OCTOBER 5 — There were a lot of long, sad faces all across the country, especially in the Klang Valley on Saturday evening, when word came of the decision that was anxiously awaited by more than 35,000 runners. It was going to be a DNS (runners’ lingo for Did Not Start) for everyone. The Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon had been officially cancelled due to hazardous air quality.

One look outside the window was all that was needed to understand the decision by the organisers. A thick and choking smog of swirling polluted air which seemed almost physical in some places. A real-life depiction straight from the pages of a Stephen King or Tolkien novel.

What has been described by Nasa (US National Aeronautics and Space Agency) as possibly the worst forest fires on record, has resulted in choking haze that has blanketed Malaysia, Singapore and a large portion of Indonesia for the better part of a month. It has caused airports to close, schools to shut down and tens of thousands of people rushing to clinics and hospitals to seek medical treatment.

Participants of the cancelled Standard Chartered KL Marathon pose for a picture at Dataran Merdeka. — Picture courtesy of Azrul Mohd Khalib

It is no exaggeration that for many households, the first greeting in the morning these days has not been “Good morning!” but “Apa API hari ni?” Kids looked forward to high Air Pollution Index numbers signalling that there would be yet another happy day off from school while adults wondered why the API numbers were vastly different between Johor and Singapore and dreaded going off to work.

Everyone wondered if the marathon was going to continue and some had even started calling themselves “haze runners” (even had a modified movie poster). When the decision was announced, most sighed with relief, many groaned expressing their sadness and disappointment (I was one of them), some were angry at the organisers or the Indonesian government, and a few even cried (I would too if I had spent lots of money to get here and then didn’t get to run the 42.195km).

Sunday morning saw thousands of local and international runners coming to Dataran Merdeka at the crack of dawn to pick up their goodie bags and stuff that they were entitled to get as participants of the race.

It was a sight to see.

Far from being a despondent and depressed lot who were upset, sad and frustrated at being deprived of the chance to run, the runners and their friends and family who showed up at Dataran Merdeka decided to have a mini festival instead.

Idrus Ahmad proposes to his girlfriend Trias Nuriartu at Dataran Merdeka. — Picture courtesy of Azrul Mohd Khalib

People from Malaysia and several countries were dancing to the music and stuffing themselves with loads of food and drink from the hospitality tents (never mind the past week’s carbo-loading). Many showed up in fancy dress, wigs and costumes. Hundreds of people did selfies, wefies and groupfies. There was even also a marriage proposal by an Indonesian runner to his girlfriend (Congratulations, Trias Nuriartu and Idrus Ahmad)! I saw smiling volunteers and support personnel everywhere. Nobody seemed angry.

Most who came wore the official running singlet and a number of diehards even ran a few kilometres (haze be damned!), as a show of solidarity and moral support towards the organisers and the Standard Chartered KL Marathon series.

It was an extremely hard and courageous decision on the part of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia and Dirigo Events, and I take my hat off to them for making it.

Participants of the cancelled Standard Chartered KL Marathon pose for a picture in front of the finishing line, at Dataran Merdeka. — Picture courtesy of Azrul Mohd Khalib

Just to be clear, this isn’t just about the runners. The runners have always had a choice whether or not to rempuh and redah the smog/ haze/ crap out there. Hell, that was what I was planning to do. Got my N95 mask and all. Whether I could run the FM (full marathon) and breath using the damn thing too, belakang kira.

But the organisers have a responsibility to their team, volunteers and entire support staff which are there to support the more than 34 000 runners. They would be at risk for the same, if not longer, duration of time being out there breathing the same air that we would all be breathing.

So, the organisers were being responsible and did the best that they could in the difficult circumstances that were beyond anyone’s control anyway. However, it is inevitable that they will also have to deal with the avalanche of criticism and second guessing that is heading their way. Let us give them our support and respect.

We can run another day.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.