Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon 2011

Standard Chartered Marathon (Singapore) is the first running event I took part in when I started running. What really draws me back to this event year after year was the unfinished business I have with it every year. There is always a new aim for it every year and we don't really have many marathons in Singapore till recently.

I enjoyed the yearly run (this is my consecutive 7th year) until recent years where the standards of the runs deteriorated. It seems like a virus spreading which I highly suspect was due to the organizer appointed.

I do not deny the fact that new and innovative stuffs were constantly introduced yearly but the fundamental standard should remain status quo or be improved. This was not the case this year round which saddens me.

The new race pack collection point was shifted to Marina Bay Sands. It was still a long walk there from the recently launched Promenade Mrt Station. The queue at the expo takes roughly 45mins to an hour which was expected considering 65k runners will be collecting their race pack in 3 days.

I expected something better...

Running singlet was redesigned - for the worse. It's so ugly I do not think I will wear it out. Stuffs in the race pack were not at all impressive too, considering there was an increase in race price.

Before the race

Transportation to event sites deserves a praise this year. The event organizer, Singapore Sports Council and SMRT Corporation Ltd strikes a partnership to provide overnight train service starting from 01.00am for runners and supporters heading to their respective event sites.

Event routes for different distances remain similar to past year. Full marathoners starts at Orchard Road and will complete the run at Padang, together with the Half-marathoners who starts from Sentosa and the 10km runners who starts at Esplanade.

I will leave the complain of the Half marathoners alone as they complained about the inefficient baggage system, leaving runners to carry their baggage to run. There was a 'human traffic jam' along the route, slowing down to the point of a standstill, destroying the momentum of many.

Now for my comments for my 2011 full marathon experience. 

I am impressed by the different pacer's enthusiasm and enthusiasm is most contagious. Any encouragement along the path are most welcome and those provided by the pacers are most appreciated.

I am not impressed with the lack of distance markers though. In past races, there was one every kilometer which acts as a motivation for runners and also a good tool for people pacing themselves. This is a marathon and all these aids runner plenty.

Another big grumble from me was the distance of each water point. It was very inconsistent and I cannot remember any race I was so dying to see the water point that much. 100 plus was very concentrated as usual but that could just be my personal opinion. This was never a problem in the past but I do not understand why this have become a problem now.

Bananas and power gels were given but unlike previous years, there were plenty left. Either they prepared more than enough for everyone (Which is a good job) or runners were already too dehydrate or demotivated to need the energy food.

The 'Heartbreak Bridge' or rather the Sheares Bridge were where 21km and 42km runners gathered to get back to the end point. Runners need to do their shuffling run to avoid walkers while managing the elevated route. I couldn't be bothered with the bottleneck at this area since I had lost the will to complete running after losing my pace from start. I went too fast initially and couldn't figure out how fast I was going without sufficient markers. Midway, I was struggling with hydration and my willpower die off by this moment. The rest was just about my walk and it was a disappointment to not hit my target completion time.

Every step is a step to completion.

The disappointing walk.

I hope there will be substantial improvement next year and I really hope I will not be withdrawing this race from my plan in future.