Note:
If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)
20 Oct 2019 Report
By Rameshon
Bsc (Hons) Degree in Physical Education, Loughborough University (1992-1994)
Masters in Education (University of Western Australia, 2005-2008)
In the past, I was not sure of the difference between a sanctioned and an unsanctioned race. International races are usually sanctioned by the international governing body like International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) etc. The moment, for example, IAAF sanctions a race, it is given permission to an entity to organise the race, as IAAF has seen the safety procedures and the orderly manner the race before saying a yes. When something happens, one can write to IAAF and complain, and IAAF takes accountability.
My former fellow competitor and a former Singapore Athletics official have elaborated to me on the difference between a sanctioned and an unsanctioned race, and I will share in this post so that people will have a basic understanding before one decides to run in a race. Moreover, one will know whose responsibility is it if a race goes wrong.
Also, before I write about how to carry out simple time trials for competitive and non-competitive athletes, in the coming Part 3, of the ‘Time Trial versus Race’ edition, it will be good for the public to know the difference between sanctioned races and unsanctioned races.
A sanctioned race are races that have been given the blessing of Singapore Athletics, as it has a group of committee members, gathered to discuss the item of the race, and decide whether to give the go-ahead sign. If anything goes wrong, the Singapore Athletics is ready to be held accountable, in a way. Before this can happen, there are protocols, steps and procedures, in place, so that the races are carried out successfully. For that, the race organiser has to pay a certain sum of money for the race to be sanctioned. We are not sure as to why organisers shy away from being sanctioned. Whether it is costly or not. Nevertheless, one should know that there is a cost involved and it is not cheap. So, after a race, there is profit-making and also some payment made to Singapore Athletics, where the money will go to the bank vault of Singapore Athletics.
Currently, from what we have heard is that Singapore Athletics do not have enough money for now in its own bank. Funding can increase if event management companies pay to Singapore Athletics, and the athletes and coaches may benefit from this.
A race is unsanctioned when it is not given the blessing of Singapore Athletics. So there is no need to pay any sum to Singapore Athletics. There are the so-called ‘race ambassadors’ in a race, that are chosen, by their own standard, but it does not in any way mean or say it is sanctioned.
Some feel that massive sum of profits is going to the people organising it. Every week, you can see a race taking place. This weekend 20 Oct and 21 October, we will see CSC Run, Asics City Race, and Real Run.
As I have organised race in the past for Swift Athletics Association, it is known that a number of times sponsors would come forward to get the goodie bags and prizes and sometimes the cost of organising the race itself. As such, it is a known fact that there is a big profit margin when a huge number of them participate in races.
In a race, which has 40000 people, registered. From the registration fee, for example., it will generate a sum of
$50 x $40000 gives you $2,000,000. It is $2,000,000.
The sad part of it is that, in a number of races, I have seen competitors get a mere sum, only discounts, tryouts of Yoga Center and complimentary facial etc, as compared to a big sum generated by the race. A female runner who came in Champion did not get any cash prize that will help her boost her future training expenses.
A number of races have only top 3 winners, instead of top 10 winners. It is hard to find women veteran and men veteran athletes winning prizes, as they have no categories in current years. In races I have run, I am now 53 years old, and it is a top 3 for my age category for 50 – 54, but there is absolutely no prize at all. Nothing to motivate. They take me as a Men Open runner.
As for the public, Health Care is a concern for Singaporeans, as the race organisers should actually support junior and senior veteran men and women category so that one can age gracefully. Many races only focus a lot of attention on women open and men open in an unending manner, and this is not a good thing, as older people may give up as they have to compete with younger runners. There must be a proper age category.
The truth is the government cannot foot all bills of Health Care. So, organising proper events for the young and old is a must. The health cost for Singapore in a decade will actually balloon to $10 billion and above, using my research done for my Masters in Education (UWA, 2005-2008). Hence, Singaporeans must work as a team in this.
Nonetheless, it is important to look into these factors before one can organise. In Men Open category I have seen a Kenyan winning first and the Gurkha winning the second position. A Singaporean won third. Only one Singaporean got a prize for Men Open and it is very sad for the top 4 to the top 10 not to get a prize. Hence, I feel that the time, money and effort to train by these people should be recognised and encouraged.
This was in POSB race 2018, for women and men open, only three individuals got the prizes and the veterans were not given any kind of prize, to show support to healthy living. Instead, there were team runners who were slower runners, as compared to those who came in individual top 4th-10th for men open were given prizes, instead. The eight-team individuals got $100 each, which the 4th to 10th individual position men open did not get anything.
A few years back, we won first and second for the team event in POSB Run, as we were invited to take part. After our win, we were told that we are too competitive and to give others a chance to win thus they put us in the individual category with no category. However, this year, there was Corporate Challenge, a school took part and won the competition. All 8 people in the team, from good to above average runners benefitted, but how about the 4th to 10th individual position Men Open runners who were much faster than most of the team event athletes? The organisers must consider all these outcomes and should not neglect them.
So, after a poorly organised race, when a person messaged me to ask on how to redress the current situation, like who to write the e-mail to when things go wrong, I feel that there must be the involvement of Singapore Athletics in sanctioning so that the organiser of the race and Singapore Athletics ensures a fair and transparent race. The Event management must make an effort to pay Singapore Athletics so that the upcoming developmental athletes can benefit from it. Any complaints, by anyone, it has to be taken in and the matter should focus on redressing issues brought up to Singapore Athletics.
To sum up, it is known that if one runs a non-sanctioned race, the public in a way takes the responsibility to ensure they are entering a properly organised race. Rarely, we see the event management company taking accountability.
That is why 90% of my training has time trials, and it can be done in running track, MacRitchie Reservoir, and Bedok Reservoir etc. The majority have benefitted from my planning for this. Running a race is secondary to doing a time trial, as time trials are preparatory to a race, regardless it is competitive or not.
One must choose a proper race if one wants to run in a non-sanctioned race. It is wise to see whether the route is detailed, prizes are there for the top ten winners etc, and the lucky draw prizes must be really very good, to attract many people. All tiny and small words having conditions etc must be read. When one runs non-sanctioned races, it is like putting one’s leg in a pool of water where one does not know the depth of the pool.
Edited By a Flexifitness staff!
By Narayanan
He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.
Note:
By Narayanan
Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’ by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).
He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.
