Over the past couple of weeks, the Grand Finale of the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) took place in an all-new hybrid race format, attracting 12,825 runners from Singapore and around the world. 

The Grand Finale races had marked the culmination of the SCSM Virtual Club, a 14-week series of weekly training sessions and virtual races which had been targeted at helping runners stay active, train and gear up for the race.

Runners and the community were able to take part in weekly challenges and races on the Virtual Club platform, which were categorised according to four themes unique to Singapore – Action Seekers, Culture Shapers, Explorers and Foodies. These gave runners the chance to explore and rediscover different sides of Singapore and its hidden gems, over the weeks.

And featuring 10km and 21km race distances, the two Grand Finale categories were a Virtual Race where runners choose their own route, and a ROUVY AR category where runners were able to navigate the cityscapes of Singapore using augmented reality, offering a brand new experience to runners as they could watch their avatars run the routes while running on a treadmill at home or in selected ActiveSG gyms.

Alan Tan, 44, a computer operator, was one of those who took part in the ROUVY AR categories, for both 10km as well as 21km. How did he find his experience? 

Said Alan, “It was a different challenge and experience. It wasn’t easy to run on a treadmill for such long hours and not easy to keep up the pace once the novelty wore off. It was tough, but challenging.”

Credit: SCSM

Also continued Alan, “But there was free flow of drinks from 100PLUS. So I didn’t need to carry hydration along when running compared to running outside under the hot Singapore weather. And running indoors, there was also need to worry about wet weather either.”

For me, I took part in the Virtual Race categories, running 21km on Sunday and then the 10km the following Wednesday.

We could choose our own routes. So my 21km was completed around the Marina Bay area, beginning and ending at Stadium. 

I had picked this route because it is one of the most scenic areas to run in Singapore and I have always love running there. As an added bonus, the route is fully park connector and does not have traffic lights to worry about.

It was also a rather cooling morning for Singapore standards, so this made for a rather enjoyable run. I kept to a steady pace and completed the 21km run in about 2 hours and 14 minutes, which had been my target.

For the 10km, I completed this in the late evening, running from Dakota Crescent and Tanjong Rhu to East Coast Park. It was a one-way run that was about 90 percent made up of park connectors and due to the timing I had chosen, I was able to avoid the usual Singapore heat. So it was a nice run through the South Eastern part of Singapore.

Said Terence Goh, 51, Area Sales Manager, who took part in both the two Virtual Race distances in the Grand Finale, “Through the course of running the virtual races, from Virtual Race 1 to the Grand Finale, it has kept me on my toes every weekend, striving to improve my timing in the distances set by the event.” 

Terence had been with the SCSM Virtual Club since the beginning, regularly taking part in its weekly virtual running challenges.

 He continued, “I can only say that it has been an adrenaline-pumping rush for me to complete the Grand Finale, knowing that I had improved significantly on my performance within these couple of months.”

“Kudos to SCSM for getting it together and compiling the result and rallying everyone with the apps,” Terence also added.

Altogether, SCSM2020 runners had clocked a combined 106,269km to unlock the SGD $1 million challenge which Standard Chartered Bank had pledged as part of the SCSM Grand Finale Charity Challenge – to support Singapore youth in the areas of education, entrepreneurship, and employability.

Said Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth & Second Minister for Law, “The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon has been a highlight of Singapore’s running calendar for close to two decades.” 

He continued, “Despite the challenges of holding a large-scale sporting event during the pandemic, the organisers have risen to the challenge with an innovative race format that has attracted participants from Singapore and beyond.”

The SCSM2020 had attracted runners hailing from 69 countries as they participated virtually via their smart devices, showcasing the global appeal of this marquee event on Singapore’s sporting calendar.

Notable international celebrities that took part in the race include former Liverpool FC player Jose Enrique, social media star Nas Daily, British TV and radio presenter Charlie Webster and German TV presenter Ilka Groenewold.

Credit: SCSM

Said Keith Tan, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Tourism Board, “We hope that the virtual run will inspire more people to visit Singapore in future and we look forward to the day when we can physically welcome runners from all over the world again.”

Credit: SCSM

Despite not having a physical event this year, SCSM2020 celebrated with a Grand Finale Celebration event last weekend, where runners could pick up their race entitlements and prizes at the Flower Field Hall at the Gardens by the Bay. 

Runners who had wanted to be a part of this were required to pre-register their time slots in line with safe distancing measures, and altogether, there were 800 runners who went.

Credit: SCSM

Said Geoff Meyer, Managing Director of Asia for the IRONMAN Group, “Despite having the odds stacked against us, we managed to make the SCSM2020 Grand Finale happen. This is a testament to our hard work and perseverance and a celebration of Singapore’s solidarity and resilience at the end of a very challenging year.” 

He also continued, “This is a great end to the year and it was not possible without the collective effort of everyone involved.”

The 20th edition of SCSM next year will take place between 3 – 5 December 2021, subject to prevailing safe management protocols from the authorities.