Organisers Explain Brunei Marathon
By Kartika Rahman

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Second Brunei Marathon last Sunday brought heartbreaking disappointment to many local and international competitive runners due to the confusion over routes.

However, the winners of the half-marathon (21 km) have finally resolved the dispute. According to Excellence Event Management - the organiser of the first and second Brunei Marathon - all affected parties (the runners, their managers and coaches) were asked to attend a technical meeting at the Stadium Negara Hassanal Bolkiah on the day of the marathon. With advice from a technical committee, the organiser explained the situation to attendees and later received detailed information from runners, which will be used for further investigation.

A press release from the organiser stated that the source of the disorder is the runners' claim that there was confusion at the 15 km mark U-turn for the halfmarathon, which caused several front-runners to overshoot the U-turn. At that point, the 42 km front-pack runners were overtaken by the 21 km front-pack runners.

With only a 10-minute difference at flag offs, the 21 km front runners got mixed up with the middle pack 42 km runners at the 15 km point, bringing about confusion during the splitting of the two categories.

Runners lamented that the a-turn signage, which was placed 200 metres before the turn, was 'inadequate' as it was possible for the signage to be blocked by the runners in front.

Meanwhile, the technical committee has decided that the overall time recorded is no longer valid. It was forwarded to a Jury of Appeal, where after lengthy deliberations, it was deemed on December 12 that the half-marathon Top 10 runners (both open and local sub-categories for men and ladies) were awarded based on their recorded time at both the u-turn and arrival sequence at the finish line.

The recorded time was made available by use of a ChampionChip, a device that records time from flag-off to arrival.

The decision of the Jury of Appeal is considered final. In addition, Excellence Event Management stated, "The organiser would like to take this opportunity to apologise to all affected parties, especially half marathon runners, for the inconvenience caused. For their understanding and patience, I would like to thank them."

Yet to be concluded are the winners of the 10 km marathon for students, veterans and individuals, as well as the impending effects of the internationally promoted Second Brunei Marathon that took a bad turn.-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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