Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon may transition into a virtual competition

The popular Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) may take runners on a new journey with a virtual race.  

Sport Singapore chief executive officer Lim Teck Yin said on Wednesday (22 Jul) that the SCSM may be an extended event spread over a few months where “part of the competition is indoors and running on treadmills”, while another part would take place “outdoor during competition week where people track their distances with pacers or on their own”.

Mr Lim spoke at a Zoom dialogue session organised by the Embassy of Spain and Spanish-Singaporean Chamber of Commerce. He said that owing to the COVID-19, “innovating [and] reinventing events as we understand them” was vital to the sustainability of the sports industry. 

The SCSM is Singapore’s largest sports event, typically held annually in December. Last year, the marathon drew over 50,000 participants.

Elaborating on this reinvention of the SCSM, Mr Lim said that the single-day marathon will incorporate “different phases of engagements and with different types of activities”. 

These virtual engagements and workshops will be focused on running, health, and well-being, with plenty of special deals on merchandise.

This news comes after organisers of the OCBC Cycle announced on Tuesday (21 Jul) that it would be cancelling its physical event. Instead, participants may take part in a free virtual ride. 

The event, which usually sees participation of about 7,000 cyclists, was postponed from 9 -10 May this year and will now be replaced by the OCBC Cycle 2020 Virtual Ride set to be held on 1 – 15 November. 

Participants are required to use a fitness tracker or a workout app on their smartphones to record the ride details and later submit them to the race organisers by 15 November.

The full distance can be completed over a maximum of four rides as long as it is between virtual race period.

Other major sporting events in Singapore that have been cancelled include golf’s HSBC Women’s World Championship (February), the Sundown Marathon (May), football’s International Champions Cup (July), Formula One’s Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix (September), and the HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens (October).

In other parts of the world, the prestigious World Marathon Majors series in Boston, New York City, Berlin, and Chicago were also called off.