Prelude

The Compressport 100 Malaysia Series consists of 2 events; The Penang Series in August and The Semenyih Series in November. I had initially registered only for the Semenyih Series after a friend invited me to join them for that. Some time after that I got to know of the combo challenge which includes the Penang Series hence I registered for that as well. Both series offer 25km and 50km challenge and I took the 50km option for both.

Preparation

This being my first overseas Ultra Trail event, there were a couple of stuff that I would need to get e.g. the jacket, emergency blanket etc as these were listed as mandatory for the 50km runners.

I also did some off road running in preparation for the event and the MSIG Singapore Action Asia 50 which I completed in under 9hrs was a rather good gauge on how prepared I was though I knew the elevation in Penang would be almost 3 times as much as that.

Pre-event

I flew to Penang with Tigerair while most of my friends went with Air Asia. As I arrived at Penang first, I waited for them at the airport before proceeding to our hotel together. That would also be my first experience with Grab Car and I was pleasantly surprised that the trip from the airport to our hotel cost only RM11.

Almost all runners stayed at the U Hotel as they had a tie-up with the event organiser to provide shuttle bus to and from the event site on event day. So after checking in, we went to George Town area to collect our race packs, which was hassle free and fast, before going for some Penang delicacies and massage. I had expected to be told of the race route at the REPC but was told route is simple so there will not be a race route provided. After getting some bread and water for our hydrations for the run at nearby Tesco, we returned to the hotel for the night.

Event day

As the transport to the event site was to leave at 0400hrs, we woke pretty early for it. The hotel provided us with a meal pack that consisted of a bread, a packet of Milo, a small banana and a granola bar. I just took the banana and bread as I was worried the Milo might not agree with my stomach so early in the morning and the thought of doing business in the wild out there is well, not very appealing.

We arrived at event venue, which was a school; Sekolah Menengah St. George at around 0445hrs. Us 50km runners had our mandatory gear check while the 25km runners did not have to. As the flag off was only at 0630hrs, we just lazed around to get more rest, took some photos while waiting. At about 0600hrs, the organisers started their race briefing. As no race route was provided, what I basically heard was follow the red/white tapes along the way and marshals will be stationed at critical junctions to direct us. So at 0635hrs, the run was waved off with lightning streaks seen above us. An omen of things to come?

First 3km was pretty straightforward as we were running on road but from 3km onwards, the elevation started to come in. From 3km to 9km we got an elevation of about 470m which was very taxing on my legs and we entered the trail proper around the 5km mark. That was when it started to pour too. But as we were inside the vegetation, I nary felt the rain though it got abit cold but I decided against taking out my jacket as it would slow me down and it might get stuffy in it later. Plus, the path was very narrow, so if I were to stop I would be blocking the runners behind me and potentially create a hazard for everyone.

At about the 8.5km mark, I saw a few of my friends standing together. It turned out Eugene hit his head on one of those low lying branches/collapsed tree trunks (which was aplenty) and was bleeding from his head. They were trying to stem his bleeding until they can reach CP1 which was about 1km away. After some wrapping using his buff, we proceeded on.

At CP1 I grabbed some coconut juice while the medic attended to Eugene. The medic did not seem to know the appropriate way to bandage the wound so in the end I think we did it ourselves after washing away the blood. Though Eugene said he was fine and wanted to carry on, Jaime and Foo overruled him and all 3 of them decided to DNF. When we approached the marshal there, we were told emergency vehicle will take at least an hour to come. I was like why??? If it was really an emergency, wouldn’t the casualty have died by then? So in the end they decided to walk down to the main road before making own way back to event side to collect their bags. I overheard some other runners saying there were more casualties behind and this was just CP1. Oh my.

My Cut Off Time (COT) to depart CP1 was 0900hrs and I managed to leave around 0815hrs, giving me a buffer of about 45mins and the rain had eased by then too.

I was greeted with a wonderful view of a town (presumably Taman Jelita) with a waterway leading out to the sea during my descend. That was also when I realised descending on tarmac and cement surfaces were not easy at all what with my Speedcross 3 which was totally not meant for such surfaces. I had to control my speed and I also slipped a couple of times so I had to go slow. After collecting my ribbon at CP2 I proceeded to CP3 and then it dawned on me I will actually be going back to CP1 which would be CP3 and CP5 later. So after another 400m of elevation, I arrived at CP3 only to find they were already out of coconut juice and food with only water and Coke left. And this was to be CP5 later? What would be left by then?

After filling up my hydration bag, I departed CP3 around 1000hrs, giving me a total time buffer of about 1.5hrs as the COT for CP3 was 1130hrs. This section would be the toughest part of the route as we went up Penang Hill with its peak of 742m. Some of the climbs were really so steep that I could only stand and wonder how was I supposed to get up. But went up I did. I tried to make fun of the situation with fellow runners and that in a way helped to lighten the mood and made carrying on easier. With every climb, there were descends and those were killers as well. There were many plants with small sharp thorns just by the trails and I accidentally grabbed one while trying to balance myself. It was a OMG moment and I quickly remove those stuck on my hand hoping none got inside totally. Collected my 2nd ribbon at CP4. After some more seemingly never ending ascends, I arrived back at CP5, which had only water left by now. Not wanting to linger there, I departed around 1230hrs, a good 2hrs ahead of COT.

Next section to CP 6 was relatively smooth as we were on tarmac most of the time so I just had to control my descend. It started to rain again, heavier this time but none of the runners stopped or even tried to put on their jackets. I guess we all had the same thinking of not wanting to waste time and we were already wet anyway. I arrived at CP6 and managed to see Lian Boon there. We had a short chat and he told me he hit his head on one of those plants with thorns and the medic was only able to remove some and apparently 1 of those thorns went in so deep that it could not be removed so he planned to finish the run first before seeking more medical help. Somehow it felt surreal that he could be recounting these to me offhandedly and soon he was on his way. I stayed for about 10mins during which the rain stopped, ate some bread, drank coke (no coconut juice again) and left around 1330hrs, which was still 2hrs ahead. I did not refill my hydration bag as I figured it would just be 8km away from the last CP where I can do so. It was a decision I would later regret.

From CP6 it would be only 16km more, so I boldly estimated I could finish the run by 1630hrs. But my estimation fell terribly apart when approaching CP7, which was the 1200 steps station. We had to cover 1.5km down a long flight of stairs, collect our 3rd and final ribbon, return along the same 1.5km flight of stairs before proceeding to CP 8. As it had rained earlier, the stairs were slippery with many of them covered with algae. Plus the fact that most of us were on trail shoes, the 1200 steps were like a death trap for us. Many runners slipped on the stairs and one even told me he slipped and slide all the way down the flight of stairs and only his hydration bag saved him from injury to his back. So what most of us did was to remove our shoes and carried on with only our socks or barefoot. It was torturous and there was no way we could have did that section with any resemblance of speed. And worst for me, I ran out of water as I was not prepared for that amount of time on that 3km flight of stairs. After asking numerous runners for water and most of them had ran out too, a kind soul did let me have some water, if not I really would have dehydrated there. After that when I saw a garden hose by the stairs, I was desperate enough to simply just drink from there. Yes, that was how thirsty I was. In the end, I took a total of 2hrs just to clear that 3km flight of stairs and I had to readjust my timing predictions as I only managed to reach CP8 close to 1630hrs.

At CP8, I filled my hydration pouch to the brim having learnt my lesson and departed by 1630hrs. Though I was still ahead by 2hrs, but I still would like to return before night falls.

The last 7km or so was quite easy. I guess after going through the 1200 steps and Penang Hill, everything else would be termed as easy though I felt my left thigh died on me for about 5mins before it came back alive. At around the 46km mark, I came across a magnificent view of Bukit Elvira which somehow made my sufferings so far worthwhile after all.

I picked up my pace during this last stretch though I still walked most of the way. I recognised the route I was taking then was actually the route we took while entering the mountains, so I estimated I should be about 1-2km away from the finishing. I did not follow the distance on my GPS watch as the distances sometimes were not that accurate. After hitting the main road, I saw a runner ahead, presumably someone who had completed his run, gesturing ‘2’ with his fingers. As I approached I vaguely heard him shouting ‘2!’, so I asked him was it another 2km more. To my surprise, he said ‘No! 200m only!’ I was like huh? So near already? We were not returning via the same route in the morning? So I started to sprint ahead as I was actually conserving my energy for the expected last 2km. In no time, I crossed the finishing line though I was a little disappointed there wasn’t any photographer there to capture the moment runners crossed the finishing line. I ended the run with a timing of 11hrs 14mins, well under the COT of 14hrs.

I just stood there for a good 5mins after the finishing line as by now both my thighs went numb on me and I could not move. Someone came over to ask if I needed medical attention but I just waved her off. After my thighs recovered, I collected my medal, finisher tee and coconut juice (like finally right) then I sat near the entrance to wait for the transport back to the hotel. I heard there was food prepared for us but I had no appetite to eat then. After about 20mins, we were told the bus was actually a distance away as it could not wait by the event site. So we walked another 1km or so before we boarded the bus back.

Post event

After showering, I met up with the rest who had completed their event earlier for dinner. Was glad to know Eugene was alright. Lian Boon went to the hospital but the doctor said no thorns were found in his head but he still decided to go for an X-ray once he is back in Singapore.

After Thoughts

Positives

• Race pack collection was fast.
• Race route was scenic at some parts offering some beautiful views of Penang.
• Water was available at all stated CPs.
• Marshals were stationed at critical points to direct us and some of those locations were really remote actually.

Negatives

• Race route map should be given so runners can pace themselves better especially towards the end as we would have known we will not be returning via the exact same route in the morning.
• Iron Cross CP, which served as CP1, CP3, CP5 for 50km runners and CP1 for 25km runners should have been adequately stocked knowing runners would be running through it multiple times and to run out of food and coconut juice before it even served as CP3 was really unforgivable.
• Medical evacuation procedure needs to be reviewed. To say emergency vehicles can only arrived more than an hour after activation is ridiculous. We were lucky in that we had no serious casualties if not the consequences would be dire.
• More could have been done to ensure runners safety. During the route recce, those low lying branches or fallen trees with sharp points could have their danger points removed as runners were not really able to see them with the low light conditions along some portions.
• We signed up for an ultra trail event so I cannot understand why the 1200 steps station was included and they should know trail shoes do not handle stairs well. When I asked the organiser, his reply was that the 1200 steps was part of their Penang heritage thus they wanted us to experience it. I do not find this reason for its inclusion logical at all and runners could have injure their back if they were to ever slip and fall badly.
• Event organiser adopted a Free Paper Cups policy requiring runners to bring their own cups. If this was done to prevent littering of paper cups along the route so be it. But I somehow guess they did this to save on the costs of the paper cups. If being environmental friendly was their aim, they should not have given out packets of coconut juice or cans of energy drinks at the CPs as these can be seen littered all along the race route. Then what is the difference between this and using paper cups?

Conclusion

I cannot speak for the 25km route but I have to say the 50km route is not meant for beginners or runners without adequate preparation; mentally and physically. The seemingly never-ending hills and slopes can be mental killers. The route was also very taxing on your legs with some runners telling me they were feeling their knees halfway already. However if you are sufficiently prepared and if the organisers can improve on their logistic and medical arrangements, I would say you can go for this as the view on top was really stunning.

Let’s see if I will be there at the Semenyih series.

You can see more photos of the event at the review on my blog http://stampede-trail.blogspot.sg/2016/08/compressport-100-penang-series-50km.html

Keep going! ?? That’s my motto for this run. Many times during today’s run I was so tempted to walk but I didn’t! Because partially of the top I’m wearing, if people run pass me saw me walking and say “keep going” I think I will be very embarrassed ? Part of the run I was also chanting in my heart what Dory had taught me: Just keep running! Just keep running! ?? Keeping myself motivated is very important ?

I thought I would walked the upslopes but I didn’t! I’m quite amazed with myself, I thought I would walk! This is the first time I never walk in a half marathon! ?? I only walk at each water point for water for about 10 to 15 seconds and carry on running and I finished strong. Strong as in I don’t feel like ‘run die me’ or couldn’t catch my breath or my heart beats super fast. And I must say hydration points are very well organised! Especially impressed by one of the water point they placed at a grass area out of the running route after Tanjong Rhu nearing sports hub, it’s very well planned! Because the route there already is narrow, if the water point is very near the running route it will sure jam up the place! Nice! ?? All the water points area are littered with paper cups but there is so many dustbins and huge black plastic bags prepared ? And I’m super grateful for the many water points along the route especially nearing the end of the run.

First of all, luckily and quite a relief that PSI is not high and the race is carried out as usual. It’s always this period of the year it gets hazy and many running events had already changed the dates of their runs to a much earlier or later dates to avoid the haze.

Shuttle bus option is only available at certain Safras and Yishun Safra is actually just about 1km away from home but bus tickets were already sold out! ? It’s one of the biggest running event in Singaopore and should have prepared more shuttle buses and make life easier for the runners right? ? There is no choice, I’ll need to take a taxi there. But in life, there is always a choice. I can choose to never sign up for runs, I can choose to sleep in on weekends morning. But no, I choose to run. Still, fare is about $25 sibeh expensive leh ?

Thank you JustRunLah! for the race slot! The race slot is quite expensive for people who never served NS and like me who is char bor ? I reached the race site quite late already and went quickly for baggage deposit. Security is tight, they even have those scanners like what we saw in the airport to screen through our bags first. And I must say that both the baggage deposit and collection is very fast and smooth ??

So I quickly rush to look for my friends who are already at the “start”. And the volunteers directed me to to go this way where I saw many runners go the other way, maybe that way is for the elites, jialat confirm will be at the very back this time, can still catch up with pacers? That’s part of the reason I like to be at the front, so that I can manage to follow the pacers. Then when I saw that there are not so much people at the start and saw many familiar podium runners it is only then I realised that I was in the front where “seeded runners” is given privilege to be at the front of the start line, what is “seeded runners” I also don’t know actually ? I’m really paiseh lah! ? Maybe is a slot from Just Run Lah that’s why the privilege to enjoy the spacious place to breathe in front for a few moments more and not be packed like sardines at the back ?

I was actually aiming to follow the 2hr 20mins pacers at first but I think I need to be realistic because all the half marathons this year I did is worse than my first and only half marathon last year, at GEWR completed in 2hr24mins and my CSC run last month I did 2hr43mins! ? But for the half marathon at KL after CSC run I did 2hr36mins, still much better than CSC run. Now I wonder is it the “been there done that” mentality so I have lesser motivation to run full marathon and half marathon anymore ? Did 2hr25mins which I’m quite happy ?

I was hoping that I will never ever see the green and white balloons, that’s the balloon color of pacers running 2hr30mins and slower. But 2hr20mins pacers pass me shortly after 3km! ? Set another aim not to let the 2hr30mins pacers to passed me and I did it! ??

I credit the improvement to the weekly training with Pinoy-Sg runners, I’ve certainly become stronger ? And I must say the entire run I’m pretty motivated to run, because like nobody walks! There is people who walks lah but it is only like 0.01% maybe? Usually I saw a lot of people started walking after 10km but today is not that day ?

From the start I try not to listen to my MP3 because all the songs have very fast beats and I will end up going too fast and hit the wall, but it is important to keep myself occupied so I listen to my surrounding. Mostly I’m listening to the different types of footsteps and the way people run, stomping, shuffling etc and different types of breathing, I hope I’m a “quiet” runner because I listened to a lot of different types of breathing such as “hahahaha”, “hurhurhur” and “hehehe” and “huhuhu” ? Only till after the 13km point I think I’m quite safe in my speed and start listening to music and decipher or agree and disagree with every part of the lyrics to keep myself occupied. Especially the song “Love me like you do”, it’s been one of my favourite song but today it sounds sad to me. Love me like you do, touch me like you do It’s like begging for love and touch and he don’t love you and he dosen’t wants to touch you ?

Although I heard about negative reviews of the past AHM runs, like bottlenecks and very squeezy but certainly, this run is good so far to me! I didn’t come across any bottlenecks and I have space to run and breathe ? Especially at the last few kms at a water point some guys were wearing like Spartans and drew their own 6 pack which is so cute lah ?

Dubbed as the ‘Happiest 5K On The Planet”, The Color Run (World Series) is back in action and happened over the 3rd weekend of August (20th and 21st)! This is the first time for Reyrey and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me.

The race pack collection happened over the weekend of 13th – 15th August at City Square Mall, same collection weekend as that of New Balance Run On SG, Puma Night Run and NUS Ru pickups. Collection site also allows late registrations and I managed to get one of my “fun gang” member, Juan to sign up for this highly anticipated run with me, along with my kakis.

My kakis and I decided that we would go for the Sunday slot since we had to complete our New Balance Run ON SG (Team challenge) and also I thought the organizer will be more generous with the colored powder thrown out at runners (since it is the last day of this year’s edition and it is perfectly normal to use up everything that was left over from Saturday’s instance LOL)!

With the race village situated by the Beach Station, it became too familiar and we already knew where We will be meeting each other and how the route will likely be like (slopes by the first KM) and we were totally correct about it. It was a great turn up with music playing, food/beverage (beer has to be paid)/photo printing booths that are already bombarded with queues by fellow Color runners getting their food, drinks and posing for photos that they can print out for free. Freebies such as sunglasses and visors were being given away (literally flown off the stage by the emcees) and our hands were too short to catch ’em!

Into the run and by the end of each kilometer or so, every runner dashes through a color-specific zone where volunteers threw out color powder onto the runners – turquoise, orange, pink, green and a packet of mixed powder handed out to the finishers by the finish line. I particularly loved the pink zone where we hung out at for a long while doing all sorts of crazy poses, and many instagram-worthy ones LOL. The only hydration point was situated perfectly right beside the beach station at approximately into 2.5 km of the run inside a sheltered zone allowing us to catch our breath (from our fun walk), and hidden away from the sun – yes, we walked most of the route since we planned not to run but swee swee complete this with poise and class (not!)

After re-grouping, we continued laughing at our lame jokes and how we looked (Serene become Fiona of Shrek), making hi-5s with fellow color runners in the opposite direction , and finally crossing the finish line together (all 9 of us!). The entire event was absolutely perfect for groups of running friends or even families who occasionally love having a great time spent together at un-timed, uncompetitive (except competing who stayed the cleanest by the end of the run LOL) fun run with lotsa fun to top it off. We also gained a PW (personal worst time) for a 5K at sub 2! 🙂

Fun was definitely the word to describe this year New Balance Run On SG event! The race distance for the event was 7 km but participants have the option to RUN ON one extra kilometer on race day, and earn themselves an exclusive NB Run On Achievement Badge! I joined last year and I couldn’t wait to add on to my collection of New Balance Run On SG unique race medals. I’m changing my review style to highlight the things that I loved about the event and things that I thought could be done better.

Let me first start with the POSITIVES:

RACE ENTRY PACK COLLECTION (REPC)

• Organised collection process – I went on a Sunday afternoon after lunch with 3 of my close girlfriends. We didn’t need to queue at all. The volunteers were quick and efficient and knew what they had to do. They quickly got our items for our race pack, asked us to verify the name stated on both the race bib and timing chip. They also remembered to offer us a lucky draw to see whether we can win for ourselves a pair of new Vazee Rush or Vazee Pace shoes, but alas, both my friends and I are never lucky for lucky draws.
  
• Free Silk-screening – Big thanks to the people at The General Co. for silkscreening our race tees!! I always look forward to the cool designs that you guys have. This year I chose “IT NEVER GETS EASIER, YOU JUST GET STRONGER, #RUNONSG”. My friend Cheng Yee chose the same design too. We really liked this tagline because running is never easy, and you got to do it consistantly in order to get stronger and better! My friend Kalsom and Jennifer chose “RUN SHIOK SHIOK”! That is one funny tagline! So Singaporean but who can deny the “feel-good” feeling after a run! I can certainly attest to that!

  

• Fantastic idea to have a flea market (LACE UP) – Loved the idea on how NB Run On did a tie up with The Local People by orgainising this flea market! It was cool to see all the local designers products that were available! My friends and I stopped by the FAWN pop up store. They were selling Vinyl stickers which I thought were super cute! Most of us ended up buying the stickers from them. I bought a fat unicorn sticker which I’m going to paste on my luggage!

  

RACE DAY

Fast and organised boarding of the shuttle buses Thank you organiser for providing free shuttle services to the event site! That was a fantastic call because it’s so difficult to get there! We arrived at around 4 pm at Stadium MRT and didn’t have to wait long to board a shuttle bus to the event site. Intervals were very fast and we could see the shuttles leaving promptly and arriving really quickly. Volunteers did a good job in crowd controlling.

• Cool photo opportunities – I love how the organiser had cool props for the participants to take photos with! What’s a run event without having photo memories! Best part was that they had assigned volunteers at each station to help take photos! This makes it so much easier when taking group photos!

  

• Awesome host and music provided throughout entire event – Two thumbs up to Kimberly Wang, Elias Soh and DJ A/K/A ATTAGIRL. Kimberly and Elias entertained the crowd really well by charming us with their personality and also providing us details about the race and it was just nice listening to her talk! DJ A/K/A ATTAGIRL beats were so cool that they just made you wanna party! The combination of them just made the event really hyped! Check out the flag-off video!
• Nice Scenic race route and enthusiastic volunteers – Love how beautiful the Singapore skyline is. From the START pen and all way throughout the route where we ran past the Marina Barrage and Gardens By the Bay. We also got to see the otters when we were starting our run! At my 2.5 km mark, I saw the first few runners coming back and that included some familiar faces like Mok Ying Ren, Shah Feroz and Colin Tung who were also participating in the race. Boy they were super fast and I can only dream of doing that pace. I excitedly cheered them on as they past. I did the extra 1 km and I gotta to say I was impressed with the volunteers who were at the extra 1 km because they were the most enthusiastic of all! Their encouragement does play a part in motivating those who are already tired out from the 7 km to keep pushing.
• Cool finisher medal and achievement badge – I’m so glad that I completed the race in that scorching heat. It was definitely not an easy one to keep pace. It was great feeling to be rewarded with a nice medal and an achievement badge to mark the end of the race!

  

• Fantastic post race refreshments – This is one of the main reasons why the NB Run On SG event is the best! Free flow of food everywhere! From beers to truffle fries, there were many more other fantastic refreshments like hot dogs, fish balls, ice-cream, yogurt etc. You definitely won’t grow hungry and you’ll be satisfied! Coconut water was given to participants to re-hydrate their bodies which had raced in the grueling evening heat! The weather was a killer!

  

• Cool post race contest – I like that the organisers catered for those who were there to just enjoy and not running competitively. I liked how they were running Instagram contest and giving out NB starter kits. Too bad I didn’t Instagram early enough because they had a cut-off timing at 18:30 hrs.

Now for the things that I thought COULD HAVE BEEN DONE BETTER:

• Flag-off Timing to be reflected instead of event start time – This was one of the big things that I really didn’t appreciate. When you state 5pm is the START time, people would automatically assume that flag off is at 5pm. Most races would emphasise their flag-off timings rather than start pen open timings on their websites and race booklets. We would not go into the nitty-gritty of the race booklet to see the program schedule. So when I thought the start time was 5pm, my group and I headed to the starting pen early only ending up to be stuck there for another half an hour before flag-off! It was NOT a nice feeling because we got stuck in front of a speaker blasting the music and also because it was super hot that day!! We felt like sausages on a flaming grill!!! My only consolation was that I got to see Mok Ying Ren walk past while he was heading for the front of the START line 15 minutes before flag-off and he said hi!!! To bad I couldn’t get him to take a photo because it was soooo squeezy but it was really nice seeing him.
• Not enough hydration points – There was only one hydration point for the entire race! And that was only at the 2km/5km mark which was the Marina Barrage area. It was sooo hot yesterday that another hydration point at the U-Turn point would be a real treat but unfortunately there wasn’t. Maybe the organiser could set up an extra hydration point at next year’s event.
• Not reflecting the race route accurately in the race booklet – Now we all know that NB Run On SG has a really fantastic design crew but the one thing they did not do was to reflect that we had to go up the Marina Barrage slope. In the race guide, they just drew a straight 90 degree turn which a lot of us would expect it to be flat ground but it was not. Run Events like the Performance Series did do so by highlighting the actual route and I appreciated that because having myself being mentally prepared, helps me plan how fast and how much effort I need to keep on going for my entire race. I’ve circled the area in RED that I was highlighting.

  Note: Maps are from New Balance Run On SG website and The Performance Series website

  

Overall it was a  fun event and I enjoyed every moment of it! I took a lot of photos and they will be memories that I keep! I’ll definitely look forward to next year event where we go the distance again. Interestingly, my group still had the energy after the event to go and catch Pokemon around the area! It was a fruitful ‘Pokemon’ing session! In total I managed to add these new additions to my Pokedex a Clefairy, Rhydon and 2 Jynxs! Till my next write-up! Stay healthy and happy!

It was raining so heavily when I woke up, but luckily no rain in the noon. Think the Sun pity us those runners who was so burnt yesterday so today went resting behind the clouds this afternoon. Yay! ?

Race pack collection is great, there’s no queue at all maybe because that there were 4 generous long days for us to collect our race pack and some people get their race packs to be delivered as they took the deluxe slots. There’s two days we can choose to runon, either Saturday or Sunday ? But we have New Balance Run on Saturday so we go for the Sunday’s Color Run. The race fee is quite expensive, if I didn’t remember wrongly the early bird slot also need to cost me $55. But fun runs are always slightly more expensive than those normal race. But this Color Run is worth it to go, my friends and I are already looking forward to next year’s color run. The deluxe slot cost about $40 more, but I don’t think that there is a need to spend the extra money. I can use that money to sign up for 1 more race ?

It’s not the first time I cut my shirt, I cut the T-shirt for One Piece run too. I don’t like T-shirt ? And many people really cut their shirt till so trendy and nice, think it’s either they are creative or they really got effort go YouTube on the ways to cut a T-shirt ? Unlike me no licensed and took me only about 5 mins to a draw a few lines and cut.

The location of the run is at Sentosa and the flag off time is at 4pm. I took the monorail in from Vivo, as we wanted to avoid the crowd, we decided to meet earlier. As we are wearing the Color Run shirts and bibs, its free entry for us to Sentosa! The staff at the monorail is so friendly! She gives every runner a hi-5, and wishes us a happy run!

The Color Run claims to be the planet’s happiest 5km and indeed it truly is! ? I’ve been to Hello Kitty Run, Music Run, Batman Vs Superman these types of fun runs too, but it is so far never as fun and being happy as the Color Run ?

The start pen opens only 5 mins before flag off, which is great. At the start line, they were already spraying the runners with the color powder. And started throwing freebies like sunglasses, visors and wrist bands to the runners. I caught none ?

My friends and I didn’t run we jog a little only at the start and after the first 1km, we walked all the way. We can always run in other runs but now I see it that for fun runs we should spend more time, be slow and enjoy! ? Every 1km point there’s a different color powder being splashed to the runners by the volunteers. Serene said that we are paying to get dirty and get “sabo” ?

All my friends and I got our “personal worst” timing. A 5km route took us almost 2 hours to complete as halfway at the hydration point we stop and waited quite a long time for Eugene who kena stucked and jammed every where, at the the flag off, at the monorail. He came over after the Trifactor race this morning. I didn’t feel the wait because the rest of us were under the shelter at the hydration point enjoying the super cold and shiok 100 Plus, taking photos and looking at other colorful runners. It’s actually quite therapeutic to see so many happy faces. People were all so smiley ?

There’s many youngsters at this Color Run. They were all so fun and energetic! ? They are so cute lah! They even roll on the floor to get the colors on them. After the run there’s a concert on stage and may of them were on the “dance floor” dancing and jumping. It’s so fun to hang out with friends like this. How come during my teenage days there’s nothing so fun like this? It’s ok, I’ll forever be young at heart! ?

And something funny happened! Refer to the snapshot below and the hashtags ?:

HAHAHAHAHA! ? Sometines when I go running with my phone and if it suddenly rains, to prevent my phone getting more wetter than my sweat I will also put my phone there. But must depends on the sports bra support also lah, if not phone will also drop out ?

Although the quality of the medal is not good and design of the medal looks simple and no effort but at least the floral lanyard is nice. What’s more important is the fun and happy memories made with friends for this run ? And the race village is fun with the music and people dancing. There seems to be unlimited water available in the race village at the hydration point and we can just go to the hydration counter to take the bottles of water and cans of cold hundred plus. And of course we didn’t missed out having fun taking a photo at the Haribo photo booth. Hurhurhur! Faster than Usain Bolt? ?

Guess many color runners will stay and party there till 9pm as the atmosphere is really fantastic! ?But we are hungry and the next day we need to work so we leave, took quick rinse and change into a fresh set of clothes and have dinner at Vivo. Walking out because the monorail have long queues. When mood is beautiful, everything is beautiful and nothing negative gets in. Pokemon Go players are cute today ?