The Sesame Street Run Singapore did not go as well as both organisers and participants had hoped.

Held on Nov. 17 at Our Tampines Hub, problems such as a delayed flagging off time and participants not receiving their entitled merchandise, marred the run.

Irate runners took to social media to voice their complaints, with most leaving "zero-star" reviews on its Facebook page.

Long list of grievances

The run's poor organisation was a common theme, with multiple reviewers pointing out the following:

• No closure of roads, leading to runners having to wait at traffic stops.
• Lack of barricades, confusing the routes for the "serious" runners and the "leisure" runners.
• Delayed time for flagging off.
• Long queues for merchandise and wrist band collection, under the hot sun.

The page responded to some of these complaints, for instance, explaining that the route was changed due to security issues:

A post "apologising unreservedly" for the hiccups has also been put up:

Organisational woes

According to a person involved in the run organisation, who spoke to Mothership, there were other problems behind the scenes.

These included:

• Insufficient water points being prepared in advance.
• The emcee's microphone and script were not prepared in advance, leading to the delay in flagging off.
• A power disruption affecting the storage of 4,000 bottles of Vitagen.
• Insufficient race packs and bibs.
• Insufficient merchandise like caps and socks for participants who paid for them.
• Cutting volunteers, leading to problems with road marshalling and the run routes.

"Steep learning curve"

Event management company Heroes organised the run.

The company's founder, Aaron Goh, told The Straits Times (ST) that he blamed "miscommunication" with the vendors for the issues.

When asked about runners having to run alongside traffic, Goh said he knew the roads were not going to be closed off, but claimed that a vendor told him that riders on motorcycles would be observing their safety.

Goh added that his company faced a "steep learning curve" as this was the first time they had organised such an event.

Police report made

According to ST, a police report was even made by a vendor against the organiser.

Kelvin Lee of event management company REM told ST that Goh had allegedly defaulted on payments to vendors for the event.

REM had assisted with the media launch of the event.

However, Lee did not disclose how much was owed.

Top image courtesy of a Mothership contributor.

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