The Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon (KLSCM) 2021 virtual run took place from 20 – 28 November this year, with 47,000 participants all over the world in a bid to set their personal bests.

Biggest running event in Malaysia 

Organised by Dirigo Events, the KLSCM is the biggest running event in Malaysia and it is an event that I have supported and looked forward to every year since 2017. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 2021 is the second year that the event has gone fully virtual.

This year, I took part in the half marathon, clocking the distance on the second Sunday of the event period, and choosing a scenic, flat route at Singapore’s Marina Bay for my run.

Running the event

I was supposed to start running around 6am and do it together with my running buddy but I ended up beginning my run at 6:40am on my own with my Sudio headphones and podcasts for company. 

My route was a simple course along park connectors in Singapore’s south east, which took me through east coast park and marina bay, and ending at the B1 carpark at east coast. It was a flat route with minimal elevation.

A cooling morning 

Fortunately it was a cooling morning and the sun was not boring very strongly. I maintained a pretty steady pace, keeping my heart rate in the easy and steady zones whilst soaking up the sights and sounds of the bay. 

This one is a familiar route to me as I run it regularly. So I didn’t need to pay full attention to where I was running. I could zone out and plug in.

I hit the gardens by the bay east around 6km and continued towards the marina barrage area, as this is the more scenic side, as compared to the sports hub area.

I crossed the marina barrage bridge around 8km and that was when I decided on the spur of the moment to u-turn at the halfway mark rather than doing a full loop of the reservoir as the latter would easily bring the mileage well past 21km.

On the way, I passed several familiar faces who were also out on their morning runs, such as Reyna and Riana from Coached, Jenny Huang, and Ashley Liew, the latter running with his dad and their family dog, Tiger. It was very nice to see friends along the way.

Halfway and turning point 

The turning point for me was somewhere before the Fullerton Merlion. 

On the way back, I focused on listening to my podcasts as a way of distracting myself and simply aimed at completing the distance.

There were several groups of cyclists and walkers out and about though, so I had to keep an eye out for them, so that I would not crash into anybody.

Fortunately it was not too hot until the last 4km or so when I hit area A of east coast park, which was just before the fort road exit. 

Got harder towards the end

From there, it got harder but I grit my teeth and finished the run, counting down the kilometres as my watch buzzed and focusing solely on carpark B1 as the ending point where I could finally rest and recharge myself. 

My legs were feeling slightly tight after all that running, but otherwise I guess I still felt quite good.

The hardest part of the run was when I realised that my route estimate had fallen short, so I had to run pass the carpark B1 and carry on for an extra 500m before turning back towards B1. 

After 20km of running, it was mentally draining to have to pass the finish point and run on, but I managed.

Finishing the run

It was pure relief to finally finish the run when my watch finally hit 21.1km. Another edition of KLSCM had been done and dusted, albeit virtually again.

My run hadn’t felt too taxing on the lungs until the last part when the sun had come out, all guns blazing.

Hope to run next edition in-person

I hope to be able to run at the next KLSCM event in Kuala Lumpur itself and surrounded by thousands of other like-minded runners. 

But I guess that the Covid-19 pandemic will have to end in order for this to happen again. Let’s continue to keep our fingers crossed.