Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2016

So here I am, finally getting down to writing the last race of 2016 :) I guess it didn't took me that long since it's April now? Okay actually will be entering May in few days time so I did took quite a few months to get this post up. 

SCMS 2016 was my 8th and also last race of 2016.  

Back to the running streak after being not so active at it in 2015 due to wedding preparation and etc.

It definitely feels good to be actively involved in races once again.  

Skipped a year of SCMS so this was the 2nd time running SCMS. Credits to my company for the free race slot so here I am joining the race once again.

My company give out limited free race slots every year (on a first time first serve basis) and I do pray it continue this way.

#flatlay of my race gear for the last race of 2016

Derp and I reached there slightly early to secure a parking slot as SCMS have always been the biggest race of the year, which also meant lots of people participating in the race. 

While waiting to the starting line, we spotted this group of cosplayers. 

The sunrise was breathtaking that very day. 

Everyone was busy snapping lots of photo with the beautiful sunrise.

A #welfie taken with the sunrise at the background. 

Pre-race mandatory shot

More pics taken while waiting for the race to flag off. This was by far my favorite sunrise shot so far ;) 

We waited till the sun was fully out before we finally passed the starting line.

There were many waves as usual and we were probably in the 4th/5th batch.

Almost reaching the starting line after what seems like forever, and the clouds were so beautiful that morning!

The race route was different from the previous years due to the change in organizer.

I would say the new 10km route is better and it wasn't as human congested as compare to the previous year that I've joined. Nothing much to complain about with sufficient water points.

My body condition that day was way better than during GEWR 2016 hence I was few mins off from my personal best timing.

More post race pics below..

#selfie with the last medal of the year! It's finally over :)  

Sweaty us with our medals. 

Yay to completing the last race of 2016 :)

Unofficial result

I took more than 1 hour 20 minutes for my previous SCMS so this was definitely an improvement. 

Not forgetting we actually ran for more than the stated 10KM. 

We waited for Derp's Brother and his wife (my BIL and SIL) to finish the race and took a finisher pic with them then.

All the medals collected in 2016. 

Only showing 7 medals here because I forgot to include the  New Balance Run 2016 medal.

Opps! Totally forgot about it. 

There were quite a few nice looking official pic from the race but the one below is my favourite.

Because buying the official race photos was way too expensive so this was the best I can get. 

That's all for my 2016 races. It has been a good race year. And I hope in 2017, it will be a even better race year with better timing :)

Hello Kitty Run 2015

Hello Kitty Run 2015 was my last race of 2015. I can't believe I chose a fun run as my last race but I've no choice but to give SCMS a miss this year so to make up for it, I went for Hello Kitty Run! #betterthannothing

Oh well, at the very least it's a no stress and no frills run. While I was clearing leave during the December period, the flu bug kept coming for me on and off after my wedding. So no doubt, I was running this race with a flu :( Since I've already paid so much for this race so I won't give it a miss despite the occasionally water-tap nose. 

Derp collected the race pack on my behalf. I'm surprised to see so many goodies in the racepack, not forgetting the very cute shoe bag :)

Some racepack collection photos Derp took to show me while he was collecting my racepack..

There wasn't any crowd despite it being lunch time and there were lots of counters.

I did buy the towel and could not collect it yet because it's not available. Derp then helped me to collect on the race day itself while waiting for me to finish the race :) 

19/12/2015 - Hello Kitty Run 2015

#flatlay taken hours before the race commence.

On race day, I can't really remember what's the first flag off timing but I think it was around 6+pm. It was a evening run and I do remember I was late to make it to the first / second wave of runners. There were a total of 5 flag off waves.

However, there was a massive human congestion going on while making I was making my way to the race pen. 

Massive human jam! 

Took the chance to take some photos before squeezing through the human jam to get to the race pen.

Enjoying the sunset while waiting for flag off. Can't believe the sun is already setting by the time we start the race.

#welfie with my race buddy of the day while waiting for flag off. It's my SIL's first race :)

It was a long wait before the flag off. We belonged to the 4th wave or final wave of runners (can't really remember) and Hello Kitty did came out to dance and greet the runners. 

I do find the mascots kind of dirty and a bit too skinny already. Need to pump it up more haha and they ought to have a good bath! 

Yay to the finishing line and I confirmed the race was more than 5km. I'm not the only one who noticed it because there's others around me who on their runkeeper. 

Oh well running/walking more means burning more calories so nothing bad about it! 

My first race with my more-than-a-decade-long girl friend haha! Didn't even know she's participating in this race but that's because she wanted to get the HK's medal and soft toy for her sister.

Yay to completng her first race!

Dedicating this medal to Derp and hope that his leg will recover soon so that we can run together again.

One group pic taken by the official photographer. The official photographer see us trying very hard to take a #welfie actually so he offered his help lol.  

Overall the race was quite enjoyable and well organized despite the huge amount of people attending. I believed the organizers have learnt from their past mistakes and made the 2015 race a better one. 

But anyway it should be called Hello Kitty Walk instead of run because the amount of people walking is definitely more than those who were running.The route was alright despite many parts of the route were blocked by public visiting those areas and we are bound to bump into them. 

Doubt I'll join the 2016 one( if there's one) because joining it once in my life time is more than enough to gain that experience because I'm not that a big Hello Kitty fan afterall.

That's all for the last episode of my running journey in 2015. More to come in 2016! 

Great Eastern Women's Run 2015

It's my 3rd time joining GEWR and yes I can't believe it's my 3rd GE run! GEWR was my first 10km 3 years back and I have never stop participating in it since then. It's one of the must-join race every year because of it's great welfare and how organized the race has always been. 

What makes it more special this year is because this year is their 10th year anniversary. Hence they are giving out a very pretty memento tee for all the participants on top of their usual running singlet :) 

The racepack collection was held weeks before the race day and it was held at Suntec. 

I went on the 2nd day of the racepack collection and the queue was super long. It took me more than 1/2 hour to get the race pack. But at the very least, the queue was always moving hence we can't feel we were standing there for too long. Poor Derp have to queue and wait for me so I treated him to dinner after the GE race pack collection. 

The queue extend till the outside of Suntec. 

Almost getting in to the mall after more than 15 mins..

Finally almost there after 20 minutes of queuing outside Suntec

The goodies in the racepack. 

GEWR never fail to pamper all their runners with lots of goodies :) 

I love the memento tee the most! 

On race day, I was late opps! Can't really remember what's the reason but I didn't make it to the first wave of the flag off. Was a little sad because I wasn't early enough to join the pacers till the finishing line but oh well, I can only depend on myself then. 

Despite being late, still need to take the mandatory shot haha! 

While waiting for flag off.. 

Spotted the sunrise which greeted us that morning. Yay to a #hazefree run :) 

Having ran the route for the 3rd time, it was something not new to me. The only challenge is always about beating the sun before it come out. This is the challenge for every morning race. Hence the last few km was the most torturing part of the race. 

The first 5km was a breeze but I didn't make it to my personal best timing. I decide to just listen to my body and enjoy the process since a PB is getting further and further as I progress each km. 

I know Derp was there waiting for me at the usual spot, waving to me during the last few hundred meters. Since he got a camera phone now, he also took photos of me heading towards the finishing point haha! 

#likeahappybird finishing the race for the 3rd time :) 

Changed into my memento tee and took pic. The truth is the running singlet was all wet haha! 

With Derp who have been with me throughout these 3 years of GEWR

The one who joins GEWR without fail every year even though we always ran different cat. 

2013, 2014 and 2015 

I must say this year medal is very chio because it's gold plated.  

The only official finisher pic I have this time round. Okay I definitely look better during GEWR2014, when the photographers were not located at only the finishing point. It's not easy to look good after running nearly 10km. 

Truth to be told, I was only 2 minutes away from my PB. Oh well, there's always a next time to clock a PB but I must say this is the best 10km done this year. I'm looking forward to more GE races in the near future. 

2XU Compression Run 2015

2XU Compression run was supposed to be held on the last weekend of March but however due to the state funeral of Mr LKY, the run was postponed.

I've very much wanted to run this race because it's my very first 2XU run. I'm glad that we were able to make it for the postpone run as it doesn't clash with our schedule.

The racepack collection was held wayback in mid of March at Velocity @ Novena. The queue for the racepack collection was really long and especially so for the half marathons runner. The 10km racepack collection queue was much shorter hence I managed to collect my racepack within 15 minutes.

And as expected from big races, there's nothing special inside the racepack except for the nice looking race singlet and good quality shoebag. 

The race was rescheduled to 2nd of August(1 week after my Shape Run). The starting point was changed due to the ongoing national day rehearsals. The starting point was located opposite Marina Barrage and they advised us to walk from Marina Barrage to the starting point. 

It was quite a long walk but the beautiful sunrise that morning made one forget about the distance but rather, everyone is enjoying the sunrise. I spot many people taking selfie or welfie with the nice background. 

The beautiful sunrise 

We were slightly late for the race because there was a massive human jam on the way to the starting point. 

Reason being, the half marathon runners who have completed the race were walking back to Marina Barrage whereas 10km runners were making their way to the starting point. And on another lane, it's for the 21km runners who were running back. The narrow lane was divided up into 3 lanes. 

Despite the race being postponed, what surprises me most were the large turnout for the race even though runners were allow to collect their medal if they do not wish to run the race anymore. Oh well, I believe runners will prefer to run to earn the hard earned medal rather than doing nothing and collect the medal.

Late for the race but still want to take a photo before the race start haha.

The beautiful sky that greeted us before we reached the starting point. 

The race route was nothing new to us except for the 4KM inside ECP. Having run so many races, this is actually the first race which I joined that cut through ECP (I know many local races have route which passes through ECP but I've no fate with them).

The view was really scenic despite the sorching sun. The downside of having a race which starts after 7:30am will be to endure the heat.

Passing through ECP

The return route was pretty unbearable for me because of the heat from the sun. I was't out to aim for a personal best this race because I treat this as a recovery run and some quality pak tor time with Derp :) Afterall, we hardly run together these days and it's usually me out pounding the pavements alone on normal days.

The timing that we gotten was kind of expected because I usually achieve this kind of timing under normal hot weather haha. #nopbnevermind

We were given a wet towel to wipe ourselves after we crossed the finishing line. There's a place for you to return to and it got us wondering do they recycle the towels? haha! And that's after we use it so it's kind of late to do anything.

It's the first time I was given a wet towel instead of a normal towel after the race. We collected our medals and water quite swiftly and took some photos before heading to take the free shuttle bus to City Hall MRT. 

His first race after 5 months. 

Yay to completing another race. 

A #welfie and we barely can open our eyes. 

Another #welfie 

Thanks to the passerby for helping us to take the photo 

We walked back to Marina Barrage to queue for the shuttle bus to City Hall. Yay to free shuttle service to save our trouble.

One more medal added to our collection 

The offical timing. 

I started the race 10 minutes after flag off. Many runners were caught up with the massive human jam so there was not a need for multiple flag offs. I heard that there were 4 to 5 flag off for the half marathon runners. We were quite lucky in the sense but to start a race at such a late timing only create disadvantage to the runners. 

Pictures that I've gotten from Running Shots

Thank you for the nicely taken photos :) 

p/s: My thigh muscles look kind of scary in the last photo.

Overall the 2XU Compression Run was a successful event despite the postpone of date and etc. There were still a large turn out and everything went on as usual. Kudos to them for pressing on to make the race happen. I won't mind joining 2XU compression run again if their race singlet continues to look as good :)

We are taking a short hiatus (or should I say I am since Derp don't have race for the rest of the year) from races this few months due to the wedding prep.

Till the next race then!