The Carrera San Silvestre 2026 is listed for Thursday 31 December 2026 in Guatemala City by its organiser, Sports & Marketing, whose event page was posted on 15 October 2026. As of 1 November 2026 that page carries only the date and city: no fee, start time or route yet. Registration runs through the organiser’s sports.ipuclub.com platform. The 2025 edition, for comparison, cost Q175 for Guatemalan runners and started at 2:30 p.m. in front of the national stadium in zona 5, with a 10 km course along Avenida Reforma and Avenida Las Américas.
The race is Guatemala City’s year-end run, first held in the city on 31 December 1957 according to Emisoras Unidas. This page separates what the organiser has published for 2026 from what the press reported for the 2025 edition, so you know which details are confirmed and which you should recheck in December.
Quick summary
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Event | Carrera San Silvestre 2026 |
| Date | Thursday 31 December 2026 (organiser, read 1 Nov 2026) |
| City | Ciudad de Guatemala |
| Organiser | Sports & Marketing, sports.ipuclub.com, +(502) 2200-5252, info@sportsandmarketing.net |
| How to register | Account and IPU on sports.ipuclub.com, card payment (organiser’s guide) |
| 2026 fee, start time, route | Not posted by the organiser as of 1 November 2026 |
| 2025 fee | Q175 per Guatemalan participant (Emisoras Unidas, 12 Dec 2025) |
| 2025 start | 2:30 p.m., in front of the Estadio Nacional Doroteo Guamuch Flores (Emisoras Unidas) |
| 2025 distance | 10 km; one later preview also lists a 5 km distance |
| Costumes | 2025 organiser poster: prizes for the three best folklore costumes |
What the organiser has confirmed for 2026
Sports & Marketing’s upcoming-registrations list shows CARRERA SAN SILVESTRE 2026 on 31 December 2026 in Ciudad de Guatemala. The same list carries a separate SAN SILVESTRE COBAN 2026 on the same date, so check that you are registering for the Guatemala City race. The event page (posted 15 October 2026) gives the date as jueves, 31 de diciembre del 2026, and its FAQ tab had no race-specific content on 1 November 2026. The organiser’s office is at 3a Calle 6-74 zona 13, Guatemala City; it lists +(502) 2200-5252 by phone and +(502) 2200 5299 on WhatsApp.
How registration works
The organiser’s registration guide (posted 18 March 2019) sets out the steps:
- Log in at the top right of sports.ipuclub.com, with Facebook or by creating an account.
- Link your IPU to the profile. If you create an account with the email already in its system, the account links automatically.
- Go to the upcoming events and pay the registration with a debit or credit card.
For the 2025 race, Emisoras Unidas also described a Banco Industrial route: in the Bi en Línea app, open Pagos, filter for Sports & Marketing and choose Carrera San Silvestre 2025, with your IPU number at hand. Our page on Bi en Línea and Bi Móvil explains that app. Neither source says whether a foreign-issued card works on the platform; if you are visiting, contact the organiser before December.
The 2025 edition, as reported
These details describe last year’s race. Use them for planning, not as the 2026 rules.
| Item | 2025 detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Date and time | Wednesday 31 December 2025, 2:30 p.m. | Emisoras Unidas, 12 and 30 December 2025 |
| Start and finish | In front of the Estadio Nacional Doroteo Guamuch Flores, zona 5 | Emisoras Unidas |
| Distance | 10 km (12 December article); 5 and 10 km (30 December preview) | Emisoras Unidas |
| Route | Avenida Reforma, El Obelisco, Avenida Las Américas, returning by 14 calle in zona 13 to the stadium | Emisoras Unidas, 30 December 2025 |
| Fee | Q175 per Guatemalan participant | Emisoras Unidas, 12 December 2025 |
| Field | The 2024 edition had more than five thousand officially registered runners | Emisoras Unidas, 12 December 2025 |
| Road closures | About 100 PMT traffic agents, partial closures and detours on Reforma, Las Américas and around El Obelisco from 1:00 p.m. into the early evening | Emisoras Unidas, 30 December 2025 |
The two Emisoras Unidas articles differ on the 2025 distances: the 12 December article mentions 10 km, and the 30 December preview lists 5 and 10 km; the organiser has not published distances for 2026.
Costumes and history
The race is known for runners in costume. The organiser’s 2025 poster told runners to prepare a costume as a character from Guatemalan folklore, naming El Cadejo, La Llorona and El Sombrerón, and promised prizes for the three best costumes. Emisoras Unidas writes that the first Guatemala City edition started at the Cerrito del Carmen and finished at 6a avenida and 8a calle in zona 1, over 10 km, and that the race has since spread to Quetzaltenango, Cobán, Antigua Guatemala and other towns. Its 2025 preview highlights Olympian José Amado García, with ten wins in the men’s race, and Merlin Chalí, the women’s all-time leader with twelve.
Fitting it into New Year’s Eve
The 2025 race started in the afternoon of 31 December (2:30 p.m.), before the evening’s celebrations, and the 2026 start time is not yet posted; our New Year’s Eve in Guatemala page covers the night itself and the holiday schedule, and Christmas in Guatemala covers the rest of the season. If you are in town a few weeks later, the Max Tott half marathon runs on 24 January 2027 and opens a registration tier for foreigners on 2 November.
Sources
- Sports & Marketing, upcoming registrations, https://sports.ipuclub.com/events — read 1 November 2026
- Sports & Marketing, event page CARRERA SAN SILVESTRE 2026 (posted 15 October 2026), https://sports.ipuclub.com/Races/topic/397 — read 1 November 2026
- Sports & Marketing, event page SAN SILVESTRE 2025 with its poster (posted 31 July 2025), https://sports.ipuclub.com/Races/topic/323 — read 1 November 2026
- Sports & Marketing, registration and sign-up procedure (posted 18 March 2019), https://sports.ipuclub.com/blog/topic/134 — read 1 November 2026
- Emisoras Unidas, Así te puedes inscribir para la Carrera San Silvestre 2025 (12 December 2025), https://emisorasunidas.com/deportes/2025/12/12/asi-te-puedes-inscribir-para-la-carrera-san-silvestre-2025/ — read 1 November 2026
- Emisoras Unidas, Todo listo para la Carrera San Silvestre 2025 (30 December 2025), https://emisorasunidas.com/deportes/2025/12/30/previa-carrera-san-silvestre-2025-guatemala/ — read 1 November 2026
- Emisoras Unidas, Origen de la Carrera San Silvestre y su adaptación en Guatemala (29 December 2025), https://emisorasunidas.com/deportes/2025/12/29/origen-de-carrera-san-silvestre-y-su-adaptacion-en-guatemala/ — read 1 November 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the San Silvestre race in Guatemala City in 2026?
Thursday 31 December 2026. The organiser, Sports & Marketing, lists CARRERA SAN SILVESTRE 2026 for that date in Ciudad de Guatemala on its event page (posted 15 October 2026, read 1 November 2026). The page gives no start time yet; the 2025 edition started at 2:30 p.m. (Emisoras Unidas, 30 December 2025).
How do I register for the San Silvestre race?
Through the organiser’s platform, sports.ipuclub.com. Its registration guide says you create an account or log in, link your IPU, then pay for the event in the upcoming events section with a debit or credit card. In 2025, Emisoras Unidas also described paying in Banco Industrial’s Bi en Línea app under Pagos, choosing Sports & Marketing and then Carrera San Silvestre 2025, with your IPU number.
How much does the San Silvestre race cost?
The 2026 fee is not on the organiser’s event page as of 1 November 2026. For the 2025 edition, Emisoras Unidas (12 December 2025) reported Q175 per Guatemalan participant; it did not give a separate fee for foreigners.
What is the San Silvestre route in Guatemala City?
The 2026 route has not been posted by the organiser as of 1 November 2026. In 2025 the start and finish were in front of the Estadio Nacional Doroteo Guamuch Flores in zona 5, and the course ran along Avenida Reforma, past El Obelisco and down Avenida Las Américas, returning by 14 calle in zona 13 (Emisoras Unidas, 30 December 2025).
Do people run the San Silvestre in costume?
Yes. For 2025 the organiser’s own poster asked runners to prepare a costume as a character from Guatemalan folklore (El Cadejo, La Llorona, El Sombrerón) and said the three best costumes would win prizes. Emisoras Unidas says what sets the Guatemalan race apart is its festive character, with many runners in costume and prizes for the best costumes.
