This afternoon, the inaugural Meiji Run 2015 – billed as The World’s Most Delicious Race, took place. And it is definitely easy to see why the Meiji Run is billed as such.
It’s a picnic at Sentosa’s Palawan Beach after the inaugural Meiji Run.
At the finishing line, there was a huge Meiji buffet awaiting the participants. This had included a wide range of Meiji foods, such as burgers, to Hello Panda biscuits, plain crackers, yoghurt, chocolates and even milk and yoghurt.
Comprised of a 5km Fun Run
The Meiji Run itself comprised of one category – this was the 5km Fun Run, where participants were required not only to run, but also to go through obstacles such as a Meiji Plain Cracker Maze as well as a pool of yoghurt.
Runners at the starting line.
Many runners enjoyed themselves
Most of the runners definitely enjoyed themselves thoroughly at the event. Said Too San Muan, 36, an occupational therapist, “It’s a very rewarding run. There’s instant gratification of food and drinks immediately after the run – and that is one of the main reasons that convinced me to sign up for this! But this run was also conducted in a very fun place, and the weather was quite cooling. Running through sand and through the Meiji maze also added to the great experience today.”
Added Steve Castle, 30, a teacher, “It’s definitely a very well organised run. The route was good because there were plenty of shaded areas and the view was great when we were running back to the finishing point. The amount of water stations along the way was good and I am really impressed with the food buffet at the end point – so I think I will be eating back everything that I burned during my run!”
Reaching the Meiji food village soon…
Good change to running alone
Nevertheless though, Castle feels that fun running events such as the Meiji Run, provides a good change compared to simply running on his own. He explained, “Though Meiji is not a brand that I would associate with running, I enjoyed running here today with so many people. When you have this many people, it adds to the atmosphere. I would also not have run this route myself if I were running alone – as I live nowhere near Sentosa – but the fun of running, after all, is that you get to see places that you would not necessarily visit or see.”
These yummy hamburgers were one of the many foods on offer!
Great chance to get some exercise with her husband and kids
For assistant engineer Eunice Leong, the Meiji Run was a great opportunity to get out together with her husband and kids – to do some exercise. She said, “This is the second time that my kids have taken part in a 5km run. I think it’s good as running is a very healthy sport, and gives us a good family bonding session. My kids also really enjoyed themselves, as they are always studying between Mondays to Fridays – so weekends are the only time they get take part in fun activities such as running.”
Leong admitted that she signed up for the Meiji Run because her husband, who loves eating the Meiji yoghurt and Hello Panda biscuits, had convinced the family to put their names down for this event. She added, “And now he has sort of converted the rest of us into Meiji fans! The two children like the Hello Panda biscuits too. So today we not only got to eat as much Hello Panda as we want, but we also got to learn more about the stories behind the Panda and Meiji’s other characters.”
Giving out Yan Yan biscuits to runners!
Another fan of the Meiji milk was the family of 30-year-old IT technician Joseph Chan. He said, “My wife wanted to sign up for this run as she is a huge fan of Meiji products – especially their milk. But this turned out to be a great fun run and a good family get-together session for us. The location was great – and I also liked the great water playground at the end, which I’m definitely going to bring my daughter over to.”
Run exceeded his company’s expectations
According to Meiji Singapore’s Senior Director of Food Production, Makoto Muta, 56, the run this year has certainly exceeded his company’s expectations. He said, “We are very pleased with how the run has turned out in terms of the crowd and participation. I love seeing people smile and be happy – and everyone is so happy here.”
Anyone wants some Meiji Plain Crackers?
Muta added that Meiji decided to hold a running event because they wanted to encourage people to live a healthy lifestyle by taking up sports – and running is the simplest sport for most people to pick up. He added, “Now, we hope to make this into a regular annual event – to encourage more people to take up running and sports.”
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