Vietnam Mountain Marathon 2026 kicks off in Sa Pa with 2,000 runners from 60 countries

In September 2026, the Vietnam Mountain Marathon 2026 (VMM 2026) officially started in Sa Pa town, Sa Pa district, Lao Cai province. The organisers said this year's edition attracted about 2,000 runners from 60 countries and territories, making Sa Pa one of the largest international trail-running destinations in Vietnam. Race distances were 10 km, 21 km, 42 km and 70 km. The 70 km was the flagship ultra category, running along trails and through H'Mong and Dao villages and the slopes of the Hoang Lien Son range. With terrain typically between about 1,300 m and more than 2,000 m above sea level, it is one of the courses with the greatest cumulative elevation gain in Southeast Asia. On the technical side, long-distance results at VMM 2026 counted as qualifying points for entry to the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) in Chamonix, France. This sets the race apart from ordinary mass-participation events: the UTMB qualifying system is the official selection mechanism for the Mont-Blanc finals, rather than a minimum time standard. VMM 2026 took place while trail running was still in an early brand-building phase in Vietnam. The event was backed by the Lao Cai provincial authorities, the local tourism sector and domestic and international sponsors. The organiser is Topas, the founding organiser of the Vietnam Mountain Marathon, associated with David Lloyd. Organisers set a dual goal: to stage an event meeting international standards and to promote the image of Sa Pa - Lao Cai worldwide. According to the organisers, sports tourism brings significant revenue to the locality through accommodation, food, transport and cultural experience services. A notable operational risk is weather. Sa Pa lies in the northern highland climate zone and typically sees rain and thick fog in September, which can directly affect visibility, safety and the event's media image. Organisers said contingency plans were in place for the course, cut-off times, medical care and rescue on the long distances. Information released at the start focused on scale and organisation; no elite start list, finishing results or course records were published. Because trail running has no ratified world records, an event's competitive quality can only be assessed through course records and elite-field depth - data that had not been released. Data to watch after the race includes the elite start list, finishing results in the 70 km, course records, actual international participation and measurable economic and tourism impact in Sa Pa.