Techcombank Hanoi International Marathon: Dates, Tickets & Venue (Hanoi)

What the race actually is

This is Hanoi’s biggest annual road race, now in its fifth year, run on October 4, 2026. Four distances go off on the same morning: 5K, 10K, half marathon and full marathon. The course threads through the Old Quarter and past the city’s heritage sites, so you’re running past French colonial facades, temple gates and lake-front promenades rather than an anonymous business district.

The Techcombank name is the title sponsor, a large Vietnamese bank, which is standard practice for the country’s biggest road races. That sponsorship is why the event has grown into an international-caliber field over five editions, drawing both Vietnamese club runners and travelers who build a trip around race weekend.

Where the start and finish sit

The race is built around Hanoi’s Old Quarter, the dense grid of narrow streets north of Hoan Kiem Lake. Expect the start/finish area to anchor near the lake itself, since that’s the natural staging ground for a race of this size in central Hanoi. Streets in this district are already narrow and one-way heavy on a normal day, so on race morning entire sections close to traffic.

• Base yourself in the Old Quarter or around Hoan Kiem Lake if you want to walk to the start
• Expect road closures from early morning through late morning as the slowest full-marathon finishers come in
• Taxis and ride-hailing apps struggle to reach hotels inside the closure zone; walking is often faster than driving that morning

Confirm the exact start line, finish line and road closure map on the official event site. Street-level logistics for a race this size are best checked there directly rather than assumed from past editions.

The four distances, and who they’re for

Runners choose from 5K, 10K, half marathon (21.1K) and full marathon (42.2K), all starting the same morning. The 5K and 10K suit visitors who want to experience the course and the atmosphere without a heavy training block behind them. The half and full marathon draw the serious field, including pacers and international entrants chasing qualifying or personal-best times.

Because all four races share roads and a compressed morning window, start times are staggered by distance. Check the official schedule for exact wave times rather than assuming a single gun time for everyone.

Running past a thousand years of the city

What sets this course apart from most international marathons is what you pass, not just how far you run. Hanoi’s Old Quarter dates back roughly a thousand years as the city’s original commercial heart, and the route is designed to move runners past its temples, colonial-era buildings and the lake itself rather than around them. Turtle Tower, sitting on its small island in Hoan Kiem Lake, is likely to feature as a visual landmark near the start or finish given its location at the district’s edge.

This is less a fast, flat PR course and more a moving tour: narrow lanes open up briefly onto the lake, then close back into the tube-house streets the Old Quarter is known for. Runners chasing a specific finish time should know the tight turns and street furniture of the old district add technical difficulty that a wide-avenue city marathon wouldn’t have.

Getting to Hanoi for race weekend

Noi Bai International Airport is Hanoi’s gateway, roughly 45 minutes by taxi or airport bus from the Old Quarter depending on traffic. October sits in Hanoi’s dry, cooler season, after the summer monsoon humidity breaks and before winter’s damp chill sets in, which is part of why the race is scheduled for early October.

Book Old Quarter or Hoan Kiem lakeside accommodation early for race weekend. Rooms near the course fill up fast among the running community, both Vietnamese club groups traveling from other cities and international entrants building a Hanoi trip around the marathon.

Registration and bib pickup

Marathon organizers in Vietnam typically run an expo or bib pickup event in the days before race day, where runners collect their race number, timing chip and race-day kit. The official event site is the source for the exact bib pickup location, dates and registration windows for each distance.

Do not assume international online registration stays open until the last minute. Vietnamese marathons at this scale often cap entries per distance, and the half and full marathon fields fill before the 5K and 10K. Confirm timing and tickets on the official site well ahead of your planned trip.

Cheering on Hoan Kiem’s edge

If you’re not running, the lake shore is the easiest place to watch. Hoan Kiem Lake’s paved perimeter path gives spectators a continuous sightline as runners loop past, and the surrounding streets host coffee shops where you can grab a seat and watch the field go by between rounds of runners.

• Arrive early to claim a lakeside spot before road closures make crossing town difficult
• Vietnamese iced coffee (ca phe sua da) from a streetside stall is the standard way locals fuel a morning of spectating
• Expect the atmosphere to thicken as the half and full marathon leaders approach the finish, usually a couple of hours after the earlier waves start

Bring cash in small denominations for street vendors around the lake, since many of the smaller coffee and snack stalls near the course don’t take cards.