commonly lost.
- Community is part of the experience. The post-race atmosphere in Sapa, across multiple evenings of shared meals, market visits, and informal runner gatherings, is something that keeps participants returning year after year.
Trail running continues to prove that the finish time is only part of what draws people to races like this. The Vietnam Mountain Marathon understands that clearly, and the 2026 edition delivered on every front that matters.
For runners tracking where the sport is heading globally, record-breaking editions like Colmar's 2026 marathon show that appetite for racing remains as strong as ever across all formats and terrains. Vietnam's mountain race sits comfortably at the front of that wave.