The well-loved Christmas lights came on early at 4am for the runners, who were flagged off an hour later to start the 42.195km run that took in Singapore's world-famous shopping belt. The Orchard Road Business Association (Orba) also ensured the facades of buildings from the Scotts Road junction to Centrepoint were lit up. Some of the retail outlets opened earlier and Orba executive director Steven Goh, told MediaCorp: "We expect the street facing cafés and fast food outlets to benefit from the race. I predict a 20 to 30-per-cent increase from these F&B operators as reasonable."
Looking ahead, the Orba plans to have street stalls lining the pavement to add more buzz for next year's race. Organisers are looking at making more changes for the race as well. This year's race featured a record 60,000 runners, with the finish line for all three races at the Padang.
But Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Teo Ser Luck, said: "If the race grows to a certain size and there is a need to actually have different end points so that everybody gets a quality experience, we won't discount that possibility." Patwant Singh
26% of those who signed up did not complete marathon
In the 21km category, 15,000 signed up but only 11,274 finished the race for a dropout rate of 25%. For the 10km category, there were 15,444 finishers out of a total of 20,000 who signed up. That is a 23% dropout rate.
In total, there were 41,571 runners who crossed the finishing line, not the 60,000 as widely reported in the mainstream media. The overcrowding on the course continues to be the main gripe of runners, especially when the three categories merged at the Benjamin Sheares Bridge. The same complaint was also made in previous years.
The lack of running etiquette also bugged some runners. Some runners whipped out cameras to take photos while others were walking in the right lane, forcing other runners to waste time zig-zagging.
While some complained about having to run up slopes like the Sheares Bridge, other runners saw it as part of a challenge that a marathon should bring.
What made the Sheares Bridge a particularly challenging part of the marathon was that it came at the 36km stage of the marathon, a point where most runners were struggling with cramps and the rising heat.
Some runners think it would be a better idea to have three separate end points for the 42, 21 and 10km categories. Others have also suggested a qualifying mark for the 42km, as well as running the 21 and 10km categories on Saturday, leaving the marathon for a Sunday. Those suggestions would certainly increase the complexity of the logistics involved.
Another suggestion is to make it a 42km marathon race only, leaving out the 21 and 10km categories. This would make the event a true marathon race and would certainly raise the quality. However, the organisers so far seem intent to go for mass numbers, judging by how they have focused primarily on setting a new record for registration every year. If that is the case, the overcrowding problem will probably not go away.
The event also ended on a sour note for some marathoners because organisers ran out of finisher tees in the right sizes. Only marathoners are entitled to a finisher tee but there are allegations that 21km and 10km runners were also given those tees as well. The organisers are arranging a one-for-one exchange for runners but the date has not been confirmed. For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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