The Safari Zoo Run was originally conceptualised to commemorate Ah Meng the Orang-Utan, who passed away from old age in 2008. Since then, it has taken off and become an annual event that I have looked forward to each year because of its unique race route.

Due to the redevelopment and expansion of the Mandai area, the final edition of the Safari Zoo Run was supposed to have taken place in February this year, with me having signed up for the 12km category. There were also 2km and 4km categories available too.

Sadly, this was not to be, with the Covid-19 pandemic rearing its ugly head. Safari Zoo Run was originally postponed to the second half of 2020, in the hopes that the rampage of the Covid-19 coronavirus would die down by then, but with Covid-19 showing no signs of abating, the Safari Zoo Run unfortunately became a virtual event instead.

Runners like me, who had signed up for the physical event in February, were automatically transferred over to the virtual race.

But this sadly meant that we wouldn’t be able to run through the Singapore zoo for the final time.

The clock-in dates for the Safari Zoo Run were from 1st October – 15th November, meaning that there was more than enough time to complete and submit the run.

Our race packs arrived in late September and was filled with goodies, including a race singlet, plastic water bottle and an adorable mini elephant plushie. Our medal was also shipped together with the rest of the race goodies, prior to the event. It felt good that they trusted us to complete the run on our own.

And complimentary admission to the Night Safari and Jurong Bird Park are also included. So this makes the race pack very worthwhile.

I did my 12km run in the early hours of the morning on a weekday in the first half of October, choosing an easy running course around my place, which passed through East Coast Park, Tanjong Rhu and Stadium. 

This particular route was picked primarily because it was flat, and easily accessible for me. I ran it at an easy/steady pace, trying to transport my mind to the zoo as I ran. But I must say that it wasn’t really easy to imagine that the trees along East Coast Park were animal enclosures at the zoo!

I have always enjoyed the feeling of running through the Singapore Zoo and passing by all the animals, curiously watching the herds of runners streaming past. 

But with Covid-19 still showing no signs of abating well into the final quarter of 2020, this virtual experience is the best that we can hope for. 

At least I can be thankful that I have taken part in the past couple editions of the Safari Zoo Run and had the unique experience of running through the Singapore Zoo, prior to Covid-19.

Submitting of our race results was quite easy and fuss-free. Simply login to our participant page of the Safari Zoo run website, and upload a screen capture of your run, together with the distance run and timing.

As well, there is another option to give permission to connect your Strava account to the Safari Zoo Run website and your runs will automatically be pulled from Strava. 

I went for the screen capture upload option. While this process is simple, this may take a maximum of three working days to be logged into the system. So make sure that you don’t do your run at the last moment, in order to avoid any unnecessary panic.

Hopefully we can have another edition of the Safari Zoo Run in its original format, once the redevelopment of the Mandai area is complete. I shall be looking forward to that.

Disclaimer: Unicorn not included in the race packet.