The venue for this weekend's race-pack collection for The Straits Times Run at the Hub will be shifted from an outdoor facility to indoors.
The move from OCBC Square at the Singapore Sports Hub to the nearby OCBC Arena Hall 5 is to ensure that the three-day collection, which will run from 10.30am to 8pm starting on Friday, will go on smoothly even if the haze worsens.
Said ST Run at the Hub organising committee chairman Marc Lim: "With the uncertainty over whether the haze situation will improve by the weekend, we made the decision to move the race-pack collection indoors.
"While we don't anticipate runners to be waiting long in queues, we want to minimise the time they spend outdoors under what could be undesirable conditions."
The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) levels have hovered around the mid-100s levels and in the unhealthy range this week. Although the weather forecasts are for conditions to improve on Friday, when wind conditions are set to shift, there is still no guarantee of clearer skies.
Poor conditions last weekend had forced several runs to be either cancelled or modified to include less strenuous activities.
The Safra Celebration Run and Ride event on Sentosa converted its 5km celebration run and 1.5km life run into walks. Organisers of the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run also turned its 10km competitive and 6km fun runs into a 6km walk.
But both the POSB PAssion Run for Kids, a charity event held by the People's Association and POSB bank, and the Singtel-Singapore Cancer Society Race Against Cancer cancelled their running events.
Organisers of the Sept 27 ST Run will monitor the haze situation over the next week and advise participants on race-day morning of any updates. Participants will be sent updates via SMS. They can also get the latest information on ST's Facebook page or Twitter.
Said Mr Lim, who is ST sports editor: "While we are looking forward to everyone having a good time at the ST Run at the Hub next Sunday, the health of the participants comes first. We will observe the PSI levels and make sure that the race carries on only under acceptable conditions."
