They said that nobody is a loser, everybody is a winner ❤️ There is more than a thousand participants signing up for this event and this is my second year joining the 50 hours non-stop run, last year’s run just seems so recent! ?

[Distance and Route]

50 hours non stop run does not means running non stop for 50 hours, can anybody actually really do that? ? It’s a event from 9am of 14th April to 16th April 11am, ongoing for 50 hours. The runners can complete the amount of distance they registered for within 50 hours, which means, no matter day or night, rain or shine, with some runners running up to 64.5km. The run is held at Bedok Reservoir and each loop is around 4.3km, which means that some of the runners will be running many loops around Bedok Reservoir with the same scenery.

[Registration Fee]

Comparing to the recent running events which I went to with the registration fee costing between $50-$100 for long distances, this registration fee of $20 for running up to 43km and $30 up to 64.5km seems really cheap but can’t really compare lah, this is a non-competitive run and it’s organised by Tampines West Community Sports Club, usually running events organised by them are rather affordable ? I think in July or August there’s a Coney Island 6km run also organised by them and the registration fee is $15 inclusive of medals and entitlements such as event tee.

[Entitlement]

For runners running lesser than 3 loops will not be getting any medal. Runners will get their first medal after 3 loops, the second medal after 6 loops and the third medal after 10 loops. So if the runners doesn’t want to run so much, can just complete 3 loops to collect 1 medal or 6 loops to collect 2 medals. Runners who signed up for the 64.5km will have a total of 4 medals and a finisher tee. Other race entitlement includes the event T-shirtby Compressport, there’s personalised race bib, a card for us to stamp at the start and end of every loop for our attendance. I think the medals is really exceptionally chio especially because it’s hard earn medals! And the finishers of 64.5km will get a exclusive finisher tee! ? The stamp card is really one of the most precious item with us, we will get a stamp on the start and end of each loop. Heard that there’s people who cheated to complete by taking bus. What for? ?

[Route]

Each loop around Bedok Reservoir is 4.3km, terrain is flat and not easy to run on as it’s sand and gravel. Not much of scenery to see along the route maybe the park walkers walking their dogs are more interesting. I find that the moonlight shadow on the Reservoir is a beauty in the night. Not easy to run in the night though there’s lamp posts as it’s still rather dark.

[My experience]

(Photo Credits: Tan Kim Lai)

Simply broke my record of covering a distance of 64.5km in 2 days! Overall this is a good run run walk walk event for me. I enjoyed my friends companionship and chit chattings. There were two water points, 1 of the water point closes after 6pm but there’s quite a few water cooler within the Reservoir itself already and what’s good is that the organizer make the effort to provide chilled water and Lucozade for the runners ? There’s portable toilet at the event site and it’s a park so there’s multiple toilets around where we don’t need to be worried of no toilets or what if we need toilet breaks.

(Photo Credits: Wan Marshall Datuk)

I signed up for the 64.5km category and split up my runs into 3 visits because I’m not so hardcore to finish it all at once. But it’s so troublesome for me to get to Bedok Reservoir as I live in the North. The time I took for taking public transport there is like 1.5 hours ?

It’s a public holiday on Friday morning, my friends and I were there for the flag off which is on time at 9am. There were many familiar runners from the running community and it’s nice to see them ? The ☀️ is already hung up high in the sky and my friends and I were praying for good weather and for the sun to be hiding behind the clouds but no. It’s really hot and it’s really tough to run in such a hot and humid weather that Sabrina and I decided that 3 loops is really enough and we don’t want get ourselves burnt so went for brunch at Mcdonalds and decided to come back in the evening to see if we can complete the rest of the 12 loops

I rarely run at a timing when the sun is out and glaring and I don’t even have a sunglass for sports or running and simply grab and bring along a pair of sunglass I can find which make me feel a slight headache after the first loop and decided to carry it with me to run since I left my bag at a sheltered resting area with the rest of the runners. Thank you Lily for the fruits and helping us keep a look out for our belongings ?

(Photo Credits: Kim C Runner)

There’s no baggage deposits available but there’s a tentage where runners can put their belonging but nobody is responsible in looking after our belongings. Just don’t bring valuables and have to trust that Singapore is a safe place and all people who goes to the park and all runners are nice people ?

(Picture taken on the first night after completing Rey’s final loop making him a finisher of 64.5km, an ultra-marathoner ?)

My 64.5km is all run walk run walk as I really lack of the motivation to run or because I have eaten too full for dinner. Maybe it’s the repeating of the loops that make the run torturous or that I get bored already. Maybe it’s the long distance or maybe it’s the no timing chips on the race bib. But still there’s rankings for finishers that complete the distances. On that evening when I went down I only manage to complete 5 more loops which I have a balance of 7 more loops to complete the next day ?

(Photo Credits: Tampines West CSC)

On the second night, I went together with Willis, with me a balance of 7 loops to complete and him with 9 loops. We reach there at almost 11pm and we had that in mind to finish it if not we need to go home and come back again on Sunday morning rushing to complete before 11am. When we reach the event site, more than 200 runners have already completed 64.5km! ?? One of the volunteers said that more than 400 runners had actually signed up for th 64.5km category. We run together, having our chit chat dating run and walk. I must really that all the volunteers, it’s in the middle of the night and they are still so energetic and cheering for us, encouraging us to carry on with motivating words such as “we will be here, just the last few rounds! Keep going!”

Though I was two loops ahead of Willis at first but he manage to catch up with me with a loop while I rest and though I had completed my final lap and should get my finisher medals and finisher tee, I hang on and accompanied Willis for his final lap so I completed 68.8km, 16 laps to be exact! It’s tiring but I know it’s the last few kilometres that’s the toughest to complete and I hope my presence and companionship had made it easier for him ❤️

My last year’s experience at 50 hours non stop run is over here ?

I took part in the 50 Hour Non Stop Run 2017 organised by Tampines West CSC. This was their 3rd year organising but my first time participating. It was originated in 2015 as part of SG50 celebrations. Such an interesting event! 

Runners are given 50 hours to complete 10 loops around Bedok Reservoir Park which is equivalent to 43KM (each loop is 4.3KM). This year, they added a more challenging category of 15 loops (64.5KM)! Sounds crazy but there were many people who signed up for it and actually completed it within a day. We can choose to break it into 2 or 3 days within the event period (9.00AM on 14th April to 11.00AM on 16th April). It’s completely up to us.

43KM and 64.5KM are considered ultra marathon distances. But because there are 50 hours to complete it so the pressure is much reduced. Still, I did not have the courage to take up 15 loops and only signed up for 10 loops. Price was reasonable and affordable and we get a bright coloured running t-shirt.

There were 3 medals runners could receive each after completing 3rd loop (12.9KM Bronze), 6th loop (25.8KM Silver) and 10th loop (43KM Gold). And of course, 15th loop (64.5KM) finishers will receive an extra medal (a different design) and a mystery gift which I just found out on event day that it was a finisher shirt! How nice.

This event is a fun run event though the distances are ultra long as we can run at our own pace and time looping Bedok Reservoir. It was indeed a weekend well spent for many avid runners doing what they love. Sports drink and water were provided though they were not cold.

Participants were given a race card each to record the number of loops completed. As it was a fun run, there was no timing chip given. We needed to carry the card with us the whole time we were running and get it stamped at the starting/ending point after completing every loop. This method could be quite a hassle because we need to be careful not to lose the card. My sister felt pressurised because she was afraid to lose the card. We needed to repeat the action of taking out the card from our waist pouch to get it stamped and put it back in over and over again.

Another suggestion I could think of is to use a special type of wristband to let runners wear on the wrist after completing each loop. So at the end of 10 loops, they will have 10 wristbands on their wrists. Just like the ancient method of using rubber bands to record the number of laps run when there was no timing chip technology available yet. Organiser can consider that.

My running buddies a.k.a my siblings and I decided to finish the run within a day. We started at 9.00AM on the first day and the sun was burning hot! We ran and walked under the hot sun till 1.30PM before stopping for lunch break. While having lunch, it started to rain. Thanks to the rain, weather was much cooler after that and we could continue to run without having to wait till sunset.

So we walked and ran loops after loops while enjoying the beautiful scenery. Also, applying Counter Pain cream on the legs because our legs were seriously screaming for help.

On my 9th loop, my Garmin watch started to warn me of low battery. I was pretty worried if the watch would die and then my record would be all gone. I just charged it to full power the day before to get ready for this run. So I just ran non stop and refused to walk because I wanted to complete it quick so that I could save the distance clocked. I received warning message again and again and when I reached the end of my 9th lap, I decided to continue my last and final lap without stopping for break. I carried on running my final lap and praying hard my watch would not die so soon. Finally the distance showed 43KM and I decided to just stop it and save, though there was still about another 200 meters to go. I walked this 200 meters to the end point. Seriously a mental and physical torture but I felt accomplished and enjoyed it!

I collected all my 3 medals together and was asked to stand at the counter panel for a photo. I was the 112 runner to complete 10 laps. Happy and contented. I went to sit down and waited for my siblings to finish. 

So I ran my first ever full marathon and beyond in a fun setting. It gave me the assurance and readiness to run my first classic full marathon by the end of the year. Keep running!

The Teh Tarik Run, I believe is the first of its kind in the world and I was part of it today. The run took place at East Coast Park (near the seafood center). My boyfriend and I arrived at the race venue at 6.45 am as instructed in the race guide and we took a few photos while waiting for the flag-off.

How this run was conducted was that we would all fill up our tik-gongs (metal cans) with teh tarik first before running a 1 km lap. This process will be repeated 4 times as we finish 4 laps of 1 km. It sounded pretty rough at first… because I mean who would like running with liquid sloshing inside their stomach? But still, I thought the concept was really cool and wanted to give it a try. Plus they promised a buffet at the end of it… so all the more I should go right? 🙂

We filled up our tik-gongs with teh tarik and drank after we shouted ‘yum seng’ (cheers) together with the rest of the runners at the event and we also sang the national anthem. We were flagged-off at 7.30 am sharp. The distance felt rather short actually because we had to U-turn back to where we filled up our tik-gongs and then start another lap again. So it was basically round and round. It was a relaxing run on a Sunday morning. There was minimal uphills and downhills. There were a few occasions when we had to stop for passing cyclists but that was okay since we were sharing the park with them anyways~ Everyone was cooperative and friendly towards each other.

My run was however disrupted on a few occasions due to participants who walked on the path. As this is a fun run, there will be some who would walk throughout the whole course and it’s okay. But what they shouldn’t do was to walk side-by-side of each other and block up the entire path. The path was rather wide and they still managed to block it. People had to try to squeeze in between them to get through. But they still didn’t move to the side and continued, which I felt was very inconsiderate. It’s time that the organizers of runs remind people of the running etiquette that walkers should keep left. We have to make people aware of such running etiquette so as to make these runs more pleasant for everyone as this is not an isolated case. Hence I fell that the organizers of races can help by reminding everyone by either mentioning it in their race guides or on the day itself before flag-off. It will definitely help a lot.

Anyways, my boyfriend and I ended the run with a sprint towards the finishing line. We just did it for fun actually since the path was rather empty. We then went to collect our finisher tik gongs.

We waited for awhile to cool ourselves down before heading to the photo booth for some fun shots and then off we went for the buffet! We were so excited about the buffet. He was excited for prata and I was excited about potong! The queue for the food was rather fast although with limited choices like dried noodles, bee hoon and porridge. There were more teh for us but I had enough of teh so I bought bottled water at $1.50. Imagine our disappointment when we saw the food choices because there was no prata and potong in sight 🙁 The organizer did explain to us that they did not have enough pratas to go around and there was something wrong with the potong delivery (?) I couldn’t hear clearly because it was too noisy. But in short, we are not having pratas and potongs. The crews were really apologetic about it and so yeah… we didn’t blame them.

Overall, the run was really enjoyable. The organizers and volunteers were really friendly people and that made the experience 10 times better. There were lots of photographers at the event too! Which was really cool! We kept smiling for the camera 🙂 And needless to say, there were more than enough hydration points. Although I wonder how much can teh help in hydration…

Because this has been such an enjoyable run with really friendly and fun volunteers, I will definitely keep a look out for other events that they will be organizing. Good job guys 🙂

PS. Just in case you all are curious how the race pack looked like, here’s a photo!

I know most people write race reviews based on paid events, but why not choose one of the many varied, free to enter races that happen in Singapore? That’s because there aren’t many… but wait, what’s this, a running event that’s free? Yes, West Coast Parkrun.

Parkrun started in 2004 when 13 friends decided to hold a timed 5km race in Bushy park near London. In the proceeding 13 years it has spread to 14 countries, from the USA to Singapore. Once just 13 runners, there are now over 2.1million runners in the movement and over 23 million Parkruns have taken place globally with 112 million kilometres being run, pretty impressive eh?

What is surprising, however, is the event is totally free. No registration fee and no 2 hour long queues to collect your race pack. – WHAT LAH??? you ask, no goody bag?

Absolutely, there is no free running vest, no medal, no finishers-T and no hydration stops (not that you need them… it’s only 5km for heavens sake….man up!) Actually, if I am honest, there is a free T shirt… once you have completed 50 races. The hydration stop is the McDonalds, where everybody meets afterwards to chat and replenish the calories with greasy cardboard disguised as food.

The event, held in both the East Coast park and the West Coast park every Saturday morning at 7:30am, is 100% run by willing unpaid volunteers and it is the West Coast park that we focus on here.

Each week a volunteer will be the race director, organising marshals, timekeepers, photographers and token distribution (the way you get your time). They meet in the middle of West Coast park, close to the McDonalds and after a short briefing at 7:30am, the group head off to the start line for the 5 km figure of eight course. As most of the attendees are keen runners, the group naturally organises themselves into fastest at the front (a welcome diversion from the usual chaos that is the start of runs like the Sundown). The timekeeper shouts go and… off they race.

Speed is the order of the day, every week some runners may finish under 20min for 5km, this week 6 runners finished under the magical 20min mark. This week, the crowd numbered 90 runners but can vary from 60 to well over 100. There is no maximum time for the event and there is always a tail runner to make sure they leave no-one behind. Some weekends people walk the course (just like most half marathons in Singapore then eh?). The organisation welcomes anybody and no age limit applies, juniors are welcome, although under 11 year olds must run with a parent.

The course is more challenging than the East Coast Parkrun with more elevation and twists and turns. This is borne out by my PB for West Coast being 30 seconds slower than the East Coast. The figure of eight course is enjoyable and at that time in the morning, the paths have yet to fill up with wobbly cyclists and unruly dog walkers, which easies the route somewhat. At the finish line your time is recorded and you receive a tag, which you scan, along with your personal barcode (which you receive online when you register). Within a short time, you receive an email with your position, time, age related statistics and whether you managed a PB. As I write, my wife is dancing around pleased with her new PB this morning (I put it down to the $200 new runners I bought her last week).

One fantastic feature of the global phenomenon is, it doesn’t matter which park run you are at, your barcode is valid. Every week West Coast Parkrun plays host to so-called “Parkrun tourists” (yes, it really is a thing) that travel the world seeking out the local Parkruns to add to their online stats. I have made many friends through the organisation and even taken Singapore tourists around the city sightseeing after the run (once I’ve had a shower of course).

If you want an excuse not to get drunk on Friday night, or you want a hangover cure on Saturday morning, go down to West Coast Parkrun and join the fun.

Oh, I forgot the runner’s entitlements:

• Friendship
• Fun
• A sense of achievement
• A reason to get out of bed
• A chance to be a member of the largest running family in the world

… medal and finsher-T collectors, need not apply.

> Official website