The Exeter Santa Run is Sunday 6 December: the 5k starts at 9am on Bedford Street, the 2.5k family run at 9.40am. Entry from £6.50, no entries on the day.

The Exeter Santa Run is on Sunday 6 December 2026. Exeter City Community Trust, the charity linked to Exeter City FC, runs it through the city centre and Northernhay Gardens in Santa suits, with a 5k at 9am and a 2.5k family run at 9.40am (Exeter City Community Trust).

The quick answer

  • Is it on this year? Yes. The trust’s event page says the run “is back on Sunday, December 6, 2026”, and entries are open.
  • Times: 5k starts at 9am, 2.5k family run at 9.40am, and the trust gives the end time as 10.30am.
  • Where: the start is on Bedford Street, EX1 1GJ, by Princesshay.
  • Cost: £10 to £19 for the 5k and £6.50 to £12 for the 2.5k on the booking page, depending on the ticket you choose.
  • On the day: no entries on the day. You register and collect your number before the start.

Checked against Exeter City Community Trust’s own pages on 26 October 2026.

Times and the route

5k 2.5k family run
Start time 9am 9.40am
Minimum age 11 None; under-11s must be with an adult
Entry £10 to £19 £6.50 to £12

The trust’s page gives 9.40am for the family run. The Let’s Do This booking page, which the trust links to, says 9.45am in one place and 9.40am in its event-day timings, so plan on 9.40am.

The trust has not published a 2026 route map yet. Its 2025 race instructions, the most recent it has put online, said runners use “closed roads and shared pedestrian footpaths in the city centre and Northernhay Gardens”, with lead bikes and marshals, and that the run is not timed and has no official results (2025 race instructions). The 2026 instructions are emailed to entrants at least a week before the run.

How to enter

Entry is online only, through the trust’s booking page on Let’s Do This. The trust’s running FAQ says entries are non-transferable and non-refundable (Running event FAQs).

  • Book your own place: the price range above, from the booking page.
  • Take a charity place: the trust asks for a minimum fundraising pledge of £30 or £60, depending on the distance.
  • Santa suits: the trust has a limited number to buy when you enter. Runners without a suit get a Santa hat. Dressing up is optional, and dogs and pushchairs are welcome.

Fundraising is not compulsory. Every finisher gets a medal. The trust’s charity partners this year are Exeter Leukaemia Fund, Alright Mate and Children’s Hospice South West.

On the morning

The 2025 instructions are the best guide to the 2026 morning until the new ones are out. Last year:

  • Race HQ and registration were at the wooden huts in Princesshay Square.
  • 5k runners registered and collected suits from 8am to 8.30am, the family run from 8.40am to 9.20am.
  • There was no bag store and no changing or showers. Public toilets were on Catherine Street, by the finish.
  • Water was handed out at the finish.

We will update this page when the 2026 instructions are published.

Free skate afterwards

The trust has teamed up with Exeter Winter Wonderland, the ice rink in Northernhay Gardens. Santa runners get a free 15-minute skate straight after the run on 6 December if they go to the rink’s booking booth in a Santa outfit. Showing your Santa Run medal gets you a £10 skate on any other day of the season. Before that, on the rink’s opening night, Friday 20 November, anyone dressed as Santa can skate for £5, with a donation to charity for each one. Rink times and normal prices are on our Exeter ice rink page.

Getting there and parking

The booking page says the nearest car park is Princesshay 2 (Civic Centre), a short walk from the start, and the nearest station is Exeter Central. The 2025 instructions pointed runners to the council’s car parking pages. Tariffs and the park and ride sites are on our parking in Exeter page. Road closures for the morning have not been published yet. Check Exeter roadworks and travel the week before.

The same weekend

Saturday 5 December is the Magdalen Road Christmas Fair and Princesshay’s first Signing Santa. On the Sunday afternoon there is a free family day with a Santa’s grotto at Exeter Phoenix, and the Christmas market on Cathedral Green opens at 11am (Exeter Christmas market). For everything else, see what’s on in Exeter.