Respect the race
With the immense growth of the running community, runners need to learn and practise the ethics of participating in events, writes Syida Lizta Amirul Ihsan
IF you have been running for many years, you’d know that the running community has changed. It previously comprised people who love to run. These days, a segment of runners run for social media or to collect medals. For the last two editions of the IJM Allianz Duo Highway Challenge in which I took part, I have seen runners walking — no, make that sauntering — all the way to the finishline.
If you are injured, that’s courageous. Otherwise, that’s just bad form. Even though you pay for registration, that doesn’t give you the right to disrespect organisers who need to open the road to vehicles beyond a certain time.
Race director Eugene Chan, who is also group managing director of EC Pixels, the company handling the races, says sometimes managing runners is hard.
I told him last year, I saw runners sauntering to the 21km finish line at four hours and 30 minutes, way after the four-hour cut-off time.
“We have a sweeper bus, but they didn’t want to get in. They told my staff that they paid registration fees, so they cannot be forced to get into the bus,” he says.
A sweeper bus picks up runners who can’t finish within the stipulated time to take them to the finish line. Strictly speaking, they don’t finish the race and are not entitled to a medal or finisher tee.
“Then, they go online and rant about how they are not allowed to finish the race and they get likes and retweets and garner support and suddenly, we are in a bad light when all we did was uphold the
rules of the event.
“We need to open the roads at a certain time and at the same time, we cannot jeopardise runners’ safety. We respect their effort but you can see that some are just walking slowly and busy taking selfies, not running,” he says.
NIGHT RUN
Chan says despite the challenges, and with an expected 17,000 runners joining this year, he will improve on last year’s organisation weakness, like the bottleneck at the finish line and medal station. “We take stock of the feedback and will have more lanes to ease congestion.” The first leg, the NPE Highway Challenge, will also have an hour’s gap between the 21km flag-off and the 10km so there will be less crowding, especially at the end of the race.
“After organising this run for the past two years, we want to go the extra mile for runners to encourage them to continuously push their boundaries and take up the challenge.
“Seeing that our returning participants have taken on the highway during the morning run (NPE), we have decided to change the Besraya Highway Challenge to a night run so runners will get the opportunity to enjoy a night event. Safety is always a priority, so it will be a fully closed highway that runners will run on,” he adds.
IJM Corporation chief executive officer and managing director Dato’ Soam Heng Choon says the race aligns with the company’s long-term plan to continue contributing positively to sports and the community.
“Just like in the previous years, we are committed to ensuring the safety of participants so they get to compete and complete the challenge on a fully closed highway, worry-free without a single car obstructing the route. We also like to thank the Malaysian Highway Authority for its assistance in ensuring the success of the event.”
With the mission of using sports as a force for social good, the IJM Allianz Duo Highway Challenge aims to be more than just an ordinary running event. Last year, the organisers donated to Malaysia Lysosomal Diseases Association as part of its CSR engagement. This year, 30 wheelchairs will be presented to Persatuan Bekas Polis Malaysia.
We respect their effort but you can see that some are just walking slowly and busy taking selfies, not running.
Eugene Chan