The first Star Wars movie (episode 4: A new hope) was released in May 1977 whereas the first Star Wars run ever organized by Esprimo in Singapore was in May 2017. I didn’t watch all of the star wars episodes ever screened. In fact, I can’t vividly remember the story of all the episodes that I had watched, especially the older ones. I’m not a Star Wars fan but I liked Star Wars movies because they looked seems very futuristic plus they are “action packed” . This year’s star wars run was the 2nd run ever organised in Singapore. There were 4 categories to choose from: 5.4km light/dark side and 10km light/dark side. There were also categories for kids such as the 540m young Jedi kids dash. I chose the 10km light side category. I felt that the race fee was super expensive even with loyalty rate, the race fee amounts to $70 SGD for the 10km category. Last year I took part in the Star Wars run 10km category and paid even more ? !

Until I collected my race pack, I realised that the flag off time was at 5pm. I felt that it was too early as the sun at this point of time will be hot.

I had a half day work on race day. My work ends at 12pm. I took nap after work and ended up reaching the race village at 5:20pm. Bag deposit had no queue, immediately deposited my bag and proceeded to run. The weather wasn’t good. There were little cloud overcast in the sky such that all the infrared rays, visible light, and ultraviolet rays from the sun combined to BBQ all the 10km runners ?. This time round, I paced myself slower than I would normally run a 10k because I don’t want to end up with a headache, because of the weather, and because it’s a themed run. So I tell myself to relax and run!

All hydration points serves both plain water and coconut water. The plain water wasn’t even chilled but the coconut water was icy cold. Hydration points were also evenly spaced.

The only bottleneck I experienced during the race was somewhere at the 4.5km point where the path was the narrowest making it difficult to overtake other slower runners. At the halfway point, I saw the young Jedi runners assembled at the start pen while running pass F1 pit building. Further down the route, I was greeted with ramps installed on the stairs for the runners but we need to climb down the stairs later.

The crowd increased as I ran further. I was running into the lane for the returning runners most of the time while running from Gardens by the bay to the finish line as it was too crowded. This time round, I tried running slower in the beginning than at the end (negative split) and ended up finishing in 1 hour 10 minutes time.

After finishing the race, I took some drinks and yogurt at the Marigold tentage.

I finished the race at 6:30pm, but the “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” movie screening starts at 8:50pm. I decided to watch the movie because it was my first time watching it. So, I explored the race village and took dinner at Millennium walk while waiting for movie screening

The movie was long, I stayed back to watch until it ended. Bu the time I arrived home, it was passed midnight.

This year’s NTUC Income Eco Run aims to cut down waste from the manufacturing of texties for clothes, metals for medals by introducing the “zero waste” option during registration. Discount of race fees were given for zero waste runners. Producing absolutely no waste or zero waste is impossible though. We humans will inevitably produce waste even by breathing out CO2 (carbon dioxide) ?. The organiser even encouraged runners to bring their own water bottles to run (which I did). For this race, there were 3 adult categories offered: 5km, 10km, and 21.1km. In addition to 1.2km and 0.8km categories for kids. I chose the 21.1km half-marathon category even though I had a previous 2xu half-marathon just 3 weeks before this race. I felt that the race fees was really cheap. I paid 42 SGD under early bird and income policyholder rate in addition to a 7 SGD shuttle bus ticket which was the cheapest run I ever ran and it’s worth it.

Race entry pack collection (REPC).

Upon arrival to the REPC, I collected my race pack. Waiting time was fast and queues were short. There were booths that sells products related to running and other merchandise. Even NTUC Income sells their insurance policies there. There were recycling bins provided by Tzu Chi foundation during race pack collection as well as in the race village. Runners can recycle stuffs like plastics, paper, and aluminum cans. There were names printed on a structure that reads “ECO RUN”.

Before the race

I woke up at 2:30am on race day to board the shuttle bus that was scheduled to arrive at 3:35am. It’s a 10 minutes walk to the bus pickup point. Arrived the race village at around 4:20am. The process of bag deposit was fast and the queue was short. After I deposited my bag, the queue became increasingly longer.

During the run

I was flagged off in the 2nd wave. Shortly after flag off, I met some runners from running department. So they said that if you meet up with the 2:45 pacers, you will aim for 2 hours 30 minutes timing, so follow us. After running for 7km, I met the 2:45 pacers while running pass stadium MRT station. Then I heard a song titled “you raise me up” playing from one of the pacer’s speakers. After the song ended, I overtook them, still having a 2 hour 30 minutes finish goal in mind. This time round I ran with my water bottle. So I skipped some hydration points along the way as I brought water bottle to drink at any point of the way.

Something unexpected happened. After running for 14.5km, I vomited 3 times ?. I puked out everything I drank including the energy gels?. There was a man who attended to me and offered to walk me to the nearest medical point but I declined. So I said I would take my time to finish the race. He replied and asked me to take it slow. I don’t want to make this my first DNF (did not finish), I’m still determined to finish. Besides, I have my water bottle filled with 100 plus with me. After running for 18km, I felt like I was running on empty, like a battery that lacks electrolyte/juice and still running towards zero voltage ?. My legs began to cramp badly. Maybe it was me who didn’t drink more 100 plus than I ought to for the fear of vomiting some more. So my legs began to hurt with painful cramps?, but stamina still ok, not completely breathless. Then I saw a runner with text printed on the back stating, “Jesus loves you, run to Him” which meant to be encouragement for me to preserve. After running for 19km, the 2:45 pacers oveovertook me. From there, I walked all the way to the finish line because my leg could no longer run.

After the race

I’m glad ?to be able to finish this race but also disappointed ? at the same ttime because I felt that I didn’t finish the race strong. My legs were cramping very badly that I had so much difficulty to relieve the cramp. It took me more than 30 minutes of random standing, squatting, and stretching just to relieve the cramp. I experienced random muscle spasms in my legs, it was so terrible that I began to worry. Thank God my legs recovered in a few days. I was amazed that I finished in 2 hours and 36 minutes despite of all the difficulties I had faced. I wished how I could finish this race stronger, but this race had passed already. I hope I would be able to finish strong in future half-marathon races without injuries.

The race results are out

Even running a half-marathon could prove to be very challenging. Congratulations to all runners who finished the half-marathon!

“May the Force Be With You!”

The Star Wars Run, held at the F1 Pit, was a 2 day festival starting from 4th May to 5th May, whereby the 2nd day was the actual race day. This was the 2nd edition, where the 1st run last year was held at Gardens By the Bay.

I was called to the Dark side and participated in the 10 Km category. This run was supposed to be my recovery run after last Sunday’s Income Eco HM and thus, I intended to take it easy and just savour every moment of the galatic festival!

Race Pack

The race pack consisted of the usual event shirt, bib and a number of vouchers from the merchandisers. It included a mat, which I realized later that its intended purpose must had been to use and rest upon during the outdoor movie screening after the race.

Pre-Race Activities

The organizer lined up a host of activities to engage the fans and hype up the atmosphere. This was a Star Wars Event, not just another run. I reasoned that to completely experience it, you had to really in a way, took part or enjoy the various performances.

This was why once the festival village opened at 11 am, I made my way and  reached there at 1245 pm, in time to catch the march out by the Star Wars characters at 1.15 pm. This must be the only race I took effort to arrive much earlier before the flag off time!

The weather was hot and there was a drizzle, which fortunately stopped before the march out! The line up of characters, from the 501 Legion and other fans clubs, was awesome! Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vadar took the lead over both the Dark and Light forces. What a sight to behold!

The characters took to the stage and the fans were busy taking photos of them. There wasn’t much people at this time, perhaps due to the hot weather and rain, so we really had sufficient time and space taking individual photos with some of these characters when they mingled with the fans.

At 2 pm, the Dark side put up a splendid concert. It was certainly hilarious to see Darth Vadar playing the electric guitar and Palpatine drumming away! The fans were clearly entertained! Shortly, this was followed up with a Fightsaber Performance between the Dark and Light sides.

I lingered for a while more, looking at the toys and figurines on sale by the retailers, before heading to the Singapore Flyer food court to cool down with an ice kachang. Took some rest before proceed to bag deposit and warm up at 4 pm. At this time, the Kids’ Fashion Parade was going on.

The Race

I entered the pen designated for the Dark side. Both sides were barricaded from each other and it was awesome to see a clearly separated sea of reds and blues. The emcees mentioned there were much more Dark forces (3x) compared to the Light forces. Well, it appeared more runners prefer to join the Dark side as the bad guys always seemed more ‘appealing’ !

The race was flagged off at 5 pm by the characters from both sides – members from the Rebel Alliance and soldiers from the galactic Empire. Although there was no fireworks like last year’s, I would say it was still ecstatic. No one complained.

The 10 km route brought the runners past Nicoll Highway, Garden by the Bay and the Marina Barrage. I heard that the 5.4 km routes for the Light and Dark sides were different and ran in opposite directions. This is something uncommon in local races. Thumbs up to the organizer for their effort to initiate this.

The early evening sun, still hot, was beating down on the runners. Thus, I must say it was not an easy run but fortunately there were sufficient hydration points which provided runners with water and UFC coconut water.

There was a mist station at the Marina Barrage but seriously I didn’t feel any mist or cooling effect at all. Or, was it just a normal ‘space tunnel’ for runners to run through?

I managed to complete the race within my usual time and got my finisher medal and shirt. However the size was too small and I got it changed at the Information Booth. Runners were also treated to a free flow of Marigold yogurt, packet drinks and ice mountain sparkling water.

Post Race

The night was still young. Hundreds of runners stayed behind to watch the outdoor screening of The Last Jedi at 8.45 pm. It was a joy for us, both as runners and as fans, to enjoy our favourite movie together under the night sky after a well organized run.

Comments

1) Many commented that the event tee shirt was undersized. I faced this issue too and had to upgrade to ‘XL’ for my finisher shirt. I think the issue was at the shoulder width, where it is really a bit ‘tight-fitting’.

2) There was no fruits post run to replenish lost energy. The free flow of yogurt and drinks were welcoming though.

3) Personally, I felt the sound volume at the outdoor movie screening a bit low. A bit louder would have been better to boost the special effects.

Overall, it was an awesome event!

The Force was really with us on the 5th of May!