Allegations of cheating have marred the Jeddah Marathon held here Tuesday, with organizers only announcing the results Wednesday after verifying the winners in each category. At the end of the race, complaints were heard that some of the participants had cheated and were not present at the starting point. “There are road referees stationed at each kilometer of the race,” said Ismail Gassan, president of the jury committee. “They register the numbers of all racers as they pass by. At the end of the race we collect these numbers and see if the winner passed by all the referees' stations. This makes it impossible for anyone to cheat.” The race started at the beginning of the Corniche road and ended at Rawshan Mall next to Earth Roundabout. The winners will be announced at the Al-Bir Charity Society where Prince Misha'l Bin Majed, Governor of Jeddah, will crown the winners. There were more than 5,000 participants from nine different countries, including 100 people with special needs. The race program included four categories: disabled (3 km), students aged under 15 years (5km), students aged under 18 years (5 km) and the professionals (15 km). The organizing committee said that this year's race was better organized, especially with regard to crowd control. “The racers could run along the race area freely with no obstacles in their way, which made it easier for the organizing committee,” said Mahmoud Dukhtan, a member of the organizing committee. “As you can see the spectators are now kept behind fences that were made especially for this purpose. The large number of spectators is a sign that the public is aware of the importance of activities involving the disabled,” he said.
