Race Date: Saturday 11th January 2025
Whilst those in the Steel City were either slithering on the ice or resorting to the dreaded treadmill to get some miles in Abbie Pearse popped up in Vietnam to celebrate fifty years since the the Liberation of Saigon and the unification of Vietnam. With daytime temperatures in excess of 30C racing kicked off at 03:00am but even then the heat and humidity which disrupts the sweating/cooling mechanism made for difficult conditions. Those of us who have ever seen Abbie either train or race will know that she’s a tough cookie but when she says “so sorry to my body” we know that it wasn’t nice although the early morning start was also a challenge as having just got over jet lag it was back to square one again.

Not a torchlit parade, everyone is wearing the bright yellow vest that came with the welcome pack.
The event also comprises of a marathon (1814 finishers) and 10k (2780 finishers) so that’s nearly 7500 people burning the midnight oil together with shops and stalls remaining open to keep the spectators refreshed. As it was, despite suffering and it being “totally unenjoyable”, Abbie finished as the second woman and fourteenth overall. First of the 2898 finishers was Truong Tri Tam in 70:20 whilst first woman was Le Thi Yen Nhu with 79:42.
Pos | Name | Cat | Time |
2 | Abbie Pearse | SF | 81:30 |
Ho Chi Minh City Half Results 2025 Club details aren’t included so if anyone else from Steel City ran please shout so that the results and club records can be updated.

If you recognise the dapper gent who finished second, that’s Abbie’s fiance Dan Howarth (Hallamshire) with 70:28 only a few seconds behind the winner.
With a population of around ten million Abbie describes Ho Chi Minh City as crazy although please define crazy as they now head north on their Brompton bikes. Final destination over a thousand miles away is Hanoi with some rest days, mountains (Editor’s note: Any trail races?) and more potential pot hunting to supplement their travel fund along the way. We look forward to hearing about more racing exploits.