Singapore Marathon 2026: race days, early trains and shuttles

The Singapore Marathon 2026 runs over three days, from Friday 4 to Sunday 6 December, as the BYD Singapore International Marathon presented by adidas. The 5km and Standard Chartered 10km are on Friday evening, the adidas Half Marathon on Saturday 5 December and the full BYD Marathon on Sunday 6 December, with all four finishing at the National Stadium. Many runners still search for it as the Standard Chartered Marathon; on the organiser's site, Standard Chartered's name is on the Friday 10km.

The journey is what to plan now: free early MRT trains run only on Sunday, there are none on Saturday, and a S$12 shuttle runs on 5 and 6 December. Road closures are still to be published, and the races page says route maps will come closer to race week.

When is the Singapore Marathon 2026, and which day is my race?

The organiser, SG International Marathon Pte. Ltd., calls the full marathon a World Athletics Gold Label race. Each event, as its official page showed it on 23 October 2026:

1. Kids Dash, Friday 4 December, morning. Three categories by age, counted by calendar year of birth: a non-competitive run for ages 0 to 9 (finisher medal), a non-competitive run for 7 to 12 and a competitive run for 10 to 12 (both with a timing chip, finisher medal and e-certificate; the competitive run has three winners in each age and gender category). The distances were not in the text we could read.
2. 5km and Standard Chartered 10km, Friday 4 December, evening. Cut-offs of 1 hour 15 minutes and 2 hours 30 minutes.
3. adidas Half Marathon, Saturday 5 December. Cut-off 3 hours 45 minutes.
4. BYD Marathon and Crew Challenge, Sunday 6 December. Cut-off 7 hours. The Crew Challenge, new this year, lets four people sign up as a named crew; each runs the marathon and the fastest combined times decide the ranking, with no gender or age requirements.

The races page text we could read showed no flag-off time for the half or full marathon, and its "start line" field still said "To be announced", though the transport page and the 10km and marathon event pages name the F1 Pit Building. Those event pages showed no flag-off time either. Go by your race-entry information and recheck both pages in race week.

For families, the Friday morning Kids Dash falls inside the school holidays: MOE's 2026 school calendar puts the end-of-year vacation for primary and secondary schools from Saturday 21 November to Thursday 31 December.

How do I get to the start line on each race day?

The organiser encourages all participants to take public transport because of road closures, and recommends arriving at least an hour before flag-off.

• Friday evening (5km and 10km). Trains run to their normal schedule. The organiser lists four MRT access points: Nicoll Highway Exit B, City Hall Exit C, Promenade Exit A and Esplanade Exit A.
• Saturday morning (half marathon). There are no early trains. If your race starts before normal MRT service, the organiser suggests booking a ShareTransport shuttle bus or a taxi or ride-hail to a drop-off point.
• Sunday morning (marathon and Crew Challenge). Free early trains on selected sections of the North-South, East-West and Circle Lines, from 2.30am every 15 minutes. Gantries at those stations are left open, so no one taps in, and the rides are for anyone, runners and supporters alike. Not every station opens early; the organiser's page links to the list.
• Shuttle bus, 5 and 6 December. S$12 per person, paid to ShareTransport, for participants without convenient early-train access. Seats depend on each departure slot's capacity, and delays or cancellations are for ShareTransport, not the organiser, to resolve.
• Drop-off by car or ride-hail. The closest points listed are Marina Square (Carl's Jr.), Suntec City Convention Centre, Raffles City (Coffee Bean), Millenia Walk and Esplanade, subject to road access on the day. Parking may be affected by road closures.
• Bicycle. Designated bicycle parking at the F1 Pit Building, extra Anywheel bikes around City Hall and Nicoll Highway MRT, and a free one-day Anywheel Super Pass for registered participants (redemption details to come).

A race-week plan, by day (worked example)

Illustrative: the household is invented; the times, fares and stations are the organiser's, and the day counts are our own arithmetic from 23 October 2026.

Farah lives near Tampines and runs the half marathon on Saturday. Her brother Daniel, in Jurong East, runs the full marathon on Sunday, and their parents want to cheer him at the finish.

1. Now (42 days to Friday 4 December, 44 to Sunday). Both check their entry emails for flag-off times. Farah checks ShareTransport's routes and, if one suits her, books a S$12 shuttle seat early, because there are no early trains on Saturday and seats depend on capacity.
2. Saturday morning. If her flag-off is earlier than her first train, Farah takes the shuttle she booked, or a ride-hail to the Millenia Walk or Suntec City drop-off, rather than driving, since parking near the start may be affected.
3. Sunday morning. Daniel catches a free early train from Jurong East, where the last complimentary departure is 4.30am, and works back from his flag-off using the organiser's one-hour arrival advice. His parents, as supporters, could also ride free without tapping in, but only if they travel during the early service period.
4. Race week. All three recheck the transport page for road closures and the races page for the route map.

The only fare the organiser publishes in this plan is Farah's S$12 shuttle seat. Our date calculator counts the days to your own race.

What is still to be announced?

These were not on the official pages we read on 23 October 2026:

• The route map for every race (the races page says "to be released closer to race week"; the marathon's own event page has a course section with an image and a video, which we could not read as text).
• Flag-off times for the 5km and 10km ("specific time to be announced"), and the time for the half and full marathon in the page text.
• Road closures and traffic advisories, which the organiser says will be "updated closer to race day".
• Race pack collection dates and venue.
• The full list of MRT stations opening early on 6 December (published as a map we could not read as text).

The weekend is busy around the start. Voices – A Festival of Song runs at Esplanade from 3 to 6 December (festival page), and Esplanade MRT Exit A is one of the organiser's access points, so we would allow extra time on Friday evening. Our Voices festival guide covers that programme, our Gardens-A-Glow guide covers the Botanic Gardens festival that opens on 5 December, and the group-chat plan helps a cheering crew agree a meeting point. More dated outings are on the going-out topic page.

Common questions