SINGAPORE — Tired, happy faces dotted the finish line of the 2013 Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore yesterday, but the Padang was also the scene of confusion and disappointment for some of Singapore’s top runners.

Three-time Singapore marathon winner (local) Mok Ying Ren — who ran in the leading local men’s pack that also comprised Mr Alex Ong and Mr Soon Suan Boon — was the first to be affected by a results mix-up, when the event emcee announced Mr Tam Chua Puh as the winner of the Singapore men’s marathon category, with Mr Mok in second place.

After an approximate two-hour wait, 25-year-old Mok was reinstated as the race winner with his time of 2hr 54min 17.90sec. The official results issued yesterday also listed Mr Soon (2:57:53.31) and Mr Gordon Lim (2:58:07.51) as the second- and third-place winners.

A puzzled Mr Mok said after the race: “We were the top Singaporean runners from the 16km mark and we expected the three of us to be in the top one, two, three positions.”

But there was more confusion as Mr Ong, who crossed the line behind Mr Mok, was told by race organisers Spectrum Worldwide he had been disqualified as his timing chip — issued to each participant — had not been picked up by sensors along the 42.195km race route.

For Mr Ong, a 26-year-old student teacher at the National Institute of Education, delight at clocking a personal best time of 2hr 54min quickly turned to disappointment.

TODAY understands another runner, Mr Derek Li, has also been disqualified after finishing in sixth spot. Both runners have lodged appeals to the race organisers to review the results of the Singapore men’s category, which awards S$10,000, S$5,000 and S$3,500 respectively to the top three finishers.

“I am disappointed with how the event organisers have handled the results,” said Mr Ong in an interview with TODAY from Taiwan, where he is currently on vacation. “I was captured on television running together with Ying Ren and Suan Boon, and the three of us came in the top three.

“The reason they gave me for the disqualification was that they couldn’t capture the timing chip at certain positions on the course and that happened to the two of us.

“But what really bothered me was that the results were delayed for two hours and everyone was standing at the winner’s tent waiting for the prize presentation to start. I have been a loyal supporter of the race for five years and it has never been this confusing.

“I am keeping my fingers crossed that my appeal will be successful. But I have also lost my opportunity of going up onto the podium because it’s not every day that you get a chance to share the podium with Mok.”

According to Mr Ong, Mr Mok had also started his full marathon race with the elite field of international runners about 40sec ahead of the local pack, but clarified that the time difference would not have affected the eventual race positions.

Responding to queries from TODAY, a spokesperson from Spectrum Worldwide said: “Two runners have submitted appeals regarding the results for the Local category of the 42.195km Marathon that took place this morning at the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2013.

“Officials are currently investigating both appeals and the outcome will be released once a resolution has been reached. Further details will be made available once all investigations have been completed.”

The organisers also said that the official results will stand for now and that the appeals could take up to a week to be processed and resolved.

Last year, Josephine Wang — runner-up of the women’s full marathon (Singapore category) — was disqualified after it was determined someone else ran using her race bib.