A blogger’s exasperated concerns over the legitimacy of contestants taking part in the recent Standard Chartered Marathon went unfounded when the event organisers Spectrum Worldwide declared all runners — regardless of distance ran — were entitled to prizes.
Earlier this week, a post on runningsucks.blogspot.sg went viral on social media when blogger Tekko Christopher Koh made claims that some contestants had cheated their way to the finish line by taking a shorter route during the marathon, featuring photographs of the alleged cheaters along with their absent timing results.
Koh was unhappy that they received their Finisher’s T-shirt and Finisher’s Medal when others had to work doubly hard for them.
Spectrum Worldwide however made an announcement on their website clarifying that the ‘cheaters’ were actually slower runners who were diverted at some points due to safety concerns — vehicular traffic had to resume eventually. As such, the runners who weren’t able to keep up were diverted into shorter routes, reducing their running distance significantly to allow them to finish the race comfortably with the rest of the runners.
“All participants who were diverted are still entitled to receive the Finisher’s T-shirt and Finisher’s Medal upon crossing the finish line,” they wrote on the website. “However, they will not receive the Finisher’s Certificate and their official race timings will not be recorded.”
Koh has since apologised for his gaffe and retracted the pictures from his original accusatory post. However, his ire is now directed to the system by which Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore handles the runners who can’t keep up.
“The correct practice adopted internationally I believe, is for participants who failed to meet the cut off to board the sweeper bus and not be allowed to take a shorter route to the finish line! I will address this again in a separate more detailed post in due course.” he writes.
Photo: Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore Facebook
A blogger’s exasperated concerns over the legitimacy of contestants taking part in the recent Standard Chartered Marathon went unfounded when the event organisers Spectrum Worldwide declared all runners — regardless of distance ran — were entitled to prizes.
Earlier this week, a post on runningsucks.blogspot.sg went viral on social media when blogger Tekko Christopher Koh made claims that some contestants had cheated their way to the finish line by taking a shorter route during the marathon, featuring photographs of the alleged cheaters along with their absent timing results.
Koh was unhappy that they received their Finisher’s T-shirt and Finisher’s Medal when others had to work doubly hard for them.
Spectrum Worldwide however made an announcement on their website clarifying that the ‘cheaters’ were actually slower runners who were diverted at some points due to safety concerns — vehicular traffic had to resume eventually. As such, the runners who weren’t able to keep up were diverted into shorter routes, reducing their running distance significantly to allow them to finish the race comfortably with the rest of the runners.
“All participants who were diverted are still entitled to receive the Finisher’s T-shirt and Finisher’s Medal upon crossing the finish line,” they wrote on the website. “However, they will not receive the Finisher’s Certificate and their official race timings will not be recorded.”
Koh has since apologised for his gaffe and retracted the pictures from his original accusatory post. However, his ire is now directed to the system by which Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore handles the runners who can’t keep up.
“The correct practice adopted internationally I believe, is for participants who failed to meet the cut off to board the sweeper bus and not be allowed to take a shorter route to the finish line! I will address this again in a separate more detailed post in due course.” he writes.
Photo: Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore Facebook