ST Run in the Hub 2015 concluded last Sunday at the Singapore Sports Hub. I did the 10km, rather bravely, considering I haven’t done serious running for a good few months. Not taking into the account the treadmill sessions at the gym.

Still, here’s a quick review of the entire race experience.

Race Pack Collection (Rating: 7/10)

It was pretty hassle free. There were two distinct lines for 5/10km and 18.5km race pack collections. Waiting time was roughly 15-20 mins on a Friday morning, right at 10.30am. The confusion only came with the Spectator wrist tag and goodie bag. People were unsure whether the goodie bag came with the wrist tag or the bag needed to be separately purchased.

Race Day (Rating: 8/10) 

Leading up to the race, the haze was threatening but ST Run did a really good job keeping their runners up to date on the situation. One notice came Saturday evening and another came in the early AM just before the race.

I took my own transport and parking was extremely convenient – near Kallang Leisure Park. There were plenty of lots available at the open carpark. The starting point, however, was tucked deeper in and slightly difficult to find. Not much signs were plastered around either.

Race Route (Rating: 8/10)

(Credit: The Straits Times Run at the Hub Official Website)

It was lovely! We ran through Nicoll Highway, Marina Barrage, around residential areas, along the outsides of Marina Golf Club and took a turn back to the Sports Hub. There was a good variety of sceneries. There were a few narrow pathways though, which is a common problem when using the Nicoll Highway-Marina Barrage route. The finishing point was a slight letdown because the carnival didn’t seem particularly happening (there was just a really long queue at the Panasonic booth and the cheerleading performances seem to start pretty late, nearing the last few groups of 5km runners) and the entrance to Sports Hub resembled an underpass.

I hardly ever pay attention to the carnival booths because of the gimmicky vibe they tend to emanate. Some runs have massage booths, or booths with towels and muscle soothing gel; those would be way more beneficial. It would be great to hear your thoughts on this!

Overall rating: 8/10

The Straits Times, Singapore’s leading newspaper and media, had its beginnings 170 years ago in 1845. To commemorate this special anniversary, a new race category of 18.45km is introduced this year in addition to the 10km competitive and 5km fun run. This interesting category is most popular among runners and comes with an exclusive 1845 finisher t-shirt! Due to overwhelming popularity, I was unable to get any slot for 18.45km category and went on to sign up for 10km anyway and was glad that the haze condition did not affect today’s race at all!

Race day: Baggage deposit, Flagging-off and Haze-free!

Upon entering the 100plus promenade tracks at around 5:50am, I was directed towards gate 15 along with other participants towards the starting pen and baggage deposit area. After going down multiple escalators, we finally arrived at the spacious carpark which was converted into a temporary baggage area, with rows of barricades and volunteers. The entire process was fast, efficient and all the walking became a pre-race warm-up for me as I made my way to the starting pen.

The scheduled flag-off time is 6:30am for 10km and it was already 80% full by the time I got there around 6:05am. Perhaps it’s my first time taking part in such a huge-scale race event, I was rather overwhelmed by the amount of people and energy at the starting pen! After some warming-up exercises and countdown, off we go!

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Race route: Scenic, entertaining and nostalgic

Thanks to the clear, haze-free weather, I was able to run without worries and the musical performances at multiple zones throughout entire route really made the run much more entertaining and fun! Oldies and classics from Beatles, Elvis Presley and more were played and my favourite has got to be the performing group near the Marina Barrage! This was an unexpected surprise and I hope to more of such elements in future races!

Clear distance markers were spotted, hydration stations were sufficient and there were many volunteers to cheer us on. The only issue I encountered were slight bottlenecks at certain points in the race, especially the last 3km, which were unavoidable given the large number of participants. It would be great if participants keep to one lane if they decided to stop running and allow fellow runners to pass. I was lucky to have a runner in front of me who was exclaiming, “Walkers on the left! Runners on the right!” during our last 2km towards the Sports Hub.

Finish like a champion

The last 1km was what I had been anticipating for and the reason that kept me going – to land my footsteps on the legendary tracks of the National Stadium. Such opportunities are rare and the exuberant feeling when I ran into the stadium and onto the tracks made me feel like a champ! I guess everyone else felt that way too!

Post-race: Stunning Sports Hub and exciting prizes

Still awed by the humongous and spacious stadium, I simply sat and admired the surroundings, took some photos and was glad to be part of this historic race! There were many lucky draw and contests happening around the carnival area with exciting prizes to be won. Unfortunately I did not leave the Sports Hub in a Land Rover…better luck next time!

Race reflections

The organising committee of the ST Run at The Hub 2015 deserves double thumbs up for their consistent efficiency in race event logistics and management from pre-race to race day. More importantly, they handled the haze situation well, with multiple SMS notifications before race day. The entire race felt like a journey through memory lane, where iconic new and old landmarks of Singapore stand tall and proud along with music and images of the past. I am quite sure everyone had a good time today and congratulations to all finishers, lucky draw winners and race winners!

As always, the reviews I write here attempt to provide an objective recount of a participant’s experience, while my personal blog is also available to browse here. For now, do look out for the font in italics that are aspects of a race which I deem important to participants 🙂

Race Pack Collection

Collection was held at World of Outdoors (Plaza Singapura) over the weekend on 12-13 September 2015 from 11.30am-7.30pm. This was a small race – from my estimate, attracting closer to 300 participants – hence the venue was sufficient (and convenient!) to accommodate the volume of participants.

My Race Category

To be honest, the only reason why I decided to register for this race was the price. The registration fee initially put me off despite the attractive possibility of running around Fort Canning Park, a fresh route for me. However, priced between $33-$37 (Early Bird) or $38-$42 (Normal) for the competitive categories (variable prices depending on whether one selected the Individual, Team of 2 or Team of 4 category), it was too pricey in my opinion.

Having said that, there was a remarkable 50% discount for the first 50 participants who registered on our Nation’s birthday. My interpretation of that is that the sign-up rate was lower than intended – hence this offer. Nonetheless, I I welcomed the offer and purchased my Individual Men’s Open race slot at $21.

The Race Precinct

With my category’s reporting time at 7.15am, I was able to catch the MRT while arriving with sufficient time to spare. Much more, in fact (more on this later). The race precinct was conveniently located at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business, which was a short walk from Bras Basah MRT or City Hall MRT. Baggage deposit only commenced at 7.00am and this may have taken awhile due to the limited counters available. Restrooms were available at the building. It is noteworthy that the starting point was actually a walk away – participants were to be briefed here before proceeding over to the start.

The race briefing started late. It was only around 7.30am that a briefing was conducted, in spite of a 7.15am reporting time. Thereafter, runners were organised into waves (I heard waves of 20 – but my wave only had about 8 runners?) before being led off to the start point.

The Race

Being in the first wave, we were flagged off at 7.40am (factoring in the time walking to the start and subsequently receiving a short brief on the route). The race was conducted in a “Nett Time” fashion, whereby rankings were based on a participant’s Nett time (due to the wave starts) instead of Gun Time, unlike almost all other races. This was probably to accommodate the narrow route which could be hazardous. Consequently, this meant having fewer participants to run alongside though personally, I would have enjoyed more company.

The race route took us all around Fort Canning, with its notable challenges being the ascents and descents, in addition to some sharp turns and even a series of intermittent steps which was a potential hazard. The race consisted of 3 rounds of the approximately 1.6km. There was a single hydration station serving both Gatorade and water, though since participants were running in loops, participants would pass it thrice. There weren’t distance markers, though with each round supposedly being a mile (supposedly), one could probably make estimations.

Due to the various wave starts, I began my second round just as another wave was beginning. As a result of the narrow route, there was a degree of congestion despite the small waves. Nonetheless, runners strung out before long. With runners of different waves distributed across the entire route, it prevented any overwhelming congestion. However, this came at the expense of having runners of similar calibre to compete with.

Post-Race

Participants (or supporters) could linger near the finish to wait for other runners. One of the benefits of a race in loops was how a supporter could cheer on runners without having to move an inch. However, runners wishing to collect one’s entitlements had to return to the LKC School of Business.

Upon returning, a Finisher’s Medal was handed out. There was also a supply of snacks and drinks (lots of unchilled Gatorade and water) available in a “buffet” style, whereby participants could freely take from the bountiful supply. In addition, there was a live performance going on, a FitBit booth, a photobooth, an ice-cream cart and a popcorn machine. Or rather, those managed to catch my attention. Oh not forgetting, lucky draws for FitBit merchandise.

Last but not least, I would like to commend the organisers for the swift release of Race Results – provided just hours after the event! With that, I conclude my review of this race!:) Feel free to check out my personal experience of this race here.

Cover photo credit: SMU Mile Run’s Facebook page.