The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM), which caused immense public outcry due to the weekend congestion it caused, was held in the evening to enable more Singaporeans to join the event, according to SportSG.

SportSG is the latest organisation to speak up about the recent Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM), which caused immense public outcry due to the weekend congestion it caused.

SportSG is a statutory board of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), and is one of the organisations supporting the SCSM.

It is also the second organisation to speak up about the recent SCSM thus far.

On Dec. 4, SCSM issued a statement on its Facebook page, apologising for the inconvenience caused.

Shift of race timing was to enable more Singaporeans to join the event

In a statement shared with Mothership, SportSG's CEO, Lim Teck Yin, stated that the shift of the race timing from early morning to the evening was to enable more Singaporeans to join the event, including those who did not participate as runners.

Lim claimed that 100,000 people were at the event to cheer the runners on, and also to enjoy the atmosphere at various spectator zones.

"In the years to come, the meaningfulness of the event will grow as Singaporeans embrace SCSM," said Lim.

SportSG had been engaging stakeholders since end 2018

Lim also acknowledged that holding the race in the evening in Singapore is an ambitious endeavour, and that SportSG had been engaging stakeholders and conducting traffic studies since end 2018 to mitigate the impact of road closures.

He also clarified that information about road closures and alternative routes were shared with affected businesses in early January this year, and that the first announcement of the night race was made on May. 28.

Lim admitted that the public would take time to become familiar with the road closures caused by the SCSM, and issued an apology to those who were caught off guard by the weekend congestion and were inconvenienced.

"The SCSM will, like the marathons in the six other Majors' cities and other events in Singapore with extensive road closures, take time for the general public to become familiar with," Lim said.

The six other Majors refer to the marathons listed within the Abbott World Marathon Majors (AbbottWMM), a series of the largest and most renowned marathons in the world.

One of the reasons why the race format was changed this year was to fulfil the criteria of entering the SCSM into the AbbottWMM.

Although the organisers of the SCSM were optimistic about hitting that goal, it is currently unclear whether the SCSM will indeed be included amongst the Majors within the near future.

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Top image from SportSG.