Race Review: 2XU Compression Run Singapore 2026

The 2XU Compression Run took place last Sunday morning with more than 20,000 runners taking part across the 5km, 10km and 21.1km categories.

The 21.1km flagged off from 4:15am in several waves and I was at the race site around 3:15am to prepare for flag-off.

The race site was already quite crowded when I arrived. I didn’t use the toilet but I noted that there appeared to be sufficient cubicles and the lines were not crazy long when I passed by at 3:30am.

I headed into the start pens around 4am, and the hype and adrenaline was definitely in the air. The actual start was a couple of minutes delayed and we started running at around 4:17am.

It was an extremely humid and muggy morning and every step felt as though I was running into a thick wall of hot air. This made it a challenging

and tough run, especially for those who were targeting better timing and aiming for personal bests.

Due to the weather, I made sure to drink up at every single hydration station, fuelling up on both water and the designated isotonic drink, Pocari Sweat.

I thought the organiser did a great job in terms of providing adequate hydration for everyone and there were also signs alerting runners that hydration was coming up. This definitely helps runners who are basing their fuelling strategy on the hydration stations.

The race route was flat. Beginning at the F1 pit building, we ran past key areas of Singapore such as The Kallang, Gardens by the Bay and downtown Singapore. Small sections were on road, but the majority were on park connector networks.

A few segments were dark: so I made sure to slow down and watch my step so that I did not trip up.

There was a mini staircase along the route at the Merlion area, but the organiser had thoughtfully covered this up so that we could run down like a ramp without needing to lose pace.

I really appreciated the cheer stations at the Marina Barrage area and the gardens by the bay. Running groups had come out to support the runners even though it was pre-dawn and their energy and enthusiasm was really contagious and catchy.

The final stretch of the race took us from the Downtown Core to Raffles Avenue and back to the F1 pit building. It was a flat, fast finish straight.

The race finish line was on the opposite side of the F1 Pit building and it was still dark when I ran through it. My watch hit 21.11km when I crossed the finish line. So the race distance was accurate this year.

One volunteer was standing there ushering runners to move from the finish line towards the entitlements collection area.

The collection of our medals, free banana, finisher tee and other entitlements was a short walk (around a couple hundred meters) and then we were directed back through the pit garages to where we had started.