This morning, I participated in the Nila Run 2015. A unique once-in-a-lifetime 10km fun run, this gave recreational runners the chance to run part of the same route as the elite marathoners at the 28th South East Asian (SEA) Games. The route from the Kallang Practice Track to part of Fort Road was the same as the marathon one.
Nila, the adorable 28th SEA Games mascot…wears the Nila Run race medal.
The Nila Run this morning had flagged off at about 6.10am, which was 10 minutes after that of the SEA Games marathon event.
A good exercise session before the run
The first thing that I noticed, as soon as I had reached the starting location – was that the baggage deposit area at Kallang Leisure Park had been quite far from the starting point at the Singapore Sports Hub (near Stadium Road).
But on the other hand though, it provided some good warm-up exercise before the run started – so maybe that was a good thing after all!
The first few kilometres went smoothly
From the Singapore Sports Hub, the running route took the Nila runners through Tanjong Rhu Road, Fort Road and the Kallang Basin before looping around the Sports Hub and ending near Kallang Leisure Park. It was quite a scenic running route and the weather was rather humid at the beginning, but still quite cooling and breezy at the same time – as I was running.
Braving the rain.
Hit by the rain
The rain hit the Nila runners – hard – at about the halfway point. I had been about 5km into the run at that point in time. At the beginning when it started raining, it wasn’t too bad, but then it suddenly grew extremely heavy.
I suppose that there had actually been warnings of the impeding rain though, as the sky was gradually growing quite black. But I was fervently hoping that it would hold out and not rain during the race. Alas, that was not to be, though.
Taking shelter from the rain.
Rain grew heavier
When the rain grew quite heavy, a few runners stopped to seek shelter, but the majority simply carried on running. At this point in time, I was at the Sports Hub and there was just about three to four kilometres left to go. So I figured that since I was already soaking wet, then there was no point in stopping to seek shelter anymore. After the run, I figured I could always go home, bathe and get changed into dry clothes.
But it wasn’t easy running in the downpour though – as it reduced my visibility during the run greatly and the rain was also getting into my eyes. As a result, I could barely see anything more than a few metres in front of me. But by keeping a close eye on the runners in front of me, I had managed to keep on going, and when I spotted the finishing arch up ahead, that had definitely been very welcoming. And subsequently, the first thing that I was thinking of after that – was definitely a nice, hot shower because I was feeling quite cold and wet.
Runners finishing their event.
Finishing the run
At the finish, it was good, to hear the compere congratulating the runners as we were crossing the finishing line and saying how the Nila runners are “stronger” than the rain in terms of how many had still carried on, despite the wet weather.
And to a large extent, this was quite true. Plenty of Nila runners were sheltering at the entrance at the nearby Kallang Leisure Park mall – after they had completed the run – and as a result, the shopping mall was getting quite crowded. The fact that most of the shops were still closed at that early hour, yet there were swarms of people hanging around, was quite ironic!
The super cute race medal!
An interesting and unique running event
This morning’s Nila Run had been an interesting running experience – and with the added incentive of heading down to the Kallang Practice Track to catch the elite marathoners coming in, after our race, many Nila runners had looked forward to this event.
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