Over 17,000 runners took part in this year’s Tainan Anping Starlight Marathon, which commenced in the afternoon on July 12. The event was originally scheduled to end by 11pm that night, but some of the runners had still not returned to the designated meeting spot by the wee hours of the morning the following day. Police officers on duty also had to extend their shifts to midnight, which caused a few complaints. A slew of garbage was also left on the streets where the event was held.
Greater Tainan’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) dispatched workers on July 13 to clean up the litter, which was questioned by the public because the event organizer accepts fees from participants to hold the event, but then gets public agencies to clean up their mess after the event. Clear standards must be set when similar events are held in the future, local residents say.
Now in its fourth consecutive year, the marathon is held at night to allow participants to take in the beautiful scenery of Anping District and try Tainan’s fine foods. The scope of the event grows every year. Even with 15,000 slots available for the marathon, that limit is reached as soon as registration starts. A lot of people from outside counties and cities bring their families to the event and travel agencies even offer travel packages for the event, making it one of the nation’s most coveted recreational marathons.
Photo: Tsai Wen-chu, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者蔡文居
Due to the massive scope of the marathon, the organizer asked the Greater Tainan Government to be a co-sponsor. Out of consideration for promoting tourism and encouraging athletics, the local government provided exclusive rights to use the roads, traffic police and even helped clean up the area afterwards. Related problems, however, have already caused controversy.
Some people are suspicious about the rules for participating in the marathon. For example, a fee of NT$1,000 must be paid to run the full marathon or NT$500 to run in the leisure division. According to data released by the government, more than 12,000 people signed up to run the full marathon, while 5,000 registered to run half of the marathon. More than NT$10 million (US$333,000) in revenue was generated from registration fees alone, which is still a substantial amount even after the prize money and gift prizes are deducted.
Even though the organizer had over a thousand volunteers, the police were still largely relied upon for traffic safety. The area where the event was held is under the jurisdiction of the local police bureau’s Fourth Precinct, which mobilized every officer to help control traffic from noon July 12 to midnight. After the event finished on July 13, a lot of paper and other litter was left on the streets, which the DEP helped remove. This is the same as taxpayers paying for the event.
Photo: Wang Chun-chung, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者王俊忠
Lin Yin-hsia, president of the event’s organizer Starlight Marathon Association, says that all of the organizers are local Tainan residents who are enthusiastic about running, and that the group is not a profit-seeking organization. The event also collaborates with groups representing the underprivileged, Lin says, adding that NT$500,000 in donations was raised in collaboration with the Eden Social Welfare Foundation during the event this year. In the future the association will consider continuing to allocate funding to develop athletics locally to give back to society, Lin says.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
超過一萬七千人參加的安平星光馬拉松賽，七月十二日下午開跑後，原訂晚間十一點結束，但直到隔天凌晨，還有選手未返回集合點，員警勤務也延長到十二點，引起抱怨。此外，活動在馬路上留下大批垃圾，七月十三日環保局還動員人力清理，遭民眾質疑，業者收費辦活動，卻要公部門幫忙善後，日後有類似活動時，應該訂出規範。
已連續第四年舉辦的安平星光馬拉松賽，利用晚間舉行，除可欣賞安平美景外，還可品嘗台南美食，規模越辦越大，名額雖有一萬五千個，但一開放報名，立即「秒殺」，不少外縣市民眾更是攜家帶眷參加，甚至有旅遊業者開發套裝行程，儼然成為國內具指標性的休閒馬拉松活動。
由於路跑規模龐大，主辦單位邀請市府協辦，考量推展觀光、帶動運動風氣，市府提供申請路權、交通維護，甚至協助環境整理，但衍生的問題已引發議論。
有民眾質疑，根據參賽規則，參加全馬者報名費一千元，參加健康組報名費五百元，以官方公布的報名人數，全馬有一萬兩千多人報名，半馬有五千人報名，單單報名費收入即有一千多萬元，扣除提供參賽者的獎品及參賽禮，也是一筆不小的收入。
此外，活動期間，業者雖然找了一千多名志工，但主要交通維護還是仰賴警察。據了解，活動主場地轄區四分局還全面停休，從七月十二日中午管制到深夜十二點，活動結束後，截至七月十三日為止，路面留下不少紙屑垃圾，也是由環保局代為清理，形同「全民買單」。
主辦單位星光馬拉松協會理事長林吟霞表示，她們是一群熱愛路跑的台南在地民眾組成，並非營利團體，活動也會與弱勢團體合作，今年就和伊甸基金會現場聯合勸募，並募得五十萬元，日後不排除持續撥出經費，發展地方體育，回饋社會。
（自由時報記者黃文鍠）
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