The 17th edition of Singapore’s Marquee Road Race, the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM), is back on the 8th and 9th of December this year.

And according to Geoff Meyer, 50, the Managing Director of IRONMAN Asia – the organisers of the event, they have stepped things up this year and as such, are excited to see how SCSM will turn out.

Approval of government agencies 

Said Meyer, “We have the approval of all the agencies for the first time – Sport Singapore, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) who are all part and parcel of this, and for starters, that will be significant.”

He added, “And in the actual race, we have moved to a two day format and this gives a neater athlete experience while minimising congestion, as we will not have the race going one way and then merging and so on – the new format gets rid of that. So we believe that what we have this year, is the best athlete experience that we can have, while minimising the disruptions to Singapore. We have upped everything from the start to finish and the entertainment along the way, so things will be bigger, bolder and brighter than ever.”

New look cooling systems and ice chips 

For example, Meyer shared that there will be more than 26 to 27 stations along the course with services such as a new-look cooling system, mist tunnels, fan blowers and more than 10 tonnes of ice to keep runners cool in Singapore’s humid and muggy weather.

Said Meyer, “We know that West Coast Highway especially, is a pretty hot area, so we have deployed significant cooling aids there for runners. People should be off the highway before the heat of the day comes in, though, so our cooling measures are added as a precaution.”

He continued, “Runners should also know that we have closed both sides of the highway this year and running past VivoCity and the ports will be quite nice. I don’t think that has been done in the past. Oh, and if you are lucky too, the wheelchair athletes will be flying past when you are running; we have the Olympic champion as well as the champions from London, New York and Chicago coming in this year to help us trial the SCSM route as we are aiming for a fully fledged wheelchair race in the long term.”

Meyer’s Wish List for SCSM

Someday, Meyer does hope to bring SCSM to the heartlands in the future – to showcase the true essence of what the city of Singapore really is about. Unfortunately it will not happen anytime soon, though.

He explained, “We have thought about routing SCSM through the heartlands but there will be significant road closures for that. If we had a wish list, we would put all the big icons together and shut down Singapore completely but maybe in the future. At this point though, we have to come up with a medium that we are happy with for the athletes and also the agencies and authorities will be pleased with. But this year, I think that we have the best of both, as we able to showcase the best of Marina Bay, East Coast and West Coast areas and we will also have entertainment and cooling systems along the way.”

He continued, “Cities such as London and New York really close down the city completely for the marathon but they have an underground system to move people a round efficiently and that is something we hope to work on, in the future.”

Aid stations will consist of much more than water and isotonic 

Meyer also shared that runners at SCSM 2018 will be able to expect more than just water and isotonic drink at the aid stations along the route.

He said, “When we first came in, the biggest problem with SCSM was congestion and we have definitely fixed that. We have also added a lot more entertainment along the course so the athlete experience will be heightened. And this year, I am sure runners will be surprised by our aid stations – as we will have a real spread available. Runners can expect to get foods such as salty chips, in addition to the usual water and 100PLUS drinks. The runner experience will definitely be heightened so I am hoping for good feedback from SCSM 2018.”

Race expo to be a lot bigger

Another improvement that has been made to SCSM 2018, according to Meyer, will also be at the race expo, which will take place at Marina Bay Sands and Meyer hopes that what IRONMAN Asia have come up with, is going to be in line with the biggest marathons in the world.

Said Meyer, “The expo will be a lot bigger than it has ever been in the past, and there will also be a food village at the front of the Marina Bay Sands as well as activities at the start and finish that participants can enjoy. We want Marina Bay Sands to be that hub at the expo where family and friends alike, can be a part, of in addition to participants.”

He continued, “So I think that runners will see that we are getting to the level that this event is truly and gradually becoming world class.”

Bringing in more than 40 international IRONMAN staffers

In fact, Meyer also added that there will be more than 40 international IRONMAN staffers to boost the SCSM team, in their bid to bring SCSM to international standards.

He said, “We are definitely taking things seriously in getting SCSM to reach those international standards.”

Getting the wow factor to SCSM

However, all of that said, Meyer concedes that SCSM does not have the wow factor. Singapore is a night city, so IRONMAN Asia is definitely aiming for a night race for SCSM soon, even though it will not happen at this year’s event.

He said, “We need to get that wow factor and the only way to do it is to be like Formula One (F1) and become a night race. We cannot compete with London or New York on age and history so we will try and be cheeky and take on the stance of being that young city under bright lights, young and brash, as a new influence on the World Marathon Majors circuit.”

Continued Meyer, “If we can get the Singapore community to embrace this event and get it to a night slot, I think that the rest will happen. The government agencies are all on board this year and now we need to run the event seamlessly, then I believe the government will vote and support us tendering to make Singapore a World Marathon Major. After that you will see a whole raft of measures, not only to entertain the athletes but also the spectators, such as the concerts that go with F1 car races.”

15,000 Finishers in the Marathon category 

However in order to become a World Marathon Major, Meyer concedes that the SCSM is currently struggling to meet the numbers of 15,000 finishers in the Marathon category. 

He said, “At the moment we have 14,000 registered in the Marathon but I do believe that if we can get the permission to go to a night race, then 15,000 will be achieved.” 

Meyer added, “This year we have been doing more international promotions and as a result there has been an increase in international runners.”

SCSM as a World Marathon Major

Also, Meyer noted that while the other World Marathon Major races are focused solely on the Marathon category, SCSM currently consists of a myriad of running events to cater to runners of different abilities. Will this affect the chances of SCSM in its bid to become a World Marathon Major?

Explained Meyer, “I can definitely see the Marathon having its own showing someday, but whether we are able to move the other events out of the same weekend and focus only on the Marathon in December, from a financial perspective, the cost and infrastructure will be significantly higher especially in Singapore. So it may not be financially viable.” 

He added, “Also, Singapore will embrace one weekend of events but they may not embrace two. Looking at a crystal ball going forward, there is a really big place for the 5km and 10km even when the Marathon grows and the course we have designed works well this year, because the 42km and 21km runs side by side, then the 21km peels off whereas last year the two categories merged and that made things messy. Of course though, if the Marathon continues to grow, then we will be looking at making that into a standalone event but then again, there will always be room for community events alongside the Marathon. We are talking well into the future at the moment though.”

Getting Singaporeans to embrace the event 

Getting Singaporeans to embrace the event takes time and plenty of education though, Meyer admitted, and he cited the world renowned marathon events such as London and New York as examples.

For instance, according to Meyer, in the first year of the staging of such events many years back, nobody knew what these events were all about.

But today, if you look at those events, Meyer stressed that London had raised more than 88 million pounds for charity last year and New York is the biggest one day sporting event on the planet, bringing in more than 415 million American dollars of direct spending to the country as well as being the biggest inbound flight weekend there. 

Said Meyer, “This can happen to Singapore one day and can become something that all Singaporeans can be proud of. In fact the SCSM can be one of Singapore’s biggest advertisements of the year with live television globally. Seeing runners running through Marina Bay and crowds coming out to cheer the athletes home would be a great commercial for the country. If we are able to bring Singapore to that market, it will be a no-brainer and that is why STB is on board with the marathon and the other government agencies are taking it seriously. They can see the scale and size of what we are trying to achieve.”

An IRONMAN Triathlon in Singapore

That said though, on a separate note, IRONMAN does not have any plans to bring the IRONMAN triathlon series to Singapore, with Meyer citing financial cost as the main reason in not doing so.

Meyer added, “But I have got support from the government and have support to bring in a shorter version such as the ITU (International Triathlon Union); if we could bring that down to Marina Bay, that would work really well and the shorter distances will also be more appealing to a broader audience in Singapore rather than the Ironman distances.”