23-year-old dies after 2XU Compression Run in Singapore

A 23-year-old man who participated in the 2XU Compression Run died on Sunday (April 27) morning.  

The police told AsiaOne they received a call for assistance along Raffles Avenue on Sunday at about 6.25am. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) conveyed an unconscious man to Singapore General Hospital, where he subsequently died. 

Based on preliminary investigations, the police do not suspect foul play and investigations are ongoing. 

The marathon organisers published a statement on Instagram that evening addressing the incident.  

It read: "We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of one of our participants at this morning's 2XU Compression Run. 

"Our deepest condolences are with the family and friends during this difficult time. As the matter is under police investigation, we are unable to share further details at this point." 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by 2XU Compression Run (@2xurun)

The 2XU Compression Run kicked off at the F1 Pit Building at around 4.15am. Over 20,000 runners are said to have participated in the 5km, 10km and 21.1km race categories. 

Separately, after the event, participants took to social media to complain about the dark and narrow route as well as inadequate hydration points. 

One wrote: "Did my 5km yesterday and I was so bummed that there were no medics around or even first-aid points, especially at the midway points... No water stations there too. Need to finish the race to go to first aid." 

Another said: "Where was the water at stations? People had to walk to public places and stop to use water fountains. Even after the finishing line, they gave out only one bottle of energy drinks. And I had to walk 400-500m outside to get simple water. Not everyone likes sweet energy drinks; looking for water at stations, many decided to just run further." 

"Route is too narrow to fit in thousands of runners, bottleneck at some route and lack of water stations especially at 8km to 12km (none)," a participant also said. 

A netizen complained: "The safety management is poor! Many areas are not lit up, wet floors, bottleneck of runners at many points, just to name a few." 

An AsiaOne reporter was there and noted that the route was very poorly lit, resulting in her looking only at the ground beneath her instead of straight ahead to prevent herself from falling. 

A comment made on Sunday in the Singapore Runners Club Facebook group said: "To witness not one but two runners down within 50m apart was a scary sight." 

AsiaOne has reached out to the organisers for more information. 

kristy.chua@asiaone.com

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