Diverted runners may miss out on medals

SINGAPORE — Spectrum Worldwide, the organiser of the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (SCMS), will relook its practice of awarding the finisher’s medal and T-shirt to those who do not complete the full course of the 42.195km marathon race.

This follows the outrage that spilled over on social media from many who found it unfair that some participants of last Sunday’s marathon race still received the same prizes despite not completing the full distance.

Spectrum said it is aware of the feedback and will take it into consideration when planning next year’s edition. But it stood by its decision to re-route slow runners who did not meet the specified time at a diversion point along the race route to a shorter route towards the finishing line — a practice it said has been in place for “several editions” of the SCMS and is contained in the race handbook.

The controversy came to light on Monday when a blog post by bank officer Christopher Koh went viral. Koh posted up photographs of runners whom he claimed had cheated by taking a short-cut route to the finish line. He subsequently apologised after Spectrum clarified on Tuesday that there were four diversion points along the race route and, for safety reasons, runners who did not reach the diversion points at certain times were redirected to enable closed roads to be re-opened.

Those diverted had their race distance reduced by about 17km.

Seasoned runners TODAY spoke to said the practice at other marathons is for “sweeper buses” to pick up the slow runners and ferry them to the finish line, with the runners given a “DNF” (did not finish) status.

A Spectrum spokesperson said that its priority is to encourage “the public to adopt an active and healthy lifestyle through sports participation” and “provide a safe and enjoyable race experience”.

“The finisher medals are given in the spirit of appreciating the runners’ participation, regardless of category,” the spokesperson added.

Veteran runner David Tay said that since the SCMS has been awarded the “Gold Label” by the International Athletics Association Federation, its prestige has to be maintained.

“In the Tokyo and New York marathons, for example, if you don’t clear certain checkpoints by certain times, you will be forced to surrender your race, and this message is communicated clearly,” said Tay, who has finished the Tokyo and London marathons in his 20-year career. “Not allowing them to take a short-cut and join other runners at the front of the pack is in a way protecting the integrity of the competition too.”

Ben Tan, president of the Singapore Sailing Federation, and a veteran of 20 marathons including all six majors, said: “Sweeper buses usually ferry the slower runners a distance away from the finishing line and pass the medal collection points too.

“Runners who are at the front of the pack want a clear path to the finish line as much as they can. This can be compromised when slower runners were diverted to join them.”

Singapore Athletic Association’s general manager Yazeen Buhari said the SCMS is sanctioned by the SAA and is therefore in line with IAAF’s guidelines. “The SCMS has gone on to become more of a community race too, in line with Sport SG’s objective of promoting a healthy lifestyle through sports,” said Yazeen. “I think as long as the rules have been communicated clearly, the organisation of the race is very much supported.”