The Singapore Marathon, or BYD Singapore International Marathon for sponsorship reasons is an annual international marathon race which is held on the first Sunday of December in the city of Singapore. It is a World Athletics Gold Label Road Race.
History
The first competitive marathon in Singapore was held on 5 December 1982, with an estimated participation size of 15,000 runners. Only the 2,300 competitive runners would have to register while the non-competitive runners could participate freely as joggers along the route.
In 2011, 22-year-old Malcolm Sng died after running the half-marathon.
In 2013, the marathon was organised by Ironman Asia. In the half marathon, 29-year-old John Gibson, a Briton living in Hong Kong, died after collapsing 1km away from the finish line at the Padang. In 2019, the full- and half-marathons were held in the evening in order to fulfill criteria to be listed in the Abbott World Marathon Majors, instead of the usual flag off timing at dawn. This led to a series of road closures which resulted in 3-hour long traffic jams around the city center on the race day itself as there were other major activities happening at the same time in the vicinity of the race, leading to a public outcry of unhappiness. Lim Teck Yin, chief executive of national sports agency Sport Singapore, wrote a public letter of apology in the aftermath. During Parliament, Members of Parliament Lee Bee Wah, Liang Eng Hwa and Desmond Choo raised questions on how to avoid such issues in the future.
In 2020, Singapore Marathon moved its race event to a virtual format due to the advisories surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual race format, titled "Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) Virtual Racing Series" is part of the SCSM Virtual Club initiative. Two new virtual races are made available each week for participation by runners all over the world.
In 2021, Singapore Marathon returned to in-person participation, with 4000 runners joining the event.
In 2025, it had a cap of 55,000 runners.
In 2026, BYD became the new title sponsor of the Singapore Marathon with the marathon now titled as BYD Singapore International Marathon.
Race
There are four separate categories of competition: the full marathon, the half marathon, the 10 kilometres run, and the 5 kilometres run. Furthermore, in 2024, there is a marathon relay race for teams of 5, as well as a number of short running competitions for children.
Prize money for the full marathon race is divided into three categories: the open prize (for all competitors), the Singapore prize (open to national competitors), and the veteran prize (which acts as a masters competition).
Between 2004 and 2008, it was part of "The Greatest Race on Earth" series of road races, sponsored by Standard Chartered Singapore (the other three legs being the Hong Kong Marathon, Mumbai Marathon and Nairobi Marathon).
The times recorded at the Singapore Marathon tend to be slower than those at other marathons as Singapore's climate is unusually hot and humid. Kenyans Luke Kibet and Salina Kosgei are the men's and women's course record holders, respectively. The 2006 edition also acted as the country's national championships, with Elangovan Ganesan and Vivian Tan Yoke Pin taking the honours.
List of winners
Key:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Men's winner
! Nationality
! Time<br>(h:m:s)
! Women's winner
! Nationality
! Time<br>(h:m:s)
!Ref
|-
|1982
|Raymond Crabb
|
|2:24:19
|Winnie Ng
|
|2:55:11
|
|-
|1984
|Tommy Persson
|
|2:18:30
|Kersti Jakobsen
|
|2:41:34
|
|-
|1986
|Alain Lazare
|
|2:19:04
|Kersti Jakobsen
|
|2:39:03
|
|-
|1988
| align="center" |Hans Pfisterer
|
|2:22:49
|Li Yemei
|
|2:46:04
|
|-
|1989
|Ricky Khoo
|
|2:39:09
|Toh-So Liang
|
|2:53:09
|
|-
|1990
|Kuruppu Karunaratne
|
|2:21:10
|Li Yemei
|
|2:47:47
|
|-
| 1991
| Tikaram Gurung
|
| 2:42:02
|Yvonne Danson
|
| 2:47:27
|
|-
| 1992
| Gareth Spring
|
| 2:22:22
| Yvonne Danson
|
| 2:43:34
|
|-
| 1993
| Tan-Choon Ghee
|
| 2:42:22
| Irene Chua
|
| 3:23:18
|
|-
| 1994
|Robert Nolan
|
| 2:22:40
| Mieke Pullen
|
| 2:50:38
|
|-
| 1995
|Somkert Winthochai
|
| 2:35:39
| Yoki Chow
|
| 3:20:19
|
|-
| 1996
| Tor-Erik Nyquist
|
| 2:24:17
|Sylvia Rose
|
| 2:48:19
|
|-
| 1997
| Tsutomu Sassa
|
| 2:28:08
| Ruwiyati
|
| 2:49:54
|
|-
| 1998
|Zacharia Mosala
|
| 2:27:27
| Jing Lu
|
| 2:59:58
|
|-
| 1999
|Ernest Wong
|
| 2:48:43
| Ruwiyati
|
| 2:54:53
|
|-
| 2000
| Nixon Nkodima
|
|2:27:07
|Ruwiyati
|
| 2:53:11
|
|-
| 2001
| Tadesse Hailemariam
|
| 2:23:02
| Workenesh Tola
|
| 2:53:29
|
|-
| 2002
|Joseph Riri
|
| 2:18:46
| Constantina Tomescu
|
| 2:36:06
|
|-
| 2003
|John Kelai
|
| 2:19:02
| Yu-xi Wang
|
| 2:43:57
|
|-
| 2004
| Philip Tanui
|
| 2:17:02
| Helen Cherono
|
| 2:39:37
|
|-
| 2005
| Amos Matui
|
| 2:15:57
|Irina Timofeyeva
|
| 2:34:42
|
|-
| bgcolor="#F8E0E0" |2006
| Amos Matui
|
| 2:15:01
| Salina Kosgei
|
| 2:31:55
|
|-
| 2007
|Elijah Mbogo
|
| 2:14:22
| Alem Ashebier
|
| 2:37:08
|
|-
| 2008
|Luke Kibet
|
| 2:13:01
| Edith Masai
|
| 2:34:15
|
|-
| 2009
| Luke Kibet
|
| bgcolor="#A9F5A9" |2:11:25
| Albina Ivanova
|
| 2:32:49
|
|-
| 2010
| Kenneth Mungara
|
| 2:14:06
|Irene Kosgei
|
| 2:35:22
|
|-
| 2011
| Charles Kanyao
|
| 2:14:33.75
|Irene Kosgei
|
| 2:36:42.39
|
|-
| 2012
|Kennedy Lilan
|
| 2:17:20.27
| Irene Kosgei
|
| 2:37:53.51
|
|-
| 2013
|Chelimo Kipkemoi
|
| 2:15:00
| Sharon Cherop
|
| 2:41:11.04
|
|-
| 2014
| Kenneth Mungara
|
| 2:16:42
| Waganesh Amare
|
| 2:46:54
|
|-
| 2015
| Julius Maisei
|
| 2:17:26
| Doris Changeywo
|
| 2:44:26
|
|-
| 2016
| Felix Kirwa
|
| 2:17:18
| Rebecca Chesir
|
| 2:43:04
|
|-
| 2017
| Cosmas Kimutai
|
| 2:22:48
| Pamela Rotich
|
| 2:38:31
|
|-
| 2018
| Joshua Kipkorir
|
| 2:12:18
| Priscah Cherono
|
| 2:32:11
|
|-
| 2019
| Joshua Kipkorir
|
| 2:19:14
| Priscah Cherono
|
|bgcolor="#A9F5A9"|2:28:54
|
|-
| 2020
| colspan="6" rowspan="2" | Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
|
|-
|2023
|David Barmasai Tumo
|
|2:14:15
|Rose Chelimo
|
|2:37:19
|
|-
|2024
|Boniface Abel Sikowo
|
|2:16:12
|Fantu Zewude Jifar
|
|2:39:04
|
|}
Statistics
Winners by country
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
!Country
!Men's race
!Women's race
!Total
|-
|align=left| || 21 || 13 || 34
|-
|align=left| || 3 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| || 0 || 4 || 4
|-
|align=left| || 2 || 2 || 4
|-
|align=left| || 1 || 4 || 5
|-
|align=left| || 0 || 3 || 3
|-
|align=left| || 1 || 1 || 2
|-
|align=left| || 0 || 2 || 2
|-
|align=left| || 2 || 0 || 2
|-
|align=left| || 0 || 2 || 2
|-
|align=left| || 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| || 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| || 0 || 1 || 1
|-
|align=left| || 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| || 0 || 1 || 1
|-
|align=left| || 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| || 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| || 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| || 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| || 0 || 1 || 1
|-
|align=left||| 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| || 0 || 1 || 1
|}
Multiple winners
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Athlete
!Country
!Wins
!Years
|-
|Ruwiyati
|
|3
|1997, 1999, 2000
|-
|Irene Jerotich Kosgei
|
|3
|2010, 2011, 2012
|-
|Kersti Jakobsen
|
|2
|1984, 1986
|-
|Li Yemei
|
|2
|1988, 1990
|-
|Yvonne Danson
|
|2
|1991, 1992
|-
|Amos Matui
|
|2
|2005, 2006
|-
|Luke Kibet
|
|2
|2008, 2009
|}
See also
- Sundown Marathon
References
;
External links
- Singapore Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians