After the recent announcement of the Australian Grampians Peaks Trail 100 Miler to the second season of the Gran Canaria World Trail Majors, we now announce a second new race to the 2025 season with the Vietnam Mountain Marathon. The event is the oldest in Vietnam and annually brings together over 4000 runners over its various distances. The race joining the World Trail Majors series is the 100 Kilometre distance.
Vietnam Mountain Marathon, benchmark in Southeast Asia
The Vietnam Mountain Marathon, or simply VMM, was first run in 2013 as the first mountain ultra in the country with just 200 participants in Sapa, just 300 Km from the capital, Hanoi. Since then, the race has been growing and consolidating itself on the Asian mountain running scene and has become one of the continent’s benchmark events. It now attracts over 4,000 runners from 50 countries in what is one of the biggest sporting events in the region and by far the biggest in the host city.
The VMM 100km packs 5500 metres of elevation with a time limit of 28 hours. It starts from the town of Sapa in the northwest of the country and takes runners high into beautiful mountains, through bamboo forests and deep into rice terraced valleys where water buffalo roam.
The course passes through many small villages populated by various ethnic groups, making it both a cultural and trail running adventure.
Apart from the 100 Km Gran Canaria World Trail Majors series race, there are 10 Km, 21 Km, 50 Km, 70 Km; in other words, a complete schedule of events for almost any runner. A 100 mile event is also added on special years, with the next date to be announced.
The race is famed for its big party at the finish line where the warm, friendly nature of the event truly shines. Many runners stay on long after their finish to share their experiences in an idyllic lodge setting, high on a hilltop with panoramic mountain views.
Vietnam Mountain Marathon is proud of its strong charitable ethos – it is part of the Topas Vietnam Trail Series, which has now raised over 500,000 USD for charity.
Vietnam Mountain Marathon makes the move to Gran Canaria World Trail Majors
The third weekend of September, 19-21 September 2025, is the date chosen for the Vietnam Mountain Marathon to ‘climb up the ranks’ by joining the Gran Canaria World Trail Majors series.
Race Director, David Lloyd commented: “We are proud to join with this amazing group of great races that make up the Gran Canaria World Trail Majors. We expressed our interest in joining this series as soon as it launched, immediately seeing it as a great opportunity to unite with world class races for the benefit of trail running here in Vietnam. Now that we have made it through the application, race inspection and voting process, we cannot wait to bring the beauty of Vietnam’s oldest trail race and the country’s trail culture to the world.
Vietnam Mountain Marathon is truly one of the friendliest and most welcoming races you could wish for. This friendliness, combined with incredible scenery and the culture of the many ethnic groups create an experience that truly lives up to the World Trail Majors tagline as a ‘race of a lifetime’.”
Gran Canaria World Trail Majors and Vietnam Mountain Marathon come together in 2025
Janet Ng, co-director of Anta Hong Kong 100 commented: “It is an absolute pleasure for us to welcome Vietnam Mountain Marathon into the World Trail Majors. The breathtaking mountain views, the incredible organization by the team and volunteers, and the warm support from local communities make this race truly special. The villagers along the route—their smiles and those high-fives from the kids gave us the energy we needed to keep going. I am sure you will all enjoy this beautiful and authentic race that also has a meaningful impact by generously supporting local charities.”
The Vietnam Mountain Marathon is the second and last race to join the Gran Canaria World Trail Majors circuit for 2025, which will start next January 16-19 at the Anta Hong Kong 100.
Want to know more?
We’ve already created the race page with some information.
The next step woulb to visit the race website.
And if you need some extra motivation, look behind:
