Standard Chartered Hanoi Marathon - Heritage Race

Standard Chartered Hanoi Marathon - Heritage Race 2024 is Vietnam's leading professional marathon which is held annually in November in Hanoi, the capital of the fastest-growing, most beautiful and peaceful country in Southeast Asia.

Exclusively endorsed by the People's Committee of Hanoi, the municipal government, it is the only official marathon event of the city founded in 1010.

The marathon has been accredited by the World Athletics, officially certified by Grade A Measurers of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) and affiliated with the Vietnam Athletics Federation (VAF). The race has become an AIMS official member since 2019.

Taking place for the first time under the name of Hanoi International Heritage Marathon, the 2018 race has immediately garnered the attention of more than 3,000 runners from Vietnam and all over the world.

In 2019 the municipal authority declared the competition "the Official International Marathon of Hanoi", seeking to place the event on the world's map of major marathons, along with those in Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York City and Tokyo. The turnout has more than doubled to over 6,000 runners from more than 50 countries and territories.

In 2020, as Vietnam took the chairmanship of ASEAN, the race has been selected as the official marathon of the 2020 ASEAN Chairmanship.

In 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the race date was changed twice. The Race Organizing Committee picked March 6, 2022 as the Race Date, moved the location to the My Dinh National Sports Complex and scaled down the event.

In 2022 the marathon joined the Age Group Ranking System of Abbott World Marathon Majors.

In 2022, more than 10,000 people registered to compete in the race, including 3,000 runners who signed up for the 42.195-km Full Marathon, the largest number in a domestic marathon. Nearly 9,000 runners then competed in four distances, including more than 1,000 foreigners.

The race is a one-of-a-kind event that serves as both a traditional marathon, as well as a unique tour of the five major districts and almost all historical and cultural landmarks of the Old Quarter of Hanoi. More than 11,000 runners who joined the race ran to discover the peaceful, charming, and historic city with 11 heritages and landmarks they can’t miss.

Between 2018 and 2023, the marathon had a loop course, starting and finishing at Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi's centermost landmark.

In 2024, the cooperation between Standard Chartered (SC) and DHA Vietnam is expected to bring new breakthroughs with outstanding developments for the Standard Chartered Hanoi Marathon - Heritage Race. This is the 10th marathon in the world-famous Standard Chartered Marathon system with the goal of honoring perseverance, solidarity, efforts to break the limits and applying international standards.

1. Hoan Kiem Lake (Lake of the Returned Sword): It’s famous for the Turtle Tower, a small, ancient and quiet tower located on an island in the middle of the lake. Right nearby is Ngoc Son Temple, situated on a different island and connected to the mainland by a small, red, wooden bridge that highlights the fresh green lake water.
2. Hanoi Opera House: Built in 1901, the Hanoi Opera House is a miniature copy of Opéra Garnier Theater. The Opera House is characterized by the French New Age and is one of the most important cultural centers of Hanoi.
3. St. Joseph's Cathedral Hanoi: St. Joseph's Cathedral Hanoi was built in 1884, in the medieval Gothic architectural style, with an arched dome facing the sky, much like the Notre Dame in Paris.
4. The Flag Tower of Hanoi: The Flag Tower of Hanoi was built in the early 19th century by the Nguyen dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam. This is also the most preserved historical landmark of Hanoi.
5. The Temple of Literature, the Imperial Academy: The Temple of Literature is a collective of complex monuments built in the 11th century in the ancient East Asian architectural style. This is also a monument that symbolizes the cultural development process of Vietnam with 82 steles honoring its graduates from the 15th to the 18th century.
6. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum: The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is the resting place of President Ho Chi Minh, the first president of Vietnam. It is located in the Ba Dinh square, where the President read the Declaration of Independence, inaugurating the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945.
7. Tran Quoc Pagoda: Tran Quoc Pagoda is a Vietnamese Buddhist center from the 11th to the 15th century. It is an 11-story-tall tower with a height of 15 meters. Each floor has six fenestra’s and in each, a statue of Amitabha (the celestial Buddha) made from mineral stone.
8. Quan Thanh Temple: The Quan Thanh temple is one of the four ancient towns of the antique Thang Long Citadel, built in the 11th century.
9. Cua Bac (The Northern Gate): Cua Bac is one of the few remaining traces of the ancient citadel of Hanoi. With traces of destruction from bombs and bullets, Cua Bac is also a marker of French colonialism and the First Indochina War in the mid-twentieth century. Opposite to Cua Bac is the Cua Bac church, built in a unique Asian–European fusion architectural style.
10. Long Bien Bridge: Built in 1898 across the Red River, Long Bien Bridge is akin to a witness to one of the most turbulent periods of Hanoi’s history. It was built by the French and considered their pride of in Indochina, and was also where French troops finally withdrew from Hanoi after the Dien Bien Phu victory. During the Vietnam War, the Long Bien bridge was heavily bombed by American planes but remained standing, as if firmly representing and instating the spirit of the Vietnamese people during war.
11. O Quan Chuong: O Quan Chuong is an ancient city’s gate situated in the middle of modern Hanoi. It used to be a security checkpoint for the commercial district of ancient Hanoi, what is now known as the Old Quarter. O Quan Chuong was named after a chief of the army in order to honor him and other Nguyen soldiers who fought in the war against the French.

Standard Chartered Hanoi Marathon - Heritage Race represents the peaceful country and amicable people of Vietnam. We believe that, attending the race in Hanoi, a thousand-year-old capital, runners will find it well fit in their bucket list race.