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A glitch-free run for Stanchart Marathon

SINGAPORE — Spectrum Worldwide, event organiser of this year’s Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (SCMS), has promised a glitch-free race for some 58,000 runners when the race returns to Singapore’s streets on Dec 7.

SINGAPORE — Spectrum Worldwide, event organiser of this year’s Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (SCMS), has promised a glitch-free race for some 58,000 runners when the race returns to Singapore’s streets on Dec 7.

Inaccurate timings and wrongful disqualifications at last December’s event had left 3,782 participants confused and disappointed.

To avoid a similar fiasco, Spectrum has appointed Australia-based Multisport Australia — which has worked on the Melbourne Marathon and Ironman Australia — to replace the Chronotrack timing system for this year’s race.

A fault in the timing system at the 2013 SCMS saw numerous complaints posted on social media sites, and Alex Ong, runner-up in the Singapore men’s marathon, was also wrongly disqualified as his timing chip had not been picked up by sensors along the marathon route.

“We’ve done a thorough review of the timing and we’ve appointed a new company whose team has a combined experience of 60 years,” said Chris Robb, managing director of Spectrum Worldwide, at the SCMS registration launch at Ion Orchard yesterday.

“They have a lot of experience working in Singapore and used to do timing for the Ironman 70.3 Singapore, and they are hugely experienced in not only Ironman but also mass-participation events.”

This year’s marathon route will allow some 58,000 runners — up from 54,000 last year — to take in the sights at the newly-opened Sports Hub at Kallang.

However, the initial proposal to shift the finish point from Padang to the S$1.33 billion facility’s 55,000-seater National Stadium will not happen.

“It wouldn’t be possible to finish there with the number of runners we have, and the entrance to the stadium isn’t wide enough to accommodate the number of runners,” said Robb.

“If the event were to finish there, it would be in the precinct ... but our feeling at this stage would be that it would compromise the runners’ experience.”

Yesterday’s registration launch at Ion Orchard saw more than 800 people signing up for the marathon, with over 50 enthusiasts queuing as early as 9.30am the day before to secure the special deals, which consist of a total of 100 S$1 race entries in the marathon (42 spots), half-marathon (21), 10km (10), and Kids Dash (27), and premium goodie bags.

The SCMS Running Communities programme was also launched yesterday, and the initiative will assign participants to running communities in the West, Central, North, North-east and East.

Participants can attend a series of training runs and clinics in their community, with a friendly competition between the five groups.

Five #TEAMSCMS ambassadors were also unveiled for each community yesterday, and Andre Chiang — executive chef of Restaurant Andre who will represent the Central community — has roped in his entire staff team of 15 for the 10km run.

“I work 12 to 14 hours a day and my colleagues are amazed I have time to train. But I always tell them if you really want to do something, you should always find the time to do it,” he said.

Visit www.marathonsingapore.com for more registration details.

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