Marathon: Technical issues affect timing for 3,782 runners

Start of the full marathon at 5am along Orchard Road. (Photo 1 courtesy of Spectrum Worldwide)

Padang, Sunday, December 1, 2013 — 3,782 runners were impacted by the technical issues that plagued the 2013 Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore, according to a statement on the official website.

There were noticeable problems with the timing system this year and they were taken down the day after the race. The organisers have since revised the times.

12,012 runners crossed the finish line for the 42.195km marathon race at the 2013 Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore, according to Live Tracking numbers which was available during the race.

This is 74.6 percent of the 16,100 that registered for the full marathon this year.

A total of 54,000 runners were registered across five categories — 42km, 21.1.km, 10km, Ekiden, and the Kids’ Dash.

Chelimo Luka Kipkemoi of Kenya, won the men’s open category in 2 hours 14 minutes 59.94 seconds while his compatriot Sharon Cherop won the women’s race in 2:41:11.04 in a photo finish.

Mok Ying Ren came home as the fastest Singaporean male in 2:45:06.26 while Anne Qi Hui was the fastest Singaporean woman in 3:17:06.51.

A local runner, Tan Chua Poh, who had cut short his race, came across the marathon finishing line before Mok, and was announced as the fastest Singaporean, causing confusion. With prize money of $10,000 for the local winner at stake, the organisers delayed the release of the results before confirming that Mok was indeed the fastest.

No Singaporeans made it to the podium for the 21km and 10km open categories this year, which were dominated by Kenyans.

Singaporeans Alex Ong and Derek Li found themselves initially disqualified after finishing second and sixth respectively in the local category. They were reinstated after an appeal.

Congestion caused by the merging of the three categories – marathon, half marathon, and 10km – was again a source of frustration, as in previous years. The merging point occurred at about the 39km mark of the full marathon route.

“This is supposed to be a gold standard race on par with the best in the world. This is simply not the case given the congestion. It was very frustrating for people who were trying to run PRs (personal records),” wrote Keith Moore on the official event Facebook page.

Adding to the frustration were walkers. “The last 3km was messy and pack with walkers. All 10km walkers block all lane, holding hands in hands (sic) and chatting,” wrote Jasmine Tay.

Added Nikhil Iyer: “[L]ast 3km is disservice to all who trained tirelessly for full and half marathon. Dodging walkers is not what we bargained for.”

Full Marathon Open Men (Top 10)
1st Chelimo Luka Kipkemoi (Kenya) – 02:14:59.94
2nd Eluid Kiptanui (Kenya) – 02:15:25.65
3rd Mike Mutai (Kenya) – 02:15:40.45
4th Luke Kibet (Kenya) – 02:17:13.65
5th Aadam Khamis (Bahrain) – 02:17:46.51
6th Collins Kibet (Kenya) – 02:18:45.54
7th Ssamson Kiprono Barmao (Kenya) – 02:22:16.41
8th Francis Kipkoech Bowen (Kenya) – 02:23:41.17
9th Niguse Chala (Ethiopia) – 02:25:00.71
10th Charles Kimutai Kigen (Kenya) – 02:27:36.99

Full Marathon Singapore Men (Top 10)
1st Mok Ying Ren – 02:54:17.90
2nd Alex Ong Seng Lee – 02:54:56.28
3rd Soon Suan Boon – 02:57:53.31
4th Gordon Lim – 02:58:07.51
5th Ning Wenlong – 03:02:29.55
6th Derek Li – 3:06:20.12
7th Andy Neo – 03:09:36.76
8th Colin Chua – 03:10:22.81
9th Rukhaizat Rapsan – 03:10:37.36
10th Colin Tung – 03:10:48.72

Full Marathon Open Women (Top 10)
1st Sharon Cherop (Kenya) – 02:41:11.04
2nd Debre Godan (Ethiopia) – 02:41:11.71
3rd Prokopeva Alina (Russian Federation) – 02:41:15.94
4th Elizabeth J Chemweno (Kenya) – 02:42:43.00
5th Winfridah Kwamboka Nyansikera (Kenya) – 02:42:59.56
6th Elizabeth Chepkanan Rumokol (Kenya) – 02:43:41.69
7th Beatrice Toroitich (Kenya) – 02:44:35.45
8th Meseret Mengistu Biru (Ethipia) – 02:45:12.72
9th Mercy Jelimo Too (Kenya) – 02:45:43.39
10th Tirowerk Mekonen Lemma (Ethiopia) – 02:45:49.64

Full Marathon Singapore Women (Top 10)
1st Anne Qi Hui — 03:07:30.38
2nd Mok Ying Rong — 03:19:12.69
3rd See Rachel — 03:28:29.94
4th Kaifen Ong — 03:31:30.67
5th Jasmine Goh — 03:33:43.24
6th Jie Shi Neo — 03:36:38.85
7th Sumiko Tan — 03:37:57.16
8th Itsuko Tanaka — 03:38:25.45
9th Lei Bing Tan — 03:38:25.54
10th Zhilei Chen — 03:38:49.14

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Singapore Marathon Statistics