The second day of the highly anticipated Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) 2023, Southeast Asia’s leading mass participation running event, kicked off with an exhilarating start Saturday, December 2, morning.
The 5km and 10km categories saw close to 17,000 enthusiastic runners take off at dawn on a journey through the streets of Singapore, culminating in a new finish at the iconic National Stadium. Both categories were fully sold out, providing a competitive run for the participants, within an atmosphere of camaraderie.
The 10km participants were flagged off from the F1 Pit Building by VIP guests and representatives, including Mr. Toh Boon Yi, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Sport Singapore, who was joined by Mr. William Ang, Chief Technology & Operations Officer, Singapore and ASEAN Markets for Standard Chartered Bank, Mr. Ameet Nivsarkar, Vice President and Country Head of TCS Singapore, and Ms. Jennifer See, Managing Director of 100PLUS to mark the commencement of the races.
For the 5km category, Mr. Toh Boon Yi was joined by Mr. Tan Eng Ngee, Head of Audit, Singapore and ASEAN markets for Standard Chartered Bank, Ms. Jurist Francisco-Gamban, Chief Operating & Marketing Officer of ViewQwest; and Mr. Sanjay Roy, Area General Manager of SEA & Oceania at PUMA, in flagging off the keen runners.
Results
In the fiercely competitive 10km category, Malaysia’s Sanjay Manimaran emerged triumphant with an impressive timing of 32 minutes 35 seconds. Following closely in second place was Vlad Ixel from Australia just two seconds later at 32 minutes 37 seconds.
Coming in soon after was the winner in the Women’s 10km race, Singapore’s Sharon Tan who clocked a time of 40 minutes 13 seconds. Sharon also represented Singapore in the SEA Games 2023 marathon event. Expressing her elation, Sharon shared, “Winning this race at the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon is an incredible feeling. For me, it’s all about the climb and enjoying the running journey, personal best or not, fast or slow. The event was truly remarkable, and the National Stadium finish was a great touch.”
Victory in the Men’s 5km race was claimed by Indonesia’s Rahmad Setiabudi who completed the course with a time of 17 minutes 21 seconds. “Race conditions today were great, and I am pleased with the result.”
Singapore’s Ong Chang Zhi, the top local finisher in the 5km race, crossed the line in fourth place with a time of 18 minutes 6 seconds. The 13-year-old aspiring long-distance runner, who was making his second SCSM appearance, expressed his delight with his finish time.
“I’m really happy to finish in fourth place today,” he said. “This is an improvement from my previous position of 11th place and I am determined to keep working hard to achieve my dreams of representing the country in the Southeast Asian Games in the future.”
In the women’s 5km category, Singapore’s Huang Xin Rong claimed the top spot with a time of 21 minutes 15 seconds.
The excitement of the SCSM2023 is set to soar as the event welcomes more than 44,000 runners from around the world, with over 8,000 international participants from more than 70 countries joining in the festivities. Tomorrow, the Marathon and Half Marathon categories are scheduled to commence from 4.30am, promising a thrilling culmination to the exciting weekend.