For all my overseas runcation every year, this year’s race was set to be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Hari Sukan Negara (HSN21km). Hari Sukan Negara, also known as “National Sports Day”, is the first of its kind and this year being the inaugural running event, HSN21km was organized in conjunction with Hari Sukan Negara. Why I have chosen to run a 10km in HSN21km is the location of the starting point. Its close proximity to the city and the hotels within walking distance to the start line are abundant, no short of good food and great shopping at Petaling Street (Chinatown).

This mandatory yearly runcation affair was made possible with the usage of my “coins piggy bank” as this year’s budget was relatively smaller than other years so I thought I’d compromise by cutting down on the travelling expenses (took a coach to KL). More on the detailing of costs for the trip later.

My race pack was arranged with organizers to be collected on race day morning via email. It consisted of a running T-shirt and a bib.

Start line of the race was at Dataran Merdeka which was 3 minutes walking distance from the hotel I stayed in. A nice and open area selected as its not only big enough to receive the turnout but also the roads were wide enough to marshal in the waves of runners. Although I have to say, the participants weren’t as many as I thought it would be.

We were treated to a dance performance at the start point to perk us up. Music was loud and had everyone pumping. And off we go! Running for the first km or so was normal and something really surprised me about the way runners were behaving on this run. Runners all kept themselves running within a single lane on the expressway despite the entire expressway being closed on certain stretches of the race route. Take note: these were “live” expressways with cars speeding at 110km/h or faster and that is one hell of a bunch of disciplined runners. Unlike Singapore, when the roads are closed, runners occupy every single lane on the road. Please remember – we do not own the roads and must always run with caution. Organizers cannot ensure our safety at all time and it’s up to us to look after ourselves. Running safely is a habit and not a privilege.

On and off the expressways, we also ran into private estates where hills were a killer. Fortunately, there were more down hills rather than up hills. I made up for the slow time spent on up hills by speeding down the hills.

Overall, the race was a well organized one with some historical sights to be embraced. Race medal is heavy and of good quality metal.

Entire trip costs (SGD$240) breakdown for 3D2N stay:

1. Coach fare (to & fro) directly to hotel I stayed in – SGD$60
2. Hotel stay for 2 nights – SGD$124
3. Race registration (10km) – SGD$26
4. Food & Beverages – SGD$30

As I began to write this I realized that it could be lengthy given my natural inclination.  I decided to break it into two parts so here is part one first – as objective a review as I could from a layman’s point of view and someone who doesn’t cycle that much (or at all actually) till recently.  Part II – I will write it later when I get some free time and when folks are still interested in the musing of a late starter in running and now cycling.

The OCBC Cycle mass event was into its second edition, organized by Pich Event Management and of course with OCBC as its Title Sponsor.   OCBC also supported 4 charities through this initiative.  It was a 2-day event.  There was  a competitive OCBC Cycle Speedway club championship held on first day.   The Mighty Savers Kids and Family Rides were also held on Saturday.   Second day event comprised of a 42 km Sportive Ride and a 23 km Straits Times ride which are non-competitive held last Sunday.  I signed up for the 42 km Sportive Ride – my second time too.

The launch at Orchard Gateway on April 14th was very well organized in my opinion and made more exciting by the attractive prizes for early birds (first 300 would receive special gifts) in the queue.  I went earlier to queue and was 59th in the queue !  For the first time, to commemorate today’s launch event, four teams of riders formed by Friends of OCBC Cycle and invited guests cycled for 24 hours from 12.00pm on 15 April to 12.00pm on 16 April to achieve a record.  Based on announcements, there were 13 pre-event workshops and activities for participants to sign up for, starting with a Singapore Sports Institute Learn to Cook Healthily workshop on 14th May, to the Volvo Route Familiarization Trip in September.

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Collection of the event pack was done from Friday to Saturday just before the actual event at Sports Hub OCBC Arena in conjunction with the Expo @ OCBC Cycle.  So you could browse and purchase cycling related equipment and accessories at discounted prices.    I was able to collect my event pack within 10 minutes.  I also enjoyed browsing through the Expo exhibits.  Kudos to the organizers.

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The actual event was held on Sunday morning 2nd October.  The race started at 5.15 am as planned.  I was in wave A so I arrived at about 4 am.  There was a crowd but everyone was orderly, patiently riding or walking with their bikes slowly to the starting point. I saw folks also streaming into the area for later waves so the majority of folks were complying with the instructions to report at least one hour earlier.

The event was flagged off in smaller waves within wave A and I was in wave 3 of A but the intervals were rather short so everyone was all pumped up and excited to get riding off.  Everyone was also reminded it was non-competitive and to enjoy the ride.

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The route did have a few sharp turns and bends but volunteers were on hand to shout out to cyclists to pre-warn them.  There were also two rather steep down slopes (ECP bridge downhill) which I found myself holding onto the drop bars (for dear life !?), with my whole body tensed up, especially in my arms.  I didn’t even have to move my legs and my bike was overtaking the cyclists in front down the slope each time.  I was doing the reverse of sitting back in my seat and trying to slow down the bike with as big a surface area as I could present ! (It didn’t seem to work.)  There was a couple of tough climbs, notably the Sheares Bridge climb.  An earlier part of the route also took us through a tunnel.  It felt warm being in the tunnel relative to the fresh cool air out in the open but it was only a short stretch.  I loved the fresh morning air and the wind whizzing by on the roads.

In this year’s ride, I wasn’t trying to ride fast.  I was trying to ride safely.  In fact, I did spot two participants, both relatively young, a male and a female who were riding without helmets on separate occasions both ahead of me.  I wasn’t sure how they managed to get through the volunteers in the first place.

There were adequate hydration points and medical posts though I didn’t count them.  I stopped at one hydration point towards the end and was given a bottle of 100 plus which I downed in quick gulps as the morning was turning hot.  I also took some photos at the designated selfie stops.

The ride ended within the Sports Hub in cool air-con comfort which was welcoming for finishing riders.   After collecting the finisher medal, a bottle of water and 100-plus, we were told to move on to vacate from the Sports Hub.  I remembered this was what happened last year too.  But I think this round, they were not as insistent or perhaps it was still early.  But generally, everyone was pretty good-natured, and moved on, after they snapped some photos of themselves, or their bikes in the stadium.  The atmosphere was friendly and everyone wore a smile of accomplishment in completing his/her ride.  I was happy that I completed taking off about 25 minutes from last year’s record (will write about the details in part two).

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Outside the hub, there was also a ‘stall’ that had a nice range of fruits from apples, pears to bananas that you could help yourself to.  A nice friendly touch.

So overall, I enjoyed this year’s event more than last year’s and I would give a thumbs up for this event.   While it was a sportive ride, and not a race, many cyclists were riding as fast as they could somehow.  It will be advantageous to be able to ride fairly well if you want to be in the earlier waves.  Otherwise you probably would find it easier to go in later waves, provided there is no congestion.  Whatever it is, you need to remember to ride it for the fun and not for the speed in this mass event.  The sharp bends and steep slopes would require some good handling of the bikes if you want to enjoy the ride fully.  As expected, there were some falls and incidents but I only saw some visiting the medical stations, not the incidents.

I did discover later from a number of FB posts that some cyclists who completed after certain timing were either given the wrong finisher medals or went without any as the medals ran out.  I understand this was very disappointing for most as they had hoped to take photos too of their triumph with the medals.

BUT I also saw how the organizers immediately responded and apologized and promised to look into the matter.  They also promised to deliver the medals to the individuals.  By the time of my writing,  I also had received a message from the organizers to register if I have not received the medal so that they could deliver the medals.  Apparently from the accounts some of the sportive medals may have mistakenly handed out to the kids participating on the first day.   The amount of efforts to recover from this is tremendous as they would need to reach out to every cyclists – there were about 6400 participants this round.

So there was some lapse in quality control over the management of the medals, but I would acknowledge their efforts to recover from this tough (and costly) mistake.  Hopefully everyone gets his/her medals soon and folks would still treasure the experience of riding on 42 km stretches of the scenic road without Singapore’s traffic that morning.  Enjoyed the ride a lot more this round.  Always great to add some variety to life as to running too.   So ride and run safely, happily till the next race!

I write this with the intention of making it a holistic, objective review of the Asics City Relay 2016. As with my other reviews, look out for the font in italics where I highlight certain aspects of a race I deem important. Do note that I was participating as the first relay runner of my race category (Marathon), therefore my experience (which you can read about in greater detail here) best encompasses the experience of a participant running the first relay leg.

Race Category
This was one of the rarer occasions where I won a free race slot from a giveaway contest on Asics City Relay’s Facebook page:) Together with a three other runners (who also won free slots), we formed a team to participate in the Marathon category. This meant each of us would run approximately 10.5km. This event also offered participants the chance to run the Half-Marathon category as a team – which would mean participants would be running about 5.25km instead.

Pre-Race Matters
Race Entry Pack Collection was held from 14-15 September 2016, from 10am-9pm at Velocity. No doubt a convenient location (for me, at least), yet it was even more convenient that my teammate was able to collect the race packs on behalf of all of us. A simple race pack – a drawstring bag, the event tee and a Soyjoy bar (sorry if I missed anything out – but if so it probably meant that it didn’t grab much attention). Nonetheless, not complaining considering this was a free slot!

The Race Precinct
Many local races are held around the F1 pit building or Gardens by the Bay, however this one was to take place around the Singapore Sports Hub. Some benefits included accessibility, ample dining options nearby and of course the uncommon opportunity (for me at least) to enter the National Stadium. Security was present at the entrance of the Stadium for brief checks of runners’ belongings. Though no baggage deposit was available, this was acceptable because not everyone in a team was running at the same time – hence teammates could help to take care of each other’s belongings. One notable task that runners of the first relay leg had to do was to collect a slap-band that would serve as the “baton” for the relay. There were some fantastic displays projected at the top of the stadium as well!

The Race
Flag off was scheduled and did take place at 6.00pm sharp. Really sharp, as evident from a Seiko digital display which I couldn’t help but constantly gaze towards. This was great, as I’ve heard of flag-offs in other races which can be awfully abrupt. The race route would take participants around the Sports Hub, venturing as far as Geylang road (which isn’t at all far – this means lots of looping in the vicinity of the Sports Hub to clock adequate distance). Those running the Marathon category would run two loops. The transition within the stadium between the first and second loop was less clearly spelt out. I found out during the race itself, taking me beneath the grandstand and around the stadium (in an eerie blue section) before heading off for the second loop. Notable challenges of the race included the numerous bends which were effective in breaking momentum. Thankfully, the course profile was relatively flat and I didn’t encounter any bottlenecks as the number of participants around course at a time was limited to the number of participating teams.

Hydration was made available at two occasions per loop of the race. Chilled water and Pocari Sweat was served in plastic cups – which isn’t the easiest to drink from (opposed to pinchable paper cups) when running. I cannot recall if distance markers were present – if they were they certainly weren’t particularly noticeable. I couldn’t ascertain the course distance as GPS data was affected while running through the stadium, though I do estimate that it was less than the stated 10.5km per runner. The best part of the course in my opinion? The entry into the National Stadium! For one, you’re running towards a vast amount of participants (it’s hard to slow down when everyone’s watching). Furthermore, the air-conditioned atmosphere is simply refreshing.

Post-Race
I was handed a banana and a bottle of Pocari Sweat upon completion of my relay leg. Finisher medals were only collected by the final relay runner. Live results were available – an aspect that many other local running events should take heed from! It was a pleasant evening running with my teammates, most of whom I had never met before! That’s the joy of running, serving as a platform not just for performance but also for friendship 🙂

I sure hope this was an enjoyable read. As always, you’re welcome to read more about my personal thoughts on the race here!