“I was quite shocked” – Derek Li on getting disqualified in the marathon initially

Derek Li crossing Marina Barrage during the marathon. Derek finished sixth in the local category but was disqualified initially because his bib did not register at two points along the route. He was reinstated after an appeal. (Photo © Zuladly Zulkeplie/Runcapture. Used with permission)

Singapore, Wednesday, December 4, 2013 – Derek Li, 31, came in sixth in the local category at the 2013 Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore. Derek, a medical doctor, clocked 3 hours 6 minutes 20.12 seconds but was initially disqualified because his timing chip, which was embedded in the bib, did not register at two points along the course. Upon appeal, Derek was officially reinstated in the top 10.

We caught up with Derek to find out what happened and how his race went.

Les Tan: Congrats on getting reinstated. Can you recall when you first heard you were disqualified? What happened, and what were your initial feelings?
Derek: I went to check the results at about 10am at the Champions Tent where the rest of the top 10 guys were. That’s when I found out I wasn’t on the list. Sumiko Tan told me that Alex (Ong) had the same problem and directed me to the information tent where Alex was already talking to one of the officials. At the time neither of us knew why we were disqualified and I could not think of any possible reason myself. I was quite shocked by this sudden development.

How did you eventually come to the decision to make an appeal?
Derek: The decision to appeal was easy. There was no question that we had to appeal. Once we found out our names were not on the list, the official told us our options and we immediately went about getting the money (non-refundable $50 fee) and filling out the forms.

Did they explain on what basis you were reinstated?
Derek: No, but I had heard from my friends (Ning) Wenlong and Andy (Neo) that race officials called them to get statements at about 3-4pm on Tuesday, December 3, to get eyewitness testimony about whether they saw us running with them at the start and the initial part of the race. I’m sure this contributed to their decision. The main area of contention was that both Alex and I wore bibs that did not register at the 5 and 10km checkpoints.

Tell me more about your race. What were the highlights of the race for you?
Derek: My race did not go very well. Mok (Ying Ren) and I had planned to run together for as long as possible at a reasonable pace, and it seems to go pretty well at first. We ran at the front of the lead group almost the whole way up to the 20km mark when I suddenly felt that I was breathing a bit harder than necessary for that point in the race, and decided to slow down. That’s when I lost contact with Mok, Alex and (Soon) Suan Boon.

I was running with Gordon (Lim) for the next 5km after which I slowed even more and ran alone for the remainder of the race. I had been in this position many times before and several times I stopped to stretch out the cramps and even thought about quitting. I was passed by Wenlong at around 32km. The rest of the way was a painful jog/hobble to the finish.

Surprisingly, I never got passed by anyone else in my category for the remaining 10km and as I approached the last 2-3km I started to get optimistic that I would still manage to stay in the top 10.

The highlight for me was running at the front pack right next to Wang Zhiyong and Mok in the early stages of the race. These two are giants in the local marathon community so it felt really great to be running side by side with them.

What was your marathon timing on Sunday?
Derek: My time was 3:05:28 by nett time and 3:06:20 by gun time. The elites had a 45-50s head start and this accounted for almost all of the nett time and gun time differential.

What is your PB?
Derek: My PB is 2:47:10 set at the Gold Coast marathon in July this year (2013).

How many marathons have you done?
Derek: I’ve done about six marathons in total. I studied for six years in the United Kingdom for university and did a lot of races there. I’ve also raced triathlons in the USA and did the one marathon at Gold Coast this year. I will be racing in Boston in April next year.

Full Marathon Singapore Men (Top 12)
1st Mok Ying Ren – 02:54:17.90
2nd Alex Ong Seng Lee – 02:54:56.28
3rd Soon Suan Boon – 02:57:53.31
4th Gordon Lim – 02:58:07.51
5th Ning Wenlong – 03:02:29.55
6th Derek Li – 3:06:20.12
7th Andy Neo – 03:09:36.76
8th Colin Chua – 03:10:22.81
9th Rukhaizat Rapsan – 03:10:37.36
10th Colin Tung – 03:10:48.72
11th Ho Ghim Khoon – 03:10:58.27
12th M Rameshon – 03:11:08.63

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