SINGAPORE — Expect a series of major changes to be made to the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (SCMS) over the next 10 years, as new event organiser Ironman Asia seeks to transform the event into one of the world’s top marathons.

According to Ironman Asia managing director Geoff Meyers, significant financial backing from parent company Dalian Wanda will result in “fairly huge changes” being made to the event, already an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) gold-label, over time.

While the Chinese multinational conglomerate will not be handing Ironman Asia a “blank cheque”, a “significantly huge” budget has been set aside to help raise the SCMS’ overall standards.

“The budget for this event is huge, compared to other marathons that we run globally,” Meyer told TODAY during the launch of an exhibition commemorating the 15th anniversary of the SCMS at The Cathay’s Atrium.

“This is not only because the cost of running events in Singapore is very high, but also because of the huge potential of this event to grow and be regarded in the same vein as top marathons around the world.

“We are looking at what bells and whistles we can add over the years. To us, it is all about enhancing the athletes’ experience. If you deliver the same event each year, you get stagnant and it will come down in value.

Meyers said that Dalian Wanda’s backing has already ensured that all debts owed by previous SCMS organiser Spectrum Worldwide — believed to close to S$1 million — have been accounted for.

“We have pretty much paid off more than 80 per cent of all the creditors, and the last ones are getting paid as we speak. The amount is separate from the event budget,” he said.

For this year’s SCMS, which will be held on Dec 3 and 4, changes will be made to the half-marathon and the Kids Dash — two of the five categories which also includes the marathon, the Eiken, and the 10km.

This year’s half-marathon (21km) will be at Orchard Road instead of Sentosa Gateway. This means that both the full marathon and the 21km run will have the same starting point. However, participants for both events will start in multiple waves to avoid congestion.

The Kids Dash will be held a day earlier this year — on the evening of Dec 3 — at Orchard Road. This is so that the children can get to enjoy the unique experience of running under the Christmas lights.

“From feedback on social media and the surveys, two big things have come up: Heat and congestion,” said Meyer.

“Sentosa was a fantastic starting point, but the heat from the tunnel that they have to run through, and the fumes from the vehicles that they had to put up with while running on the highway were big negatives.

“So for a successful first year, we want the participants’ (buy-in), and we want happy runners. If we don’t get torn apart on social media or anything like that (after the event), I’ll be a happy man.”

Other changes that Ironman Asia plan to make to the SCMS over the next few years will be made possible by its extensive list of contacts of sports enthusiasts and strong ties with major partners and sponsors, said Meyers.

“We run over 260 events around the world and have global stakeholders and global media such as Infront (Sports & Media AG), Lagadere, and of course, Wanda Group. These are resources that we can tap into which Spectrum couldn’t before,” he said.

“There is more interest from sponsors now that we’re involved and we are putting our feelers out there to get more elite athletes to join the SCMS.”

Registration for the SCMS opened yesterday. Runners can sign up for the race at www.marathonsingapore.com.

The SCMS exhibition at The Cathay’s Atrium was launched by Social and Family Development Minister Tan Chuan-Jin yesterday. The exhibition, which showcases the highlights from previous editions of the marathon, ends on Sunday.