To kick off the 2018 edition of the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM), a 4km Community Breakfast Run was held last weekend at the Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade and this run was led by the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Grace Fu. 

Prior to the run, there had been a simple warm up session consisting of a few dynamic stretches by the event’s official training partner, Coached.

The running route was a relatively easy out and back one, from the Waterfront Promenade to Marina Barrage and back. It was a scenic route and a great way to start the morning, with a short workout. 

Following the run too, there was lots of mingling and chit-chatting amongst old and new friends, as well as plenty of photo opportunities. Then runners were also treated to a delicious buffet breakfast consisting of pastries, fruits, granola and cookies. 

Also, at the Community Run, Geoff Meyer, the Managing Director of IRONMAN Asia, organiser of SCSM 2018, had announced and shared some of the key enhancements that runners can look forward to for the upcoming marathon. 

Said Meyer, 49, “This is a pivotal year for SCSM. We have been open about our ambition to hit World Marathon Major (WMM) status so we are making changes to the race, so that we can hit the bar.”

He continued, “We have had WMM teams come down from London and New York for the past two years and they have critiqued what we do. We are slowly getting better and doing what we can, to hit international standards.”

This is one reason why Meyer admitted that the cut off time for the SCSM has been reduced for this year. Explained Meyer, “We are trying to align with the international standards and other WMM races around the world. At the same time we are also working with the government and transport authorities, to balance out between inconvenience to the city and getting the best run experience for the athletes.” 

He continued, “So we felt it is necessary to cut back on the run time. It is not 100 per cent confirmed but we are hoping to get it down to 7 hours for this year. The WMM standard is 7 hours but we will see where we go with our stakeholders.”

In fact, IRONMAN Asia is so serious about their bid to make the Singapore race into a WMM, that some of the best event managers on the planet will be coming down to Singapore, to lend their hand into running the 2018 event. 

Said Meyer, “IRONMAN has a world championship team of event managers that overlay our world championship events regardless of whether it is the Kona Ironman World Champions in Hawaii or the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. Our company has decided that this event reaching WMM status is so important to us, that this very team is now coming to Singapore to help us to run this event.”

He continued, “So this means that we will be working hand in hand with some of the best event managers on the planet; you will see a vastly better technical race at SCSM this time around. I am very excited to work with the world championship team to put on a really good event and show the world what Singapore can do this year.”

Meyer concedes though, that one key factor that may work against Singapore in terms of the SCSM becoming a WMM is the lack of atmosphere. But they have a solution to this.

He explained, “Basically the WMM committee said that they love Singapore and that Singapore is a great destination and a global city but the event does not have the wow factor of London, New York and Boston.”

Continued Meyer, “The only way to create a wow factor would be to do it the same way as the F1, to run under the night lights of Singapore. Singapore is a night city and so to turn the SCSM into an evening event, flagging off at about 5pm-6pm and having runners run till midnight under the huge crowds and the lights, would put Singapore on the global map overnight and it will be on par with London and New York.”

In fact Meyer added that IRONMAN Asia is planning to convert the SCSM into an evening race, beginning from 2019. 

He said, “If the government signs off and agrees to all of our plans, then we are positive that this year’s event will be a full dress rehearsal for next year – which will be going into an evening event.”

But Singaporeans also need to embrace the event though, added Meyer, for it to become truly successful. He said, “We need Singaporeans to embrace the Marathon and come out and support it. In London or New York they close down the roads all day but nobody complains. Instead they come out and celebrate the event. This is what we want to do Singapore. But we cannot do it without the full government support and the Singapore community.” 

He added, “It will not happen overnight; if you look at the history of London and New York, the public probably considered the race to be a nuisance at first, until the people realised that it is one of the biggest tourist events on the planet. In fact in New York, Marathon weekend is the biggest inbound weekend, compared to other events such as Christmas or Easter. We need to prove to Singaporeans that this can happen too; if people can see the race as a benefit and not a nuisance, then education will begin to happen and more Singaporeans will learn to embrace the race, otherwise it will never get there.”

But at the same time though, despite their focus on the Marathon, Meyer does not want to leave out runners who may not be able to take on the full marathon distance, either.

He said, “We also want SCSM to be open to everyone and not just marathoners, so we have turned the event into a two day running festival with a new 5km event. The 5km and 10km takes place on Saturday and the 21km and 42km races will be happening on Sunday. We are really looking forward to it as it creates a bigger and better running festival with something available for everybody.”

He said, “For the Half and Full Marathon flag offs, we have them together because we know that runners do not like to have someone fast coming up behind them. So we have designed the new course in such a way that the Half and Full Marathoners will run together for the first 21km and then the Half Marathon guys will turn off where the Full Marathon guys will keep going. This falls in line with keeping runners of the same pace and abilities, together.”

He also added too that the elite athletes and the pros will have a separate flag off in front of the mass runners, so that they can have the whole roads to themselves. 

Continued Meyer, “But if we separate the flag off times, then the fast 21km guys will be coming up at the backside of the slower 42km guys. The road closures would also be vastly more than what we need. So this way we can ensure that everyone has the best running experience.”

Sometime down the road though, Meyer added that it may be possible for the 21km and the 42km race to be completely separated. He said, “To run the 21km and 42km completely separate means that we have to shut down Singapore for more time. This may happen in the future but that will not happen so soon. We are nowhere near that yet.”

But that said though, Meyer added that the race routes for 2018 would be about 90 per cent similar to last year’s edition of the race.

He explained, “We cannot reveal the route details till we get the official permit. But there will be a few extra additions to the route, which I think our athletes will really enjoy.”

Regardless though, Meyer is confident that the official permit will be given and he is looking forward to being a part of the future success of SCSM, though he admitted that he is unable to achieve success without the help of the local running community too.

Said Meyer, “I want to tell everyone in the Singapore running community that you are our ambassadors. So please get out there and sell SCSM to the rest of the community. We are in the process of creating something really special for Singapore and we need the whole of Singapore to embrace it.”