Shaped by Feedback, Guided by Reviews: Garmin Run Singapore 2025 Looks to Improve and Set a New Standard
- SportPlus Feature
- May 8
- 6 min read
Updated: May 13
After last year's experience of Garmin Run Singapore, what can runners expect from this year's edition of the Garmin Run Asia Series Singapore edition? SportPlus.sg spoke with organisers to find out what has changed
Garmin Run Singapore 2025 is back — with a clear mission: to prioritise runner safety, elevate the overall race experience, and rebuild trust through meaningful changes after last year's experience.
Informed by last year’s feedback, this year’s edition features a reworked start and finish layout, improved flag-off procedures, better course accuracy, and enhanced on-ground operations.
So what is going to be significantly different in 2025 from the previous year's experience?
From clearer signage and smoother bag deposit systems to hydration planning and route testing by athletes, it appears the new organising team is committed to delivering a safer, more seamless experience for every participant. SportPlus.sg spoke with organisers this week to find out what has changed from 2024 and why runners should keep Garmin Run Singapore on their checklist for the second half of the year.
1. Let’s start with the big picture - what’s new and exciting about Garmin Run Singapore 2025?
Garmin Run Singapore: Garmin Run Singapore is designed to bring runners of various levels together to celebrate the joy of running. In the lead up to Garmin Run Singapore, we have partnered ASICS Running Club for a training camp led by current and former national athletes Shah Feroz, Yong Man Yun and Loh Guo Pei to help runners train for the event or to improve their running in general. These sessions are free for all to join on every Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7pm and Saturday mornings at 7am.
For Garmin Run Singapore 2025, there will be a competitive pen for 10km and Half Marathon categories for runners who want to aim for podium prizes.
2. After last year’s feedback, how important was it for the team to take a hard look at operations and make changes for this year’s race?
Garmin Run Singapore: We take the race experience very seriously and last year was indeed a learning experience. The team went through all the comments and feedback and learning from feedback from other running events to zoom into the pain points to improve the experience. The route will also be tested by a team of Garmin athletes and runners for feedback and adjustments.
Safety & Race Experience
3. One of the big concerns last year was the start line being on a slope, which some runners felt posed a safety risk. What changes have been made to address this? There was also no staggered flag-off by pens, which caused congestion at the start. Can you walk us through the new flag-off system for 2025?
Garmin Run Singapore: Runners’ safety is our utmost priority. We completely understand the concerns that the participants felt last year and we are replanning the start line, finish line and potential congestion points.
Flag off pens will be implemented for this year to ensure the all runners are safe and comfortably during flag-off. More details will be shared to address these concerns.
Logistics & Operations
4. Bag deposit and collection times were a major source of frustration last year. How is the logistics team ensuring a smoother process this time around?
Garmin Run Singapore: There will be a dedicated team who will be managing the bag deposit and collection to ensure a smooth flow and minimal waiting times. We strongly encourage runners to deposit their bags earlier so that there is sufficient time for them to get to the start line to prepare for the run.
5. Clear signage - or the lack thereof - also made things confusing for many participants. What’s being done to improve directional clarity this year, both on and off the course?
Garmin Run Singapore: The operations team will do multiple walkthroughs for the venue to ensure that sufficient directional signages will be deployed at key points to facilitate a smoother flow and directional clarity, including bag deposit, start line, finish line, toilets, finisher tee collection etc.
Prior to the event, runners’ guide with all required information about the event will be shared with sufficient time for runners to familiarise themselves with the venue.
Course Accuracy
6. Accuracy of Route and distances was another sticking point. Has the route been re-measured or calibrated differently for 2025?
Garmin Run Singapore: The route will be adjusted for new start and finish lines and will be re-measured for accuracy. After which, there will be a team of athletes and runners who will do route tests to help the team adjust for accuracy, safety and experience.
7. Hydration was a hot topic. How are organisers improving hydration station placement, drink variety, hydration manpower support, and volume this time around?
Garmin Run Singapore: We are working through the hydration point plan, taking into account accessibility for runners, sufficient quantity, with not more than a 2.5km distance between the hydration points.
Race Pack & Apparel
8. Some runners round the race singlet and finisher tee sizes too small, and faced long waits when collecting their finisher shirts. What improvements are in place to make apparel sizing more accurate and collection more efficient?
Garmin Run Singapore: While we have factored in more larger sizes this year, sizes still remain limited so we strongly encourage runners to do proper measurements for better fit. For participants from last year, they can also refer to last year’s sizing as well.
Event Management & Operational Changes
9. We understand there’s a new organising team or revised operational structure behind Garmin Run Singapore 2025. Can you tell us more about that shift and how it has influenced planning this year? How has the approach to logistics and participant experience evolved under this new team? What lessons from other international Garmin Runs have you brought into the Singapore edition this year?
Garmin Run Singapore: The new organising team is a well-experienced team who have worked on many run events of various scales in the region and the planning centres around addressing the pain points from last year, focusing on elevating the overall run experience.
We have taken learnings from last year, other local run events, and the other runs in the past 3 years of Garmin Run Asia Series from Taipei, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Hong Kong from safety, medic, hydration points, post-run experience etc.
There is a great emphasis on getting the run routes tested for ease of use, sufficient running space, potential congestion points and distance accuracy. To do so, we will be putting together a team of runners from athletes to regular runners to test the routes. The team is committed to delivering a good run experience this year for Garmin Run Asia Series – Singapore.
Final Message
10. It’s clear that this year’s Garmin Run is shaped by past learnings. What’s the one thing you hope runners will feel differently about the 2025 edition?
Garmin Run Singapore: Garmin is committed to make Garmin Run Asia Series in the region a run series to look forward to for runners in the Asia region. While we are aware that the 2024 Garmin Run Singapore wasn’t up to expectations, Garmin has reviewed all the comments and feedback of all participants. We know where we went wrong, and we are addressing each issue.
We hope that runners keep an open mind about this year’s run and likewise, we welcome all feedback after the run to continue to improve and enhance the experience each year.
11. How can participants stay informed in the lead-up to race day to ensure they have the best possible experience?
Garmin Run Singapore: Updated information about the run will be posted on our official social media platforms on Meta and Instagram as well as our event site. The information will also be in a runner’s guide which will be published closer to date.
Registrations for Garmin Run Singapore is set to go live on 14 May 2025 on the official website. #GarminSG #GarminRunAsiaSeries #BeatYesterday
Comentários