Only 8 out of 42 running races give you a full list of results. Should all races do so?

By Colin Tung/Red Sports

If you are a runner who, after completing a race, likes to view results in a list and see how you fared against the whole field, you may be disappointed to find out that most race organisers do not publish the information. (Photo © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)

Friday, December 19, 2014 — Many running races take place every month through the year. While every runner has one’s own reason for taking part in a race, the basis of racing is competition, which means comparing results and times.

But while race organisers routinely listed results of every runner in the past, these lists are increasingly hard to find. A check of the race websites of 42* races from January to December this year yielded only eight** where every runner was listed and ranked according to time.

Another 17*** races listed individual results of at least the top runners.

National 10,000m record holder Soh Rui Yong, who recently ran the second-fastest marathon time by a Singaporean, wrote on his blog in June this year about the lack of such results lists: “I think it’s stupid. These are public road races for a reason. Anyone can sign up, anyone can run, and anyone [should be able to] compare themselves to their fellow runners …. Taking away the last aspect removes a big portion of the race experience.”

For runners who feel that they are entitled to privacy with regard to their race results, the University of Oregon undergraduate wrote: “If you want to have a secret time trial, do it by yourself, nobody is stopping you. But don’t put the onus on race directors to hide your results in a public road race.”

The trend these days is to only allow runners to search for their own results (or someone else’s) by bib number, name, email address, identification number or a combination of these information. So unless you know the elite runners personally, you may not have any idea what the timings of the top 10 runners are after your race.

With the new year approaching and another full calendar of races, do you wish to see race organisers take their cue from races like the No Frills Run and the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore and return to the traditional way of listing results?

*The 42 races that were held in 2014
No Frills Run
Mediacorp Hongbao Run
Marina Run
Safari Zoo Run
2XU Compression Run
Men’s Health Urbanathlon
Venus Run
PAssion Northeast Run
Nathan Singapore City Run
Carnival Run
Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants Run
JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge
NTUC Income Run 350
Green Corridor Run
Real Run
Sundown Marathon
Pocari Sweat Run
Jurong Lake Run
Mizuno PAssion Wave Run
Energizer Singapore Night Trail
TRI-Factor Run
Race Against Cancer
Orange Ribbon Run, Race Against Racism
Frost & Sullivan Corporate Challenge
SAFRA Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon
Mediacorp Battle of the Schools X-Country Run
Tampines Run
POSB PAssion Run for Kids
Yellow Ribbon Prison Run
SMU Mile Run
The Straits Times Run at the Hub
Bloomberg Square Mile Relay
The North Face 100
PAssion North Run
Newton Challenge
Puma Night Run
Singapore Airlines Charity Run
CSC Run by the Bay
Great Eastern Women’s Run
Kranji Countryside Run
Salomon X-Trail Run
Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore

**Races that provide full results, which may be subsequently removed from race websites at organisers’ discretion (8)
No Frills Run
Mizuno Wave Run
TRI-Factor Run
POSB Passion Run for Kids
Frost & Sullivan Corporate Challenge
Orange Ribbon Run, Race Against Racism
PAssion North Run
Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore

***Races that provide a partial list of top runners (17)
Marina Run
Safari Zoo Run
2XU Compression Run
JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge
NTUC Income Run 350 (top 3 or top 4 depending on category)
Sundown Marathon
Pocari Sweat Run (top 5)
Jurong Lake Run (top 10)
Race Against Cancer (top 3)
SMU Mile Run (top 3)
The Straits Times Run at the Hub (top 10)
The North Face 100 (top 3)
Newton Challenge (top 3)
CSC Run by the Bay (top 5)
Great Eastern Women’s Run (top 3, except half marathon elite category, which published top 10 results)
Kranji Countryside Run (top 3)
Salomon X-Trail Run (top 5)

This article was last updated on December 19, 2014.

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