Standard Chartered Marathon 2011

Standard Chartered Marathon 2011

Registration for the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore has begun, and the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) aims to have 70,000 participants this year.

Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing was there to drum up excitement for the event.

SSC's Chief Executive Officer Lim Teck Yin said the council has listened to feedback from last year and will try to separate the runners of the various categories to reduce congestion.

The bag collection points for the runners will also be moved closer to the finishing line.

Mr Lim said the council will be reducing the number of sharp bends close to the finishing line.

At the same time, it is working out measures with the Land Transport Authority (LTA), Traffic Police and the public transport providers to minimise inconvenience to commuters and residents.

The council is also keeping its eyes open for unsporting behaviour.

Mr Lim said: "We have to pay particular attention to race cheats who are trying to get into the prize money. And we are looking at our measures. One of them will be the need to have photo IDs to verify the race winners, before they are actually allowed to collect the prizes. That's one of the things that we will put in place.

"We are looking at other deterrent measures, like possibly banning race cheats from subsequent races."

MediaCorp understands that as of 7pm Thursday, 7,800 runners have signed up for the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore. All 100 slots for the Ekiden race category were filled by 2pm.