Marlow Santa's Fun Run is Sunday 6 December 2026, 9.20am from Higginson Park. Adults £22 until 17 November, then £30. No entry on the day; roads shut to 11am.
Marlow Santa’s Fun Run is on Sunday 6 December 2026, a 5km run, jog or walk in Santa suits that starts and finishes in Higginson Park. The walking start from the park is at 9.20am, and the organisers want everyone in their start positions by then. Entries are open, the early bird price of £22 for adults runs until midnight on 17 November, and there is no entry on the day.
This is the 22nd year. It is organised by the three Rotary Clubs of Marlow, capped at 3,000 runners, and raised more than £106,000 for charity in 2025, according to the organisers’ own entry pack.
Is it on this year?
Yes. The date is confirmed three ways: the organisers’ site at santasfunrun.org says “Join with 3000 other runners on 6th December 2026”, their online entry pack is dated for 2026 throughout, and Marlow Town Council’s road closures page lists “Santa Fun Run, 6th December 2026” with the traffic order application attached.
Entry prices and the 17 November deadline
The price rises sharply after the early bird window, and the organisers say that is deliberate: late entries create packing and delivery work for more than 100 volunteers.
| From 1 September | From 18 November | |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | £22 | £30 |
| Youth, 12 to 17 | £11 | £15 |
| Child, 5 to 11 | £11 | £15 |
| Under 5 | Free, no entry needed, no suit | Free |
| Suit delivery | £6 per team | Not available |
Every entry includes a Santa suit and a medal. You can tick “no suit required” if you are reusing last year’s, which the organisers encourage.
Three rules matter before you enter:
- Entries close on Friday 4 December, or earlier if 3,000 places sell first. There is no entry on the day.
- Team members cannot be added after 17 November. Anyone joining a team later has to enter on their own.
- A responsible adult must enter anyone under 18, and under 16s must be accompanied at the start.
Refunds are not given if you pull out, except in exceptional circumstances at the organisers’ discretion, and requests in the last two weeks are unlikely to be considered.
Collecting your suit
How you get your suit depends on when you enter.
Entered by midnight on 17 November: choose delivery (£6 per team, UK mainland only, made between Tuesday 24 November and Friday 4 December), collection from a depot from Tuesday 25 November until noon on Saturday 5 December, or collection in Higginson Park on the morning.
Entered from 18 November: collection only, either at a pop-up on Saturday 5 December, 10am to 4pm, at a location still to be announced by email, or in the park on the morning.
The depots in the entry pack include Runners Retreat, 33 West Street, Marlow; Millers Eatery at Meter House, Fieldhouse Lane, Marlow; Hawkinsport in Wessex Road, Bourne End; Rebellion Brewery at Bencombe Farm, Marlow; and Cyclecare on Desborough Road, High Wycombe, with others in Maidenhead. The organisers say a depot can be withdrawn if it becomes oversubscribed, so check the options on the entry form.
On the morning, park collection opens at 8am. The entry pack gives two different cut-off times, 8.45am on one page and 9am on another, so aim for 8.45am.
The day itself
This is the programme printed on the route page of the entry pack:
- 8am costume collection opens in Higginson Park
- 8.50am warm-up with Naomi Riches and Marlow FM (the FAQ page says 9am, for about 15 minutes)
- 9.15am be at the walking start in the park, to avoid congestion at the gates
- 9.20am walking start from the park
- 9.30am race start on the High Street, set off by Naomi Riches
- 9.48am first runners home
- 10.30am prize giving
JAM Theatre performs for spectators at the south end of the High Street once the runners have passed Institute Road. Entrants get free hot chocolate and biscuits; bring your own water bottle, as the organisers no longer supply plastic ones.
Dogs and buggies are allowed, dogs on a short lead, but both must start at the back of the main field. Scooters and bikes are banned, because they would void the event’s insurance.
Road closures, 9.15am to 11am
Marlow Town Council has published the special event traffic order application the organisers filed with Buckinghamshire Council. It covers 9.15am to 11am on Sunday 6 December on Station Road, Mill Road, High Street, Spittal Street, Glade Road, Dedmere Road, Newtown Road, Marlow Restricted Byway 36, Gunthorpe Road, Wiltshire Road South, Parkway, Fieldhouse Lane, Fieldhouse Way, Station Approach and Lock Road.
Most of the route uses a rolling closure, so roads reopen behind the runners. Three stretches are shut for the whole period: the High Street, Station Road from Mill Road to the High Street, and Pound Lane from the Court Garden entrance to the High Street.
The signed diversion is Oxford Road, Cambridge Road, Wethered Road, Spring Gardens, Green Verges, Wycombe Road and Maple Rise, both ways. Emergency vehicles keep access; buses do not. Our roadworks and travel page tracks the other closures across the district that week.
Parking and getting there
The organisers have not published any event parking, and with the High Street and Pound Lane shut from 9.15am, driving to the park late is the hardest way in. Station Road, Station Approach and Lock Road are all on the closure list too, so a drop-off near the park needs to happen well before 9.15am.
If you do drive, Marlow’s council car parks charge far less on a Sunday than on weekdays. Our parking guide has the Marlow tariffs, including Liston Road at £1.30 for the whole of a Sunday.
Raising money
You can run for any UK registered charity or community amateur sports club with your own fundraising page, or raise for the Rotary clubs’ chosen causes, which put 30% to Bucks Mind and Thames Hospice. Teams that raise £50 or more for a single charity get a further £50 from the organisers, and teams that pass £500 qualify for a share of a Charity Pool the organisers put at a minimum of £15,000, backed by The Shanly Foundation, Softcat, the Heart of Bucks Foundation, the Clare Foundation and Grundon. The fundraising link has to reach info@santasfunrun.org before 1 January 2027.
One caution: the online entry pack is still being finished. One page leaves the 2026 Charity Pool total as “£???”, and another still carries an internal editing note. The prices, dates and rules above are consistent across the pages that are complete.
Other December dates in Marlow
Marlow’s Christmas lights switch-on is on Thursday 19 November and late night shopping on Thursday 3 December. Our Christmas lights page and Christmas markets page have both.
Sources
Read on 29 September 2026: santasfunrun.org and the organisers’ online entry pack, the Marlow Santa’s Fun Run 2026 flipbook, pages 1 to 60, covering prices, suit collection, FAQs, the route programme, depots and terms of entry; and the traffic order application linked from Marlow Town Council’s temporary road closures page. We will update this page when the pop-up collection venue and any event parking are announced.
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