Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon ranked among world’s worst

Runners at this year’s marathon. Photo: Standard Chartered Singapore
Runners at this year’s marathon. Photo: Standard Chartered Singapore

The running event blamed for causing unusually heavy traffic jams across downtown Singapore last weekend has now been ranked among the world’s worst, according to a new survey. 

The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, held Friday through Sunday, was heavily criticized for closing nearly 90 roads and lanes, leaving motorists stuck in hours-long jams. But now, less than a week since, the event has been named the third worst such event in the world for reasons that had nothing to do with its impact on public order. 

The survey by UK shoe retailer The Sole Supplier yesterday ranked the race 79th out of 81 marathons certified by the International Association of Athletics Federations around the world, scoring only 4.18 out of 10.

Each marathon was scored based on factors like average finish times, the number of medical stations, toilets, entry fees, and local hotels. The survey also looked at environmental conditions like air quality, rainfall, altitude, and temperature.

Marathons held in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, and New Delhi had the dirtiest air, with pollution scores above 100. By comparison, the marathons with the cleanest air had pollution scores under 15.

Asia also has some of the world’s slowest marathon runners, the survey found.

Standard Chartered’s Kuala Lumpur Marathon, for example, is said to be the slowest marathon in the world, with an average finish time of 5:41:47, nearly two hours off of Denmark’s H C Anderson Marathon, where runners are considered to be the fastest, finishing on average at 3:51:22 – or around 11 minutes per kilometer.

Other slow runners can be found at the BDMS Bangkok Marathon in Thailand (5:21:18), Angkor Empire Marathon in Cambodia (5:13:28) and Skechers Performance Chennai Marathon in India (5:11:27), according to the survey. 

Read on to see more findings from the survey:

The five worst marathons: 

  1. Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon (3.69)
  2. IDBI Federal Life Insurance New Delhi Marathon (4)
  3. Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (4.18)
  4. Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon (4.24)
  5. Techcombank Ho Chi Minh City International Marathon (4.3)

The five best marathons:

  1. Haspa Marathon Hamburg (7.57)
  2. International Vienna City Marathon (7.45)
  3. Cracovia (Poland) Marathon (7.02)
  4. Danske Bank Vilnius Marathon (6.93)
  5. Wizz Air Cluj Napoca (Romania) Marathon (6.89)

The five fastest marathons:

  1. H C Andersen Marathon (3:51:22)
  2. Swiss City Marathon – Lucerne (3:51:33)
  3. AG Antwerpen Marathon (3:52:22)
  4. Kleine Zeitung Graz (Austria) Marathon (3:54:!3)
  5. International Vienna City Marathon (4:00:01)

Marathons with the cleanest air (air pollution scores under 15):

  1. H C Andersen Marathon
  2. EMF Edinburgh Marathon Festival
  3. Cracovia Marathon
  4. ASB Auckland Marathon
  5. Osaka Marathon

Marathons with the most medical aid stations

  1. Danske Bank Vilnius Marathon (84)
  2. Volkswagen Prague Marathon (35)
  3. Beijing International Marathon (30)
  4. Thessaloniki (Greece) Int’l Marathon Alexander the Great (26)
  5. Guangzhou International Marathon (26)

 

Related:

Woeful weekend traffic as Singapore runs race, attends concert and shops



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