This year is the first time that I join the 2XU (think is read as two times you instead of 2.X.U(?)) compression run. A very mainstream popular run, and definitely a very crowded one.  Almost everyone should have heard of this run before.

This time round, paid S$63 for the registration of the 21km (half marathon), which was the early bird price. For that, I got 3 different types of wearable and a finisher medal. A singlet (which normally all runs will provide), a finisher tee (which was specifically for 21km runners who finish the race) and a polo tee, which was something new, at least to me. So technically I am paying S$63 for 3 wearables, a finisher medal, some vouchers (which usually I dont really use it) and an experience to run around the CBD and Gardens by the Bay area, which I myself never tried doing (I always see people running/training around those areas during weekdays evening time) as I do not have a place to store my personal belongings. If there ever was a way, I would always like to try. Do let me know if how you guys store your belongings while you run around CBD/MBS/Gardens by the Bay area! Back from the side track, for that price it was a quite worth it! Initially I thought the polo tee would be made of cotton but when I got it, I am totally in love with it because I personally love dri-fit material which they use it for running shirts and the polo tee is made from that! Which makes this S$63 even more worth it! Materials for all 3 wearables looks and feel good, doesnt feel cheap! On top of that, 2XU actually open up some of their older models sports wear and selling it at a discount and if you have not know already, 2XU is a company that design, development and sell sports apparel. So if you are talking about the worthyness of the price paid for this run, I can say its really worth it.

Lots of people complain about the queue for the collections of the race entry pack. But it is because lots of people is collecting their race entry pack on the first day of collection due to lots of them are joining the Sundown Marathon, which happens on the 2nd day of collection. As you can see, the 2nd and 3rd day of collection has almost no queue, which I personally do not understand what is the complain about. But what i was really impressed is that 2XU actually organised a second race entry pack collection! I would say not many organiser would make such an effort. Thumbs up!

Next, about the run. Insanely CROWDED! I was quite surprise when I saw how many people is running for the 21km run. My impression would be that more will be going for the 10km, but I guess lots of people go for the 21km is for the finisher tee, which is only entitled to 21km runners. They release the runners wave by wave, which is good… but could be better I feel. Example like the Sundown Marathon, runners are categorise in 3 types of waves. The fastest runner, the faster runner and finally the fast runner. To my personal preference I prefer that way so everyone can enjoy the run at their own comfort pace. Oh well, in the end I waited for my wave to be release, which I think I waited for a good half an hour (?). I do understand that it is to prevent the route to be too crowded and for a better experience for everyone so not really complaining, just saying.

So off I go.. until the 1km or 2km mark (?) when everyone just started to slow down and walk due to narrow road and overcrowding. I encounter this “slow down and walk due to narrow road and overcrowding” issue a few times during the run, which I am kind of disappointed. I did not have this issue during Sundown Marathon (which I too join the 21km run). Not really sure what really was the issue (road is too narrow or overcrowding), but hopefully it could be better. The route was a good experience except that I hate running along the Marina East Drive, which was a long stretch road that feels never ending. Sundown Marathon had this route too. Personally I love to look around my environment when I run so to enjoy the view, but Marina East Drive has nothing… like really nothing to see. To make things worst, 2XU route have you run that road to East Coast Park, and back again! So two times boredom. Oh well, just my personal feel, no offence!

At the end of the race, collections of the medal and the finisher tee was fast, which usually is from my experience. There was a race village but it was usually really crowded (for all races), so I would personally skip it.

The whole running experience was good overall. There is so many water points (Think was every 1.5km there is a water point (?)) which I feel very impressed. Everything is well managed and organised (From race entry pack collections to organising transport)! All in all, this was a good run and experience for me. Racing off to the next run!

Running marathons and 1/2 marathons in Singapore is a love/hate relationship. On the positive side: they attract a huge amount of attendees which makes the event huge. On the negative side: they attract a huge amount of attendees, which makes the event huge!

I love running in large events, I like the atmosphere. In Europe there are thousands of spectators, which makes it extra special. In Singapore due to the ungodly hour, the flag off occurs, any sane person is in bed, not supporting me sweat around 21km of compressed bodies. Therefore spectators are limited, so much so, that they often don’t even allow you near the finish line to watch! (Sundown take note).

But who needs spectators when you have over 21,000 other runners to cheer you on, or play terrible music on Bluetooth speakers or entertain you with their inappropriate sudden stops to take yet another selfie of a km marker. This event was big, really big, which is not a problem normally, but the rather unusual first-come first-served method of start pen allocation at the 2XU meant that you had to be there 1.5 hours before flag off, for any chance of getting a PB. I’m not particularly fast and despite being at the start of pen three, I still had to overtake over 500 people to get to an area of free running.

The positives. The bag collection was not as traumatic as many runs in Singapore, I personally don’t think anybody should queue to pick up a bib, T shirt and a pile of waste paper for a longer time period than it takes to run 42km! With only a 15 min queue for the race pack, I was pleasantly surprised.

The course was very pretty, especially the run around the bay at the end, I thought they tried their best to come up with a good course considering they didn’t really close any major roads. The hydration stops were plentiful and the water was sometimes cold! Although I would question the sense in putting hydration point with 2km from the start – come on people, your muscles haven’t even warmed up by then!

The points for improvement. The bottlenecks! Oh the bottlenecks. Come on 2XU, you make enough money from these events, close a couple of roads at least to stop crazy bottlenecks. On several occasions I had to slow down and even had to walk on two occasions to get through a narrow gap. Nobody should be forced to walk on a 1/2 marathon, that’s why we pay an entrance fee! Also don’t choose to put a hydration point at a narrow point in the course – that’s just asking for trouble!

I appreciate that many Singaporeans take part in these events for the bling, we all love a medal or two and a 42Km or 21km finishers T is always useful for bragging without actually bragging (although that’s what you are doing). But can we please get the organisers of these events to stop loading the runner’s entitlements to such crazy proportions. This event bagged you a vest, a polo shirt and a finishers T, all of which were not normal 2XU compression quality and I will probably never wear again. My wife and I probably do over 18 x half and full marathons a year between us, my wardrobe can’t take any more running gear! A runner’s entitlement should be hydration, a closed road or two, quality timing chip and maybe a medal. Stop telling us the vest you give us is worth $49, it’s not, it’s mass produced and not to your normal brand quality! Rant over.

Finally a plea to fellow runners. I am a big believer in taking part. Every top marathon runner started off with a 5km jog. It’s the taking part that means something, you will never be the fastest (Mo Farrah this was not aimed at you). However, PLEASE, if you are going to walk, or stop for selfies, move to the left, before you slow down. It will stop a little bald 49 year old man piling into the back of you at speed! If you are doing the run with a group of friends and are going to walk any of the route. DON’T walk in a line across the route, unless you don’t mind runners smashing into you and knocking your phone out of your hand mid-selfie. These are simple request that reduce congestion and make everyone enjoy the event that little bit more.

Don’t be KIASU in the 2XU.

Overall, one of the better runs in Singapore. We rarely do the same runs twice in Singapore, preferring to travel to Europe or elsewhere in Asia (too many wonderful runs in too many wonderful places to do the same one twice) but I would consider the 2XU again next year, sort out the start pens, widen the course and reduce the T shirt allocation and you have a deal, Mister 2XU.

“Let Your Heart Set the Pace” is this year 2XU Compression Run tagline and I did just that! I was determined to get a good timing and achieved my personal best at this year 2XU Compression Run! This is one of my favourite runs and I have been joining it almost every year (2013,2014 & 2016) and this is my 4th one to date. I participated in the 5km category this year.

What I love about this run event are the following:

• Nice Event Tee – Over the years, 2XU had some of the nicest event tees. I love the flattering cut of their tees and the colour combination is just sooo pretty! For 2017, the combination was black & rose gold trimmings! I love rose gold or anything pink so it’s two thumbs up on the event tee.
• Reasonable pricing – Because I have previously participated in past year events, I was entitled to loyalty rates for 2017. For that price of $45, 2017 loyal participants received both an event tee and a special polo tee.

[2017 Race Pack Contents]

• Well organised – Every year, 2XU Compression run events are really well organised but this year, they did have a few minor hiccups which I will touch on later.
• Competitive 5km – Not many runs have a competitive 5km category. Though I’m not competing for any podium wins, I still like to have a timing chip to record my timing and see how I’m progressing. Also, 5kms are fast and you get to finish a workout and enjoy the rest of the race festivities.
• Well-Crafted Medal – The 2XU Compression Run medals are always cool and sleek and 2017 5km medal lifts up to it’s standard of being beautiful designed!

Race Entry Pack Collection (REPC)

This year REPC was held at Marina Square over the weekend of 24 to 26 March 2017. My friend, Pearleen, collected the race entry kit on my behalf. Thank you Pearleen! Pictures of the REPC were by snapped by her too. Her feedback on the REPC was that it was well-organised though the queues were long. From what I gathered it was definitely MUCH better than the Sundown Marathon REPC! There was NO 2.5hrs wait and queues did move fast. She collected the race packs on the first day of the REPC and queue times did not exceed more than 1/2 an hour. Fast and efficient were definitely the words to describe the REPC according to her! Everything went smoothly and there was no chaos at all.

There were lots of good deals at the REPC according to Pearleen and some of my colleagues who went to the REPC during the first day of collection. There was a sale for previous race tees and they were being sold like hot cakes! Other merchandise like running gears and accessories had really good discounts!

For participants that could not make the first REPC, the organiser had a 2nd REPC at Velocity on a smaller scale but that allow flexibility on collection.

[Pictures of the 2XU REPC at Marina Square]

Race Day

[Start Line photos]

My friends and I arrived at the race site around 07:30hrs since our flag-off was at 08:00hrs. The race site was easily accessible as the area was not fenced-up, unlike Sundown Marathon. Cheng Yee and I headed straight for the bag deposit area. Normally, I would not bring a bag to a race but there were forecasts of rain and I thought I better bring a change of clothes just in case I got drenched if it did pour. Bag deposit was fast and efficient and we headed to meet our other friends before heading into the START pen.

With 10 mins to spare, we made our way leisurely into the START pen. The atmosphere was relaxed and we were able to find a spot near the front as it was not crowded at all. We did some light stretches for warm-up before we were promptly flagged off at 08:00hrs.

Race Route

[Race route from 2XU’s Race Guide]

Let your heart set the pace – I love this slogan. This is my third time running 2XU half marathon and also the most crowded one. Just for 21.1KM category alone, there were 6042 women and 12357 men. So that add up to a total of 18399 runners! There were also 5KM men and women and 10KM men and women categories too. Imagine!

The main reason could be the additional Polo T-shirt that they were giving as part of joining the race in addition to the usual race singlet. So people who signed up for any category will get 2 shirts and half marathon finishers will get the 3rd one.

REPC

Race pack collection venue was at Marina Square Central Atrium from 24 – 26 March 2017. I went on Friday late afternoon and was shocked to see the extreme long queue. I was told by one of the staff to come another time instead if I don’t want to queue. There were another collection the following week too at Novena Square. But I decided to just join the queue since I made special arrangement to come and didn’t want to waste my trip. Though the queue was long but it was moving at a reasonable speed. I was able to collect my race pack in exactly one hour.

Some friends who came after work had to queue for 2.5 hours. This was the first time I experienced such a long queue for a REPC. It obviously was due to the tremendous increase in the number of runners this year especially for the half marathon category. However, people who went on Saturday and Sunday experienced a breeze collection because most have already collected on Friday. There was a T-shirt exchange bulletin board near the collection counter for runners to exchange their shirt size with each other if the size doesn’t fit. People could just write down their messages on the post-it notes provided and paste it on the board and whoever could find an exact match would contact the person to do the exchange. It seemed that many people needed an exchange because the sizing was slightly bigger than previous years. However for myself, the size was right, I didn’t need to change.

Race Day

Woke up at 2:30AM and ate some light breakfast before heading to take the shuttle bus at Ang Mo Kio MRT pick up point. Reached there at around 3:12AM and saw 2 buses had left. So boarded the 3rd bus and there were still buses behind. I reached F1 pit at about 3:40AM and there were already many people doing warm up and waiting for friends. The portaloos were also having long queues. Avoid drinking too much water in the morning before a race but drink lots of water few days before a race to hydrate your body first. I couldn’t comment on the bag deposit as I didn’t make use of it but there were queues. 

Flag off time was 4:30AM for half marathon which was very early but the good thing is, even slow runners can complete the race before the sun gets hotter ☺. I walked to the start pen holding area and managed to position myself at wave 1. I heard from my friends that wave 2 and 3 were horribly crowded and they had a hard time squeezing through. There were 8 waves needed to separate the runners to avoid serious congestion.  I think if you take part in this kind of popular races, you have to expect this kind of masses. But it makes the event engaging and creates an upbeat atmosphere of running as a big community.

Flag off happened at around 4:30AM for wave 1 and we were off running our half marathons and hoping to beat our own Personal Bests (PBs). The running route was good with not much bottleneck issues. The run from Marina East Dr through ECP Park Connector, U-turn at PA Water Venture and back was cooling with little drizzles. Lightning flashes in the sky felt like it was taking our running shots. Saw many fast runners were already running back before I even reached the U-turn point.

Hydration along the route was plentiful. Runners could grab cups after cups of Pocari Sweat or water. However, throwing so many of these cups on the floor became a hazard for many. I noticed a lot of people just threw the cups (even bottles) anywhere they like and not be very considerate to throw into the rubbish bags provided. So we had to be careful and not step onto any of the rubbish.

I passed the 2:30 hour pacers at first and was running at a steady pace. At around 5 or 6 KM, I still didn’t see the pacers around and was wondering if they have passed me without me noticing? How could I miss them carrying so many purple balloons? Until at about 8 KM, I felt balloons were touching my head from behind and finally saw the pacers catching up and running by my side. So I knew I was running too fast and eventually I couldn’t sustain my pace anymore and had to watch the pacers running off far ahead of me and I couldn’t catch up. Took my energy gel at 12KM mark and continued running non stop. Many runners were strong and fit and did not take walk breaks at all. Though I was having plantar fasciitis on my right foot (pain on the heel bone and area around it), but with the support from my running shoe, I was still able to run without much of a problem.

Though this was my 7th half marathon thus far, seeing the finish line was still the best feeling ever. Crossed the line at 2 hour 41 minutes and it was a humble PB ☺. Congratulations to my brother who had achieved his PB too at 2 hour 21 minutes! Well done!

This race has been one of the most famous running events in Singapore and many avid runners would join without question. One of my favourites too because it is well organised and hydration provided is Pocari Sweat instead of some other types of isotonic drinks! Organiser would make prompt announcement in regards to waiting time to collect your race pack and weather condition prior to race day. Well done and can’t wait for next year!

Oh yes, forgot to mention that the medal this year is stunning. Love it! ❤

[Race Entry Pack Collection]

Almost couldn’t make it to REPC luckily a friend reminded me at nearly 6pm that REPC is only till 7pm and quickly took a Grab down and reach Marina Square, the REPC venue at 6.30pm. It’s the last day of the first REPC and there is no queue at all ?

Lucky me. Heard from friends that the first few days of collection the queue is crazily long but at least they are not queueing in the rain or queueing under the sun to collect the REPC just like Sundown Most importantly, the queue is moving. What the organisers did good is the REPC is not very last minute, that it is held 1 week in advance before the race and there is also a second REPC a few days before race day ?

(Photo Credits: Eugene Tan)

Though many runners complained about the size of the race singlet but it was already stated beforehand of the cutting and there’s size chart when we do size selection for the singlet. But what’s nice is that there is a bulletin board prepared for the participants to leave down their contact details to exchange the singlet of shirt size. I love the singlet though the armpit hole area is quite big, I like the material of the singlet, its soft and light weight. What’s more is that I love the rose gold colour! ? Great that 2XU manufactures their own race singlets as I had enough of Compressports race tees and singlets, so many of my singlets and finisher tees of many runs is Compressports ?

I liked 2XU’s compression tights and I will always wear it for my long distance runs. My legs is usually fine after the long distance runs when I’m wearing it. I have only 2 pieces of 2XU compression thights which both I bought during sale at 50% off. Once is during SG50, online sale by Key Power International and another time, when a shop is closing down in Queensway shopping centre I got it for 50% off too. I don’t think I will buy unless it’s at discount. It’s expensive for a pair of tights will be ranged from SGD199 to SGD249 but I think it is really worth this kind of money because it’s really good and your legs don’t suffer after long distances ?

Just to add in a little more of Sundown. Really kns, say simi free photos for us, I rarely see any of their Photographers around After one week still tagging photos? See whether got my photo or not. Last year not free photos got many photos but this year many of my friends and I got kosong photo But luckily we got photos from Running Shots and from other professional Photographers such as from WoW2WoW photography and etc at Facebook. Thank you! ? Many people ran shorter distance for FM route, think some were misled and no marshals to guide ? Wrong timing ?Some no timing and their results show disqualified ? Some people photos not theirs ?

[Race Day]

There is the half marathon category, 10km and 5km and I ran the half marathon category. On race day morning, my friends, Willis and I reach the race venue at about 3.45am as we wanted to be in the first wave which is flag off at 4.30am. Start early to end early and chop chop go back rest and avoid the ☀️ I like the way the Organisers stated clearly in their website, flag off is by waves and first come first serve To be exact there were 8 waves and more than 20,000 runners the last wave is flag off at 5.40am. Once we reach the race venue we thought hoseh liao! ? So many people, wonder will there be bottlenecks in the run?

We queued straight away for the start pen as we wanted to be in the first wave as the pacers are only in the first wave. Though I don’t like to follow pacers as I always am stress and failed at following them but I started using the pacers as a rough guide to know when I am going to end at the run.

Their social media, Facebook page is very updated and informed us about what happened if there is rain beforehand and it will be cancelled if there is rain. Luckily there isn’t any rain and the race are held as per usual and flag us off at 4.30am sharp ? We are in the first wave and we are very near to the front of start line and the stage. I like the emcee, he’s really funny and I was laughing a lot Really not a lot of emcee is as good as he is! ?

Willis and I had planned to run together the entire 21km to encourage and support each other. And we did run together the entire distance ? Though we didn’t talk much during the run as I’m trying to regulate my breathing but it’s really the companionship that matters a lot. Thank you Willis I’m really more motivated to run with him beside me and unexpectedly we both got our personal best timing! ?

There is hydration points at about every 2km along the route and I just took a few glance at the hydration points, some have just cold water and some just Pocari Sweat, some with both and some with bananas. The route is the usual scenic route and what I really appreciate Is that there were big boards to warn us of the steps and slopes ahead and the volunteers is all very nice and doing a good job to tell us to be careful of the steps and run safely ?

There were quite a few small gentle slopes throughout the entire route and thank you my dear Willis for supporting me to make my running upslopes so much easy by giving me gentle push and at all the slopes and every few while check with me if I’m alright. Our pace is quite constant, we are constantly slowing down but we were running between the 2 hours and the 2hours10minutes pacers and I just keep telling myself try not to let the 2 hours10minutes pacers overtake us and just keep on running. The is no bottleneck for us and its a good run for us.

It’s actually the time of the month for me and I really sian 1/2. From aiming to break my personal best timing at last month’s Marina Run finishing a half marathon in 2 hours 13 minutes to just aiming to complete because I close two eyes and no need to think I will also know I will definitely have cramps. I pop down 2 ibuprofen(pain killers) pills before the run. This is first time I took pain killers and run (is it considered doping?) Kena the pain at Standard Chartered last year, I really suffered a lot in that run and finished in about 3 hours because I walk a lot and frequent the toilet I’m glad that I don’t have any cramps or pain at all throughout this entire run.

After we end the run, we collected our finisher entitlements, the super chio rose gold finisher tee, bottle of 500ml Pocari Sweat, banana and the cold and wet towel. The towel is definitely the best part after the run as it’s really very refreshing after all the sweat to clean up a little.

The race carnival site had some food and beverage booths, a massage tent which offers post-race massage for runners but I only visited the hydration point there for more water and the Instagram printing booth which we hashtag #2xucompressionrunsg (which is so long to type) in Instagram we can get our photo printed on a card. The card is so nice! Love it!

There is a super huge Pocari can which I recognised from the Pocari run last year, everywhere in the race carnival is like a photo spot to take pictures to keep as memories. Runners are also graciously queuing up patiently and orderly to take pictures and there is also a yoga/workout conducted.

Overall, 2XU Compression Run is a great organized run which I also ran last year and I can say that I will definitely participate in this run again

It’s been a long time since I run a 10 km race and I’ve decided to start running again with 2XU. I chose 2XU mainly because I’ve never tried it before and it seems like a popular run. I mean… if it’s popular, there must be something about it that appeals to runners right?

I joined the run today at its flag off time of 6.45 am for the 10 km race. The sky was just starting to brighten up and so was my mood when I listened to the heart-pumping songs blasting loudly at the start pen. Everyone was ready for the run and at 6.45, we were flagged off!

The routes for this race were wide for most parts with only some narrow parts here and there (I think about the 6 km mark?). But I had a rule for myself, which is to keep running if I’m on narrow roads so I don’t block up the road. I only allow myself to walk when the road widens up. And fortunately/unfortunately for this race, the narrow parts happened to be at the areas where I felt tired and wanted to walk. But thinking that it would not be nice for me to walk and slow down other runners, I kept my pace and continued on. And maybe that is why I did better this race! Although it’s not my personal best, but my pace was pretty close 🙂 But that’s not a reason to have more narrow roads during races though! Just to be clear about this. I love the route planned out by 2XU though. I love it because the routes were not planned in a loop as with some other races where the U-turn was rather sharp and you had to run back the way you came. In this race, the U-turn requires us to cross a bridge to the other side of the river and so the view is rather different! And not to mention that the view at Singapore River is so scenic that I might actually be biased.

Anyways, the race went off smoothly without any problems. There were ample hydration points (I think there’s 4) but there’s not enough volunteers at the hydration point at Marina Barrage. Runners had to stop and queue for their drinks… That’s the only hydration point I encountered that required queuing. The rest were fine!

The last 1 km felt rather long though… like it was longer than 1 km. My Nike+ Run App indicated that too… But nonetheless, I kept going while I strain my neck to find where is the finishing point. It got my mind off running for sometime and when I saw the Finishing line, I was so happy! The performance with the drums at the side kept me going and I quicken my pace. The atmosphere near the finishing line was so awesome!

But things started to slow down while we queued for our finisher medal. There wasn’t really any queue but everyone was patient as we waited. I didn’t have to wait very long though. The volunteers cleared very fast and off we go to the race village!

Ok, I actually didn’t stay in the race village because I’m tired of queuing again. I saw the Instagram photo print out while I was on the way. I really love races that provides this service. It’s like letting us have our own personal momento! But like I said… I was tired and didn’t feel like queuing HAHAHA so I left.

All in all, I am really satisfied with this race. It’s honestly the best race I’ve ever joined and I didn’t regret signing up for 2XU! I think they’ve probably got themselves a loyal runner! Hope that they would keep this up!

PS. I only realized this run is pronounced as 2-times-u today at the start pen from the emcee. The ‘times’ was meant as a human performance multiplier (as seen from their banner). Sorry for the times that I kept calling it 2-X-U HAHAHA