Ho Chi Minh City Night Run 2025 Race Review

Quick Summary

If you don’t have time to read this post, here are the top 3 reasons to run the Ho Chi Minh City Night Run. 

• It’s a small race, so the course and hydration stations aren’t crowded. 

• It’s a midnight run, so you can experience the city’s quieter streets.

• Generous amount of running swag, including a participant t-shirt and finisher’s t-shirt (for 10 km and half marathon).

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Why Participate in the Race?

The 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Night Run sponsored by Eximbank just concluded its 4th edition of the race. It was a small, local race with 3 courses – 5 km, 10 km, and half marathon. Based on the finishers’ times, over 3700 participants completed one of the events.  

One of the main draws of this race is running through Ho Chi Minh City at midnight. Most races in the city start between 3:00am to 4:00am, so the nighttime start time is unique. It’s perfect for those who are night owls or want to do something late at night.   

The starting and ending location at Tao Dan Park is conveniently located near downtown. So it’s a short walk or motorbike ride for those staying at a hotel or living near Ben Thanh Market in District 1.

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Race Date

Saturday, May 17 to Sunday, May 18, 2025

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How to Register for the Race

Follow the social media accounts and the official website for the registration link. We referred to the official Facebook page for the registration links. 

*Note: Many fake Facebook pages look similar to HCMC Night Run’s official Facebook page. These are scams, and they will take your money without shame! So, beware of these fake pages. 

For the 2025 race, there were two sign-up portals – Actiup.net and Enjoy Sports. Choose between the 5 km, 10 km, or 21 km. 

Depending on your registration time, you could pay the Flash Sale, Early Bird, Standard, or Last Call prices. For the 2025 race, here are the prices for the different distances:

The t-shirt registration was also done at the same time as registration. Here is the size chart. 

At the end of March 2025, we signed up for the half marathon (21 km) on Actiup.net. We paid the Standard Pricing at 1,450,000 VND but received a 10% discount through Actiup. So, we paid 1,305,000 VND per person. 

NOTE: The only issue that we faced was payment. Payment had to be done with a Vietnamese bank account/domestic ATM. There wasn’t a credit card option.

So this would be more challenging for foreigners or those who did not have a local bank account. Since we didn’t have a bank account, we asked a local friend to help. 

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Race Swag

We’ve done a lot of running races, and this was one of the most generous races! Here is what we received: 

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We think this race is a fantastic value based on the swag and race photos. 

Race photos are notoriously expensive. For example, I ran the Tokyo Marathon 2025, and the race photos were $180 USD for a full package of 30+ photos or $30 for 1 photo. 

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Race Communication

We received 5 emails from various organizers:

1) Confirming registration from ActiUp

2) Confirming payment from ActiUp

3) Registration, QR code for Bib Pick Up, and race information from TrueRace 

4) Bib pick up reminder from Ho Chi Minh City Night Run’s Bib Market 

5) Thank you email

We utilized the official HCMC Night Run Facebook page for up to date information. As the race got closer, the organizers updated the page 3 to 5 times a day! We appreciated the frequent updates.

Expo & Bib Pick Up

The expo and bib pick up occurred over 1.5 days from May 16 to May 17 at the Labor Culture of Ho Chi Minh City, located behind the Independence Palace area. Click here to see location on Google Maps. 

The schedule was: 

• May 16 – 5:30pm to 9:00pm

• May 17 – 8:00am to 5:00pm

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We ran from our apartment to the Expo location for the first opening and arrived around 6:00pm. 

The Expo was a lot smaller than anticipated. While it was in a covered area, it wasn’t as spread out as the Ho Chi Minh City Marathon Expo that we experienced in January 2025. 

The bib pick up line was chaotic. There wasn’t much space since it was next to the presentation area with the stage and chairs. 

There were two lines for each event – Couple Runs, 21 km, 10 km, and 5 km. But the signs were as tall as the runners and were covered by people. So, it was challenging to figure out which line went with which event.  

To claim your bib, you presented your QR code from the email and an ID. We used our passports. Bib numbers were given to us on arrival. 

Then we walked around the presentation area to receive our race kit – A drawstring bag with the hat, participant t-shirt, bib belt, a water bottle, wet wipes, and tissue. 

The Expo area had vendors such as Motive (the race’s t-shirt company), Pocari Sweat, Supawa Water, and more. We didn’t buy anything.

Outside the Expo entrance were billboards of the sponsors, pacers’ names, and the course maps for the 5 km, 10 km, and 21 km. Each of the billboards had the participants’ names. It was a scavenger hunt to find our names, but we found them!

One thing to know – I saw on the race’s Facebook page that there was on-site registration available. Normally, the races sell out weeks before the event, so the on-site registration was a great way to encourage the last minute registrants. At the Expo, I didn’t see where sign ups were located but I assume it was near the bib pick up area.

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Ho Chi Minh City Night Run Race Experience

The race started and ended at Tao Dan Park, near the Independence Palace in District 1. Click here to see location on Google Maps. 

The race started at different times depending on the event:  

• 11:55pm on May 17 for half marathon 

• 12:20am on May 18 for 10 km 

• 12:35am on May 18 for 5 km 

We took a Grab car from our apartment to Ben Thanh Market and walked to the start line. We didn’t know if the roads would be closed near the start line. As we walked closer to the start line, we noticed roads weren’t closed yet. We arrived at the start line at 11:30pm.  

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Weather 

The weather was hot and humid. It was 29℃ (℉) with 88% humidity. It was a sweaty run! Even though it was the start of the rainy season, there wasn’t any rain to cool us off. 

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Start Line

Since this was a smaller race, there weren’t any corrals to divide runners by finish time. If you are a faster runner, line up towards the front of the start line. Slower runners should stay in the back.

Once the time hit 11:55pm, fireworks ignited, and then the half marathon started! 

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Half Marathon Course

The course was mostly flat with uphills at the two bridges. 

We went through the main downtown areas of District 1 and passed by popular attractions such as the Opera House, Nguyen Hue Walking Street, and the canal. Then we crossed Ba Son Bridge to go towards Thu Duc and then crossed Thu Thiem Bridge to return to District 1. 

I commend the race organizers for creating a course with a lot of street lights for the midnight run. There weren’t any super dark areas that could have been a potential tripping hazard. 

As an aside, I remember the Ho Chi Minh City Marathon’s half marathon course had several kilometers in the Thu Duc area near Empire City apartments, where it was pitch black and no lights! 

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Finish Line

The run towards the finish line was a bit lonely. There weren’t many crowds cheering on the runners. I mean, it is the middle of the night. 

After crossing the finish line, everyone received their finisher’s medal, a towel (similar to the moisture-wicking beach towels), a bottle of Pocari Sweat, and a water bottle. We followed a line of people to grab these items. 

Then we walked towards to Expo area at the Labor Culture of Ho Chi Minh City. There was a “Chill Corner” where 10 km and 21 km participants received their finisher’s t-shirt. They could also relax and get massages, sit in a water bath, and grab sandwiches and food. 

TIP: If you didn’t do a bag check, stuff a small bag in your race belt or pocket so you can hold your post-race goodies. 

I was glad to be done with the race. With the heat and humidity and my low energy, I just wanted to finish. Although I didn’t have a personal best, I finished in 2 hours and 18 minutes, which was satisfactory. Justin and his friend, Eddie, smashed the run and finished in under 2 hours!   

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Volunteers 

Thank you to the volunteers for their hard work and dedication along the course. They worked super fast to pour water and Pocari Sweat and cut fruit. 

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Hydration Stations 

There were ample hydration stations. Every 2-3 km had a station with water, Pocari Sweat (sports drink), and fruit (watermelon and bananas). These stations were much needed because of the hot weather. 

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Bathrooms

We didn’t see any portable toilets along the course. It was surprising. 

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Race Photos 

Thank you to Enjoy Sports, as they provided free downloadable race photos. It was generous! All photos were uploaded to the portal by Monday. Here is the link. 

We could search by our bib number or upload a photo of ourselves, and AI would find similar-looking photos. 

I used the photo upload, and the AI results were mixed. I saw one photo of myself at the start line as my bib number was hidden. The other photos were of another runner wearing a yellow and blue t-shirt (I wore a yellow tank top). 

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Race e-Certificates

The electronic certificates were ready to download on Tuesday morning. You see your ranking – Overall, Gender, and Age Group on your certificate. You could also customize it and upload a photo to the certificate. Check it out here. 

For the 2025 results, there were over 3700 finishers – 1309 runners for the 5 km, 1143 runners for the 10 km, and 1201 runners for the half marathon. 

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Opportunities for Improvement

I enjoyed the race, and it was organized well. But there were a few things that stuck out, and hopefully, they will be improved in the future. 

Registering with a credit card: Hopefully, the organizers will consider credit cards as payment instead of local bank transfers only. This may encourage more foreigners and visitors to participate. 

Race bib pick-up signage: As mentioned earlier, it was confusing to figure out where to line up. A recommendation would be to make the signage taller at the end of each line and have signage of the race distance where the volunteers sat and passed out bibs.  

Road closure towards the finish line: As we ran towards the finish line, there were two sections along Le Duan where runners had to stop for the cars to pass. It was annoying that the roads were not fully shut down for the runners to pass safely along the course. Plus, runners lost time if they aimed for a personal best. 

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Final Thoughts

We enjoyed the race and would recommend this half marathon if you’re living or visiting Ho Chi Minh City. It was well-organized, not too crowded, and had plenty of hydration stations. 

One of the consequences of this race was that we couldn’t fall asleep afterward. By the time we got ready for bed, it was 5:00am, and the sun started to rise. Staying up for 24 hours felt like jetlag! But well worth the jetlag feeling. 

If you’re traveling to Ho Chi Minh City, check out our other blog posts: 

• How to Spend 1 Day in Ho Chi Minh City

• 3 Day Ho Chi Minh City Itinerary to Follow

• Temples in Ho Chi Minh City to Visit

• Recommended Day Trips from Ho Chi Minh City

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