Steps taken to ensure smooth running of marathon

SINGAPORE- We apologise to the runners affected by the technical glitch at the recent Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore, and assure readers that the event organiser, Spectrum Worldwide, and the Singapore Sports Council will do their best to ensure the smooth running of this major sports event ("Ensure smooth running of major sports events" by Dr V. Subramaniam and "Review timings of disqualified runners" by Miss Sally Goh Hwee Li; both published last Thursday).

We recognise the dedication and hours of preparation that runners have put into their race. Hence, we are fully committed to ensuring a safe and memorable race experience for all.

Investigations commenced immediately after it was discovered that technical issues had given rise to wrongful disqualifications. A few timing mats had failed to capture the timings for a number of runners, even though thorough pre-race checks according to strict protocols had been performed.

Our priority has been to reconcile the results in the fairest manner possible for the affected runners.

Following a thorough analysis of data and determination of official race parameters, runners who were incorrectly disqualified, despite having completed the required race distance, have had their status reinstated.

In dealing with the circumstances, the race organisers have made best efforts to maintain the integrity of the results by distinguishing those who were incorrectly disqualified from those who did not complete the full distance. Nevertheless, the event organiser will waive the $50 fee for those who would like to appeal against their results.

Continuing investigations have also revealed that among the affected runners, some 1,300 in the second wave were not registered by timing mats at the Half Marathon start line. Their start time was imputed using the gun time when their disqualification was revoked. We are working with the timing system provider to provide a better estimate of start time for this group of runners.

To this end, we will be contacting each runner in the coming days. As a gesture of goodwill, they will receive a $20 non-transferable discount on registration fees for the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2014.

To ensure that runners are kept well-informed, updates will continue to be posted on the website www.marathonsingapore.com and Facebook page www.facebook.com/marathonsg

As the event owner, the Singapore Sports Council will work closely with Spectrum Worldwide to conduct a thorough review of the race this year, so as to implement improvements in next year's race and ensure the technical problems do not recur.

We apologise again for the inconvenience caused to affected runners and thank all runners for their continuous support of the marathon.

Chris Robb

Managing Director

Spectrum Worldwide

Toh Boon Yi

Chief, Strategic Development and Marketing Group

Singapore Sports Council

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