SG Marathon to replace Ironman Group as StanChart Singapore Marathon organiser from 2026

SINGAPORE – The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) will have a new organiser for the first time since 2016, with Sport Singapore (SportSG) announcing in a statement on Dec 11 that SG Marathon Pte Ltd will replace the Ironman Group.

The Ironman Group was appointed to run the event on a 10-year contract in 2016.

Expressing appreciation towards Ironman Asia, a SportSG spokesperson said: “SportSG is committed to ensuring that Singapore’s only national marathon remains a world-class running event for local and international participants.

“We look forward to partnering with SG Marathon Pte Ltd to deliver a successful marathon event in the coming years.”

SG Marathon – a joint venture between sport management companies Betterment Sports and Score Sports – has been appointed as the official event promoter on a multi-year contract.

The venture is led by co-chief executives Leon Lai and Patricia Tan, who head Betterment Sports and Score Sports respectively.

Betterment Sports specialises in consulting, athlete management and intellectual property creation, while Score Sports started in Malaysia in 2014 as mass participation sports and fitness events, with a focus on running events.

Its roster of events includes the Score Run in Malaysia, which has grown from 3,674 participants in its first edition in 2014 to a record 33,000 in 2024. It opened a Singapore office in early 2025.

Lai said the new team wants to bring the broader community into the event and make it into one that Singaporeans are proud of.

They also hope to involve local small and medium-sized enterprises and businesses, with activities kicking off as early as registration day.

The 41-year-old said: “I want to build a platform and beyond a platform, I really want Singapore to become a running city, I want to give our national athletes a platform as well to rise.

“We want to turn it into a cultural event, we don’t want it to just be an event of inconvenience. It can be an event that people look forward to like the National Day Parade and the F1 weekend.”

A key focus will be the half-marathon and marathon national championships, which the duo see as an opportunity to shine the spotlight on local athletes.

When asked whether there are plans to increase prize money for the national championships, Lai said it was a “delicate subject”, adding that the priority for now is to give national athletes greater visibility.

One example he gave was showcasing them in various training programmes leading up to the marathon weekend.

Lai said: “We have an opportunity now to put our national athletes on the plate... The Singapore national marathon has an opportunity to allow us to educate the Singaporean about who our national athletes are.

“We have the half-marathon and marathon national championships. This is a great platform to discover new talent – how can we find new athletes for Singapore athletics who can carry our nation to glory.” 

Calling it an event “by runners, for runners”, Tan said: “We want it to be like a festival – everybody will be involved here, it will be the talk of the town... we want to get people from overseas to come.

“We currently have about 25 per cent of international run participants, we want to grow that, we want to promote Singapore.”

The SG Marathon team also includes former Singapore Athletics general manager Shalindran Sathiyanesan and Liang Wei Song, who previously spent eight years organising the SCSM under Ironman.

The new organisers come in at a time when the event has drawn some flak for several issues.

In 2024, runners described the final stretch of the marathon route, beginning from the 30km mark along West Coast Highway, as particularly gruelling due to the heat, with no shelter at that portion of the course.

While the 2025 edition saw route improvements, it was

hit by congestion at the finishing line

on the first day.

Asked if recent challenges made the role more difficult, Lai credited Ironman, praising them for doing a “fantastic job over the years” and said the new team intends to engage partners and vendors closely.

Under Ironman, the SCSM consistently drew large crowds, with participation ranging from close to 40,000 to over 55,000 runners annually, except for the modified and scaled-down versions in 2020 and 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ironman came in with the ambition to grow the event to the scale of the Boston, New York and London Marathons and in 2017,

launched a bid for the SCSM to become the seventh Abbott World Marathon Major (AWMM)

and it was announced as a candidate race.

But it has also endured some hiccups through the years. In 2019, organisers shifted the marathon from its traditional pre-dawn start to an evening flag-off, a move intended to strengthen its AWMM bid. The change led to heavy congestion and traffic jams, drawing criticism from participants and the public.

Runners that The Straits Times spoke to said they were largely satisfied with Ironman’s tenure, but were open to new ideas.

Veteran runner Steven Ng, who has taken part in 22 consecutive editions, said: “I see this as an opportunity for positive change. A new organiser could bring fresh perspectives and innovative ideas to further enhance the event experience for runners. I’m hopeful that any transition will build on the strong foundation already in place and make the SCSM even better moving forward.”

A common concern was the rising cost of participation – a marathon slot cost $100 in 2016, compared with $215 at the last-call rate in 2025.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic student Trevor Chia said greater transparency around pricing would help.

“A clearer breakdown of what the registration fee goes towards might be helpful, especially since the cost is on the higher side,” said the 19-year-old, who has taken part in three editions.

Keane Ko, the runner-up in the half-marathon at the 2024 national championships, hopes national athletes will receive better recognition at the event.

The 25-year-old pointed to how the top prize for the marathon has remained unchanged at $10,000, the same as in 2016.

He said: “If we look at inflation, I look at us elite athletes, $10,000 will be used up really fast. You need to pay the coaches, need to train, all this money doesn’t drop from the sky.

“We have to work very hard for sponsorship and stuff like that.”

While Ngee Ann Polytechnic student John You found his first SCSM experience this year satisfactory, he raised concerns about race-day logistics, recalling that some of the medical tents that he visited had run out of supplies without a clear process to replenish them.

The 19-year-old said: “If a new team is able to demonstrate that they listen to participants, address logistical issues, and improve safety and race experience, I would be confident in giving them the chance to run the event successfully.”

Lim Han Chee, who has participated in 16 editions, said the event has improved significantly over the past decade and views the new organisers “with cautious optimism”.

He hopes that future editions will continue to keep the half-marathon and marathon on separate days –

a new format that was introduced at the most recent SCSM

– and adopt staggered flag-off times across the events to ease congestion.

He also wishes to see improved start-pen discipline, noting that many runners enter pens faster than their actual pace, which creates bottlenecks early in the race, as well as the introduction of more cooling zones and shaded stretches to suit Singapore’s climate.

Lim said: “Given the improvements we’ve seen in recent years, I’m confident that future organisers will continue to deliver an efficient, well-run race.” - Additional reporting by Joel Chang