Mystery marathon 'winner' just wanted T-shirt and medal

[Jman888]

  Quote

Blogger retracts StanChart marathon cheat claim

He named and shamed runners who had been rerouted by organiser

PUBLISHED ON DEC 10, 2014

BY PEARL LEE AND CHUA SIANG YEE

A blogger who named and shamed runners he wrongly assumed had cheated during Sunday's Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (SCMS) has retracted his comments after it emerged that the "cheats" were in fact forced to cut short their run for being slow.

Mr Christopher Koh's initial blog post, which contained pictures of the alleged running cheats as well as screengrabs of their race records, had gone viral shortly after it was posted on Monday.

Mr Koh, 52, was taking photos at the race's 35km mark at about 8am when he spotted a group of runners who he suspected had not completed the required distance, based on his knowledge of the average Singapore runner.

"I've been running for a few years and I know that Singaporeans usually aren't so fast," said Mr Koh, an avid runner.

The bank officer checked the runners' bib numbers against official race records on the marathon's website and found that some had skipped a few checkpoints along the route.

To complete the full 42.195km marathon, a runner needs to pass 10 checkpoints starting from the 5km mark, and have his timing logged at each of them.

Adding that some runners had passed only the 5km and 10km marks and then gone straight to the 35km mark, missing five checkpoints in between, Mr Koh commented: "They just want the finisher tee, medal and the bragging rights... (They) are not interested at all in completing the distance!"

But race organiser Spectrum Worldwide clarified yesterday that runners who had not crossed the race route's 13km mark - at the Fort Road entrance leading to East Coast Parkway (ECP) - by 7.30am were rerouted. This effectively reduced the race by almost half for them, cutting out the 17km East Coast stretch.

"The closed roads had to be reopened at a specific time in accordance with the requests of the authorities," the spokesman said.

The clarifications drew an apology from Mr Koh.

"I made a wrong judgment, and I don't feel good about it," he said. He has since removed the names and photos in his latest blog entry.

But wrongly accused runners said the damage had been done.

Madam Xu Xiaoying, 27, one of six runners shamed on the blog, maintained her innocence, saying she was rerouted by marshals.

In between sobs, she told The Straits Times: "I passed the 12km mark but was not allowed to enter ECP. I continued running and found myself at the 31km mark."

She added: "The blog post really hurt me. I won't join this event again."

Mr Edwin Phee, 38, who was also listed on the blog, said: "I saw other runners coming from another direction. That was when I realised I was on a shorter route."

The incident has also turned the spotlight back on Spectrum Worldwide, which drew flak last year after a time chip fiasco affected more than 3,780 runners.

Race participants said they did not know the ECP would be closed to runners from 7.30am.

On the SCMS website, participants are merely told that those unlikely to finish the race within eight hours from the first flag-off would be diverted.

"We should have been informed ahead of the race about which parts would close at what time," said Mr Phee.

The salesman said he has been participating in marathons since 2008 but has never been diverted to a shorter route before.

There was also confusion in the elite category on Sunday as two female elite runners lodged appeals after the marathon. It is believed the duo were unhappy about being led down the wrong route by the broadcast team, which typically accompanies the race's leaders to film the marathon.

Spectrum Worldwide said: "The appeals were duly investigated by the official race referee, including a comprehensive review of TV footage, and both were rejected. The decision was then accepted by both runners."

 

 

 

[1fast1]

This pretty much sums up all that I think about marathons:

 

http://youtu.be/vEC3BdFxR0c

 

David Mitchell is *awesome*.

[Porker]

  On 12/10/2014 at 1:04 AM, Turboflat4 said:

This pretty much sums up all that I think about marathons:

 

 

 

David Mitchell is *awesome*.

That 27 year old lady who sobbed is cute. It's just a race and she took it way too seriously. So easily affected by what others say 😂

[Vid]

  On 12/10/2014 at 1:00 AM, Jman888 said:

 

 

She added: "The blog post really hurt me. I won't join this event again."

 

 

[laugh]

[1fast1]

  On 12/10/2014 at 1:32 AM, Porker said:

That 27 year old lady who sobbed is cute. It's just a race and she took it way too seriously. So easily affected by what others say 😂

 

You want to give her "solace" right?

[Spring]

  On 12/10/2014 at 1:32 AM, Porker said:

That 27 year old lady who sobbed is cute. It's just a race and she took it way too seriously. So easily affected by what others say

 

Too be fair bro, it's quite malu to be named and shamed with photo somemore!

 

The trouble with our marathon is that our society is too fast paced and so roads and other areas/logistics needs to be restored after a certain time due to our space constraint.

Can't help it I suppose but not sure if they had forewarned the runners before hand on this cut-off at each point cos if they did then those runners who cannot make it should have known better and not take part if they're too slow. Then again, we encourage participation right?

[Philipkee]

  On 12/10/2014 at 1:32 AM, Porker said:

That 27 year old lady who sobbed is cute. It's just a race and she took it way too seriously. So easily affected by what others say

Well, it was just a race and people took the cheating so seriously as well.

 

True runner run for the love of it, and will not let cheaters mar their experience

[Porker]

  On 12/10/2014 at 2:59 AM, Philipkee said:

Well, it was just a race and people took the cheating so seriously as well.

 

True runner run for the love of it, and will not let cheaters mar their experience

Well that conversely can be used on that woman. True runners run for the love of it and not let accusations get to them Jesus 😂

[Philipkee]

  On 12/10/2014 at 3:02 AM, Porker said:

Well that conversely can be used on that woman. True runners run for the love of it and not let accusations get to them Jesus

Sorry. I dun agree. They were not accused of running slowly or awkwardly. True runners who run for the love of it will not let accusations get them down.

 

The accusation here is CHEATING and that CAN hurt, even if was running just for fun.

[Ender]

  On 12/10/2014 at 2:59 AM, Philipkee said:

Well, it was just a race and people took the cheating so seriously as well.

 

True runner run for the love of it, and will not let cheaters mar their experience

 

I'm a fake runner loh ... I don't really love it. But it's joining these races and goals I set for myself that keeps me running for years..

  On 12/10/2014 at 3:07 AM, Philipkee said:

Sorry. I dun agree. They were not accused of running slowly or awkwardly. True runners who run for the love of it will not let accusations get them down.

 

The accusation here is CHEATING and that CAN hurt, even if was running just for fun.

Ya, the girl cried becoz she was accused of cheating, not becoz she cannot run..

Edited December 10, 2014 by Ender

[Porker]

  On 12/10/2014 at 3:07 AM, Philipkee said:

Sorry. I dun agree. They were not accused of running slowly or awkwardly. True runners who run for the love of it will not let accusations get them down.

 

The accusation here is CHEATING and that CAN hurt, even if was running just for fun.

Er then you can also say the true runnerv was hurt when he discovered people "cheated" because he loved the sport so much? 😂😂😂

[1fast1]

  On 12/10/2014 at 3:15 AM, Porker said:

Er then you can also say the true runnerv was hurt when he discovered people "cheated" because he loved the sport so much? 😂😂😂

 

Dey, this one was bad publicity with peekture everything. Completely undeserved, too. She has a right to her outrage.

 

Although I wouldn't waste time with tears. Take a leaf out of our Leeder's playbook and sue, sue, sue.

[Ender]

Re-Directed Runners, unworthy of medal?

 

Original thread from HWZ.

 

 

[Ktglfc]

  On 12/10/2014 at 12:44 AM, Picnic06 said:

 

If they don't give out the 'T' & medals, they will be stuck with 10 over thousand of it.

 

I don't mind they give out the 'T' shirt and medals as well as the runners walk or run even for a mere 1 km to sweat a bit. Those who completed a mere kilometer are so much better then me who was in bed while they are up at 4am ...

 

Something is just not right !

 

They are just encouraging that without much efforts, you can get something in return...

Where are the hard work virtue?

 

To run a marathon, requires lots of training and hard work put in...

To get a medal and T are rewards for the hard work put in :)

[1fast1]

  On 12/10/2014 at 4:35 AM, Ktglfc said:

 

Something is just not right !

 

They are just encouraging that without much efforts, you can get something in return...

Where are the hard work virtue?

 

To run a marathon, requires lots of training and hard work put in...

To get a medal and T are rewards for the hard work put in :)

 

You *really* should watch the video I linked.

[RadX]

another u-turn...literally hahaha

[Accura11]

  On 12/10/2014 at 12:15 AM, Philipkee said:

Edit: I might be wrong and not the last. But I remember the director giving me a lift back to the hotel hahahahaha

 

My memory may have failed or maybe others came in later and got their time clocked?

 

Anyway, I appeared in the race report and I know only a few ppl were waiting for me.....

 

Anyway, I did not cheat.

 

A few years back, I actually emailed the race director if I could go back for the half marathon. He said,"Sure. I remember you. Welcome back."

 

Then I think, better not. hahahha

 

Sorry. Couldn't find any 2001 reports. Only results.

http://adelaidemarathon.com.au/html/s01_home/home.asp

 

Some race report from the runners club, but don't have 2001.

http://www.sarrc.asn.au/index.php/news/27-event-report

 

No mention of you cheating. No worries. Good job completing the marathon. Your perseverance is more worthy of mention than the cheats. I believe that is why the director STILL remember you.

 

Maybe you can try email the director for the report?

[Watwheels]

Marathon? Mah nah wo eng? LoL...

 

 

Sleep marathon I join. Stand chart pls organise one. Haha...

Edited December 10, 2014 by Watwheels