Introduction
The inaugural Adidas Sundown Marathon was held on the night of 31st May 2008 and continued through the wee hours of the next morning. It is Singapore’s first-ever night marathon. Categories of the event included the 84km Ultra Marathon, the 42km Marathon and Team Corporate Challenge.
The first-of-a-kind event saw over 6,000 runners participating this year, attracting runners as old as 58-years-old.
Background of Organizer
The inaugural Adidas Sundown Marathon was held on the night of 31st May 2008 and continued through the wee hours of the next morning. It is Singapore’s first-ever night marathon. Categories of the event included the 84km Ultra Marathon, the 42km Marathon and Team Corporate Challenge.
The first-of-a-kind event saw over 6,000 runners participating this year, attracting runners as old as 58-years-old.
Background of Organizer
The Addidas Sundown Marathon event was organised by HiVelocity Pte Ltd, who was also responsible for bringing the Aviva Singapore Ironman 70.3 Triathlon competition to Singapore’s race stage last year.
HiVelocity is a company built on the pure passion and love for sports. The company sells ideas and lifestyles, provides sports event services, and also markets and distributes top international sporting brands for performance sports. The company’s mission is to create great sporting experiences for all, to spread the inspiration around to people to be able to do what we love.
Role of the Event to the Organizer
In 2005, the director of HiVelocity, Adrian Mok ran an Ultramarathon of 168km. Thus he wants to bring this experience to all runners, to ‘organize a race for people to remember’. This event also encourages the love for running, and to achieve the company’s mission.
HiVelocity is a company built on the pure passion and love for sports. The company sells ideas and lifestyles, provides sports event services, and also markets and distributes top international sporting brands for performance sports. The company’s mission is to create great sporting experiences for all, to spread the inspiration around to people to be able to do what we love.
Role of the Event to the Organizer
In 2005, the director of HiVelocity, Adrian Mok ran an Ultramarathon of 168km. Thus he wants to bring this experience to all runners, to ‘organize a race for people to remember’. This event also encourages the love for running, and to achieve the company’s mission.
Event in Relation to destination
National Parks Board (NParks), being the event partner for adidas Sundown marathon, utilized their 42-km long Eastern Coastal Part Connector Network for this event. NParks hopes it would help increase the awareness of the park connectors as convenient linkways to the parks, providing additional recreational areas for all, such as jogging, cycling and inline skating. This is part of NParks plan to enhance the quality of life by creating memorable recreational experiences in Singapore.
Stakeholders
(please click here: http://www.sundownmarathon.com/index.php?page=sponsors )
Target Market
The event targets anyone above 18 years old, who loves to run, especially ‘marathon junkies’. As well as teams from corporate companies.
Marketing Strategies
Product
The marathon provided runners a fresh opportunity to run at night, which was an unusual and unique running experience.
The winner of the marathon and ultra marathon categories will win a trip to Berlin to participate in this year's Berlin Marathon, which is an extraordinary opportunity to run together with the fastest athletes in the world, and 1 year adidas sponsorship contract, valued, at SGD$3,000.
Place
The night race took participants meandering around the Eastern Coastal Part Connector Network in the eastern part of Singapore, covering East Coast Park, Bedok, Eunos, before looping back to Changi through Tampines and Pasir Ris. The route enabled runners to have a feel of the nocturnal urban landscape of Singapore as they ran while Singaporeans were sleep. Also, the challenging course which included twists and turns, slopes and involving lots of bridges, added flavor and variety to a what seemingly monotonous and grueling run.
Programming
The Adidas Sundown Marathon only had 3 categories for participants to take part in. The marathon distances of 42km and 84km are physically challenging, hence only catering to the physically fit and able-bodies. There could have been more categories to integrate activities that will provide more activities and attract a larger crowd and participation, such as for the wheelchair bound or introducing a 21km run for starters to encourage more people to take part.
People
The friendliness and hospitality received by the marshals and volunteers as they handed out drinks and cheered the participants on, gave the participants a pleasant experience. It also helps to keep the atmosphere alive and energetic for the participants.
Promotion
The official website dedicated solely to the Adidas Sundown is well organized and easy to navigate. Its design is simple yet attractive and contains explicit information. There is also evident planning and effort in maintaining the website as there are frequent updates, such as its newsletter and latest information regarding the races.
Other than the website, the organizer also has ongoing contact with participants who has registered for the event, through sending email, such as updates on race details, race pack collection details, race route, confirmation of registering IDs, timing of flag off and a follow-up on the event results and photographs of participants caught by the event photographer. This on going management and communication creates a more fruitful approach in promoting the event.
Partnerships
As the main sponsor for the Adidas Sundown Marathon, Adidas has sponsored the event t-shirts and has benefited from it as well, through events marketing, as their brand is included in the name of the event and the event t-shirts.
The NParks and Singapore Sports Council, the two government bodies, are also partners in support of the event, even involving the participation of Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Teo Ser Luck. This signifies the impact of the event, and is also a testimony that it is an event of value.
Packaging& Distribution
Participants received an event t-shirt sponsored by Adidas, and a powerbar gel in their goodie bags. Upon completing the race, they received an Adidas Sundown Marathon Finisher Medal, an Adidas response Finisher Tee, and a Sundown Marathon Finisher Certificate.
Price
The registration fees for the 42km marathon and 84km ultra marathon are categorized into ‘early-bird period’, ‘special period’ and ‘normal period’, from the cheapest to the costliest. The early birds only have to pay $50 for the marathon, and $100 for the ultra marathon. The registration fees increases to $75 and $140 respectively during the normal period. The price increase motivates more participants to register early because of the drastic difference in the fees. All participants who registered this year will also be entitled to a discount in the subsequent years. This acts as a loyalty discount, a wise move to sustain the event by keeping people from coming back to the event for the subsequent years.
Success of the Organization of the Event
The organization of the event was successful on the whole, in the sense that the event was controversial as it is the first-ever night race, hence, attracted as many as 6,000 participants. Many were excited and enjoyed the run as it was a unique and refreshing experience.
Also, there were no confusions as to the bibs numbers, race ids, positioning, timing score of the participants, and more importantly, the race route, which are the basic and apparent factors that determine the success or failure of a race event.
The prize presentation stage and the other stations located near the starting point (like the massage station, stockholders’ stations etc.) were well-organized as they were easily spotted and arranged in an orderly manner, in tents.
National Parks Board (NParks), being the event partner for adidas Sundown marathon, utilized their 42-km long Eastern Coastal Part Connector Network for this event. NParks hopes it would help increase the awareness of the park connectors as convenient linkways to the parks, providing additional recreational areas for all, such as jogging, cycling and inline skating. This is part of NParks plan to enhance the quality of life by creating memorable recreational experiences in Singapore.
Stakeholders
(please click here: http://www.sundownmarathon.com/index.php?page=sponsors )
Target Market
The event targets anyone above 18 years old, who loves to run, especially ‘marathon junkies’. As well as teams from corporate companies.
Marketing Strategies
Product
The marathon provided runners a fresh opportunity to run at night, which was an unusual and unique running experience.
The winner of the marathon and ultra marathon categories will win a trip to Berlin to participate in this year's Berlin Marathon, which is an extraordinary opportunity to run together with the fastest athletes in the world, and 1 year adidas sponsorship contract, valued, at SGD$3,000.
Place
The night race took participants meandering around the Eastern Coastal Part Connector Network in the eastern part of Singapore, covering East Coast Park, Bedok, Eunos, before looping back to Changi through Tampines and Pasir Ris. The route enabled runners to have a feel of the nocturnal urban landscape of Singapore as they ran while Singaporeans were sleep. Also, the challenging course which included twists and turns, slopes and involving lots of bridges, added flavor and variety to a what seemingly monotonous and grueling run.
Programming
The Adidas Sundown Marathon only had 3 categories for participants to take part in. The marathon distances of 42km and 84km are physically challenging, hence only catering to the physically fit and able-bodies. There could have been more categories to integrate activities that will provide more activities and attract a larger crowd and participation, such as for the wheelchair bound or introducing a 21km run for starters to encourage more people to take part.
People
The friendliness and hospitality received by the marshals and volunteers as they handed out drinks and cheered the participants on, gave the participants a pleasant experience. It also helps to keep the atmosphere alive and energetic for the participants.
Promotion
The official website dedicated solely to the Adidas Sundown is well organized and easy to navigate. Its design is simple yet attractive and contains explicit information. There is also evident planning and effort in maintaining the website as there are frequent updates, such as its newsletter and latest information regarding the races.
Other than the website, the organizer also has ongoing contact with participants who has registered for the event, through sending email, such as updates on race details, race pack collection details, race route, confirmation of registering IDs, timing of flag off and a follow-up on the event results and photographs of participants caught by the event photographer. This on going management and communication creates a more fruitful approach in promoting the event.
Partnerships
As the main sponsor for the Adidas Sundown Marathon, Adidas has sponsored the event t-shirts and has benefited from it as well, through events marketing, as their brand is included in the name of the event and the event t-shirts.
The NParks and Singapore Sports Council, the two government bodies, are also partners in support of the event, even involving the participation of Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Teo Ser Luck. This signifies the impact of the event, and is also a testimony that it is an event of value.
Packaging& Distribution
Participants received an event t-shirt sponsored by Adidas, and a powerbar gel in their goodie bags. Upon completing the race, they received an Adidas Sundown Marathon Finisher Medal, an Adidas response Finisher Tee, and a Sundown Marathon Finisher Certificate.
Price
The registration fees for the 42km marathon and 84km ultra marathon are categorized into ‘early-bird period’, ‘special period’ and ‘normal period’, from the cheapest to the costliest. The early birds only have to pay $50 for the marathon, and $100 for the ultra marathon. The registration fees increases to $75 and $140 respectively during the normal period. The price increase motivates more participants to register early because of the drastic difference in the fees. All participants who registered this year will also be entitled to a discount in the subsequent years. This acts as a loyalty discount, a wise move to sustain the event by keeping people from coming back to the event for the subsequent years.
Success of the Organization of the Event
The organization of the event was successful on the whole, in the sense that the event was controversial as it is the first-ever night race, hence, attracted as many as 6,000 participants. Many were excited and enjoyed the run as it was a unique and refreshing experience.
Also, there were no confusions as to the bibs numbers, race ids, positioning, timing score of the participants, and more importantly, the race route, which are the basic and apparent factors that determine the success or failure of a race event.
The prize presentation stage and the other stations located near the starting point (like the massage station, stockholders’ stations etc.) were well-organized as they were easily spotted and arranged in an orderly manner, in tents.
However, there were some areas that could be improved. By gate-crashing the run, I realized the street lamps were not bright enough, as certain paths were not well-lit. Also, the road was a little too narrow to contain the number of people participated; hence hazard may occur if a participant is too eager to overtake.
Moreover, everyone was caught in the early showers in the morning. The participants had no knowledge of a contingency plan in a case of a wet weather, like in this case, or, if the rain continues and becomes heavier with lightning and thunder.
Potential to meet Tourists Demand
The event has the potential to meet the demand of the local athletes and sports lovers. However, the event has much to be done to meet tourists demand. It is not enough to draw tourists to participate. A marathon event that is held at night, when operations are shut down for the night, does not do justice to the facilities, infrastructure and the vibrancy of Singapore that the government is trying to emphasize on as a tourism selling point, which makes it attractive to tourists. Also, it is not worth the money for tourists considering the cost to travel to Singapore, accommodation and the registration fee just to participate in this event.
Moreover, the event focused more on the locals and the social benefits, which are the increase the awareness of the park connectors and to enhance the quality of life and spread the love for sports in Singapore, instead of considering the demand of the tourists.
Suggestions on how the Value of the Event can be raised to Align with the Tourism Mission of Singapore
As Singapore is moving on to develop and expand the Sports Tourism sector, and also the development of the marina bay area, the event location and route can be relocated to pass the Singapore Flyer, the Esplanade, covering the marina bay areas and other infrastructures and facilities that will market Singapore as a internal destination with the ability to provide world-class infrastructure and facilities. The event can be escalated by holding it in the evening when it is at its prime time to embrace the scenery of Singapore at its central hub, while running the marathon. It will be able to reflect Singapore’s vibrancy of life and culture. The lighting effects of the buildings will light up to reveal the colorful and exciting nightlife, as the event progresses into the night.
The Organizer can collaborate with Singapore Tourism Board to include the Adidas Sundown Marathon in the ‘Events Calendar’ in their website, brochures, magazines that introduce Singapore. This will help to publicize the event to make it one of the highlighted and anticipated events in Singapore.
The event has the potential to meet the demand of the local athletes and sports lovers. However, the event has much to be done to meet tourists demand. It is not enough to draw tourists to participate. A marathon event that is held at night, when operations are shut down for the night, does not do justice to the facilities, infrastructure and the vibrancy of Singapore that the government is trying to emphasize on as a tourism selling point, which makes it attractive to tourists. Also, it is not worth the money for tourists considering the cost to travel to Singapore, accommodation and the registration fee just to participate in this event.
Moreover, the event focused more on the locals and the social benefits, which are the increase the awareness of the park connectors and to enhance the quality of life and spread the love for sports in Singapore, instead of considering the demand of the tourists.
Suggestions on how the Value of the Event can be raised to Align with the Tourism Mission of Singapore
As Singapore is moving on to develop and expand the Sports Tourism sector, and also the development of the marina bay area, the event location and route can be relocated to pass the Singapore Flyer, the Esplanade, covering the marina bay areas and other infrastructures and facilities that will market Singapore as a internal destination with the ability to provide world-class infrastructure and facilities. The event can be escalated by holding it in the evening when it is at its prime time to embrace the scenery of Singapore at its central hub, while running the marathon. It will be able to reflect Singapore’s vibrancy of life and culture. The lighting effects of the buildings will light up to reveal the colorful and exciting nightlife, as the event progresses into the night.
The Organizer can collaborate with Singapore Tourism Board to include the Adidas Sundown Marathon in the ‘Events Calendar’ in their website, brochures, magazines that introduce Singapore. This will help to publicize the event to make it one of the highlighted and anticipated events in Singapore.
Pictures
References
http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_188839.html
http://www.sundownmarathon.com
http://www.hivelocity.com.sg
http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_188839.html
http://www.sundownmarathon.com
http://www.hivelocity.com.sg
