Since 2011, the 2XU Compression Run Singapore has been bringing together runners from the region, in order to participate in a focused and competitive race. 

Click here to view the 2XU Compression Run 2019 photos in the photo gallery.

This annual running event builds on the mantra of “Human Performance Multiplied” and aims to maximise the potential of every participant, thus challenging you to attain speeds that you had never previously thought was possible.

Event Took Place This Morning

The 2019 edition of the much-anticipated 2XU Compression Run Singapore took place this morning, at Singapore’s Formula One Pit Building.

And as with previous years, there were three race distances, and these were the 21.1KM Half Marathon, 10KM Competitive Run and the 5KM Competitive Run.

New 2XU Apparel

And new this year had been the debut of a new 2XU apparel made with Polygiene odour technology, that, according to 2XU, was supposed to keep runners drier and cooler through its advance knit structure and the usage of high-filament yarns.

I did not wear the singlet for the race, so I cannot comment on its quality and features.

I Ran the Half Marathon

I took part in the 21.1KM Half Marathon which had flagged off at 4:30am in the morning. 

So I dragged myself out of bed in the wee hours of the morning to get changed and prepared for the race, before then getting into a cab to head down to the Formula One Pit Building for the race.

Exploring The Race Site

I reached the race site at 3.30am. This was just in time for me to catch my breath, collect my media wristband, and then take a few photos around the race precinct before queuing up to get a good spot in the start pen. 

I noted that there were a few booths at the race village but these were not set up yet prior to the race. They had included booths by sponsors Pocari Sweat, Jaybird and Fitness First, as well as from the Health Promotion Board.

As well, a baggage deposit area with plenty of lanes and clearly labelled numbers for runners to drop their belongings, was present too – in a bid by the event organisers to prevent congestion.

I saw that more than 40 portable toilets were also available but I did not need to join the toilet queue. Thus, I cannot comment on the waiting time with regards to the toilets.

There had already been a small crowd of runners waiting at the gate to the start pen, when I had finally made my way there at about 3:45am.

Start Pen Opens

The start pen opened up at 4am and I was inside soon after that. Altogether, due to the large masses of runners taking part in this event, there were six waves which were each scheduled to depart at ten-minute intervals. Fortunately I managed to snag a place in the first wave.

While waiting for the race to start, I saw a few running buddies whom I recognised, and we spent the time chit-chatting to each other.

During the wait, the race emcee, Power 98FM deejay Jerald Justin Ko, who is more well-known as JK, had introduced the various groups of pacers to runners, via their coloured balloons. There had been a few pace groups with timings ranging from 1h 50min to 2h 30min.

However, apart from JK who had mentioned a few words to runners, I noted that there were not much festivities at the start line this year.

Sometimes at local races, there is music, smoke and plenty of hype in order to set the mood and adrenaline for the race ahead, but I thought that the start line had felt pretty muted and low-key this year – for a large race.

As well, I observed that interestingly, there had been a few Kenyan runners lining up at the start line, but then again, me being aware of their presence is not something that I am concerned with, since I am always competing against nobody other than myself, whenever I run in races.

As the minutes quickly ticked by and the flag-off time approached, my friends and I wished each other luck.

Event Flags off Promptly 

The race had been flagged off sharply at 4.30am, beginning with the event’s first wave. 

Taking Things Easy 

Going into this particular race, I knew that my body had been feeling quite tired and a bit achy – from the training and the increasing mileage, in preparation for the London Marathon at the end of this month. And of course, a lack of sleep the previous night also did not help me, either.

So as a result, I decided to take it easy throughout and just aim to complete this run feeling as comfortable as possible.

This had meant that when everyone else had sprinted out from the blocks, I tried not to get myself caught up with the fast start because the last thing I had wanted, was to hit the wall. The Half Marathon is still a long distance, after all.

So instead, I quickly slowed down and held back my pace in order to keep my heart rate in the high end of my Easy Zone. 

This had taken some effort at first, because the high humidity levels at the beginning of the race were threatening to make my heart rate creep up and so I had to keep on monitoring my breathing to see if it was under control.

Race Route

The race route for the 2XU Compression Run had been a standard Singapore city route that took us through Republic Avenue, Nicoll Highway and the Marina Bay area, passing by local tourist sights such as the Singapore Sports Hub, Gardens By The Bay, Marina Bay Sands and Esplanade Theatres along the way. 

It is generally pretty flat but with a few gradual inclines that did not pose too much of a challenge.

As a whole, I had felt that the route was not the most scenic of running routes around, with the loopy area at the Promenade being particularly morale-sapping, too.

But I did notice that a section at East Coast Park had been eliminated from the race route this year.

Congested At The Beginning

The first few kilometres of the run had felt rather congested, in my opinion with the lanes at Republic Boulevard and Nicoll Highway being on the narrow side.

As a result, faster runners who had started from the later waves were banging into and elbowing slower runners from the earlier waves. 

And it also did not help that many runners in Singapore may not be aware of the standard runner etiquette rules.

For example, to stick to running on the left side of the race course and let the faster runners overtake on the right. Perhaps then, more races should increase their participants’ awareness of such rules.

Hydration Was Good

I encountered the first drink station at about 2.5KM into the Half Marathon. 

Altogether I had counted about eight hydration stations and while of these some had been only serving water, others had both water and Pocari Sweat isotonic drink.

For a Half Marathon that is being conducted in humid weather, I think that eight stations is enough to cater to the needs of runners.

As well, the hydration tables were great and contained lots of drink, thus catering adequately to the masses of runners taking part in the event.

I did not take any of the water, but I stopped at all the Pocari Sweat stations and to my relief, the isotonic had tasted refreshing and ice-cold and as a result, this gave me a good boost of energy each time round.

While a few of the volunteers at the drink stations did make an effort to hand the cups of hydration to the runners, this mostly did not happen when I was running past, unfortunately. Probably it was because there had been too many runners around, for them to hand out cups to everyone.

Instead, I realised that we had to run up to the tables and take a cup from there, which meant slowing down our pace and bumping into crowds of runners who were also doing likewise. 

And I thought that this would have been a hindrance to runners who may have been targeting a personal best.

But that said though, I did not notice any bananas, energy gels or official muscle rub stations available along the aid stations on the 21.1KM course when I was running. For a long race like a Half Marathon, these would definitely have been much appreciated.

Congestion Eases

The running congestion finally eased up a few kilometres into the race when we were running towards Suntec City. 

I had been quite tempted to speed up at this moment, but I didn’t want my heart rate readings shooting through the roof so early on in the race, so as a result, I maintained a relatively easy pace. I knew that once my heart rate went up, it would be near impossible to bring it back down again.

Some Morning Breeze

But I felt that as we left the city centre and then headed towards the Marina Bay area, there was some early morning breeze and the run suddenly did not feel as humid as before.

So this made things easier for me to run – at this point, I could now run whilst keeping my heart rate reading stable at the same time. Thus I found that I was able to enjoy the run more, and simply lose myself into my favourite songs.

Not Much To See

Due to the early race starting time, it had been rather dark throughout the 2XU Compression Run but since I was running at my Easy Zone, watching my step was not an issue.

Nonetheless, this meant that there had not really been much sights to see during the first three quarters of the race. So I tried to focus on my music to keep myself going.

Thankfully I had my music, too, because I had felt that through the race, the atmosphere and race ambience was lacking. 

I remember that during previous editions of this race, there had been several volunteer cheer squads en route to encourage runners along the way, but for the most part, these appeared to have been missing at the 2019 race. So I had to rely purely on myself to keep on going.

Low Visibility 

As I continued running, I did note that some sections during the race had very low visibility, though. 

The first one was towards the beginning, where we were required to to run through a rather dark stretch of tunnel. Light fittings were present but these were not turned on.

As well, the area at Marina East Drive heading towards the Marina Barrage was also pretty dark.

Additionally, there had also been a grass patch around the Marina East Drive area that runners were required to cross. I found myself slowing down at these dangerous section so that I would not trip and lose my balance.

But at least there had been a large warning signage at the Jubilee Bridge, because runners were required to run down some steps at this point.

The Jubilee Bridge had been around the 19KM mark of the half marathon when many runners would already be feeling the fatigue. 

I was thankful for the presence of this sign, because I had spotted it just in time. This is a dangerous area, and can be a potential tripping hazard, especially for the faster runners who may have been dashing out in the dark.

However for previous editions of this race, I did recall that a volunteer had been stationed at this point to physically warn runners too, but I did not notice a volunteer when I passed this area.

Some other runners, however, did mention that an enthusiastic volunteer had been present when they had passed by this point.

Nonetheless, I thought that perhaps some additional lighting could also have been installed at this particular location to further minimise any possible tripping hazards.

Kilometre Markings Were Good

Besides erecting this warning signage, the race also had kilometre markings at each and every kilometre and based on my Garmin watch, I noted that these were accurate enough for me. 

So this had meant that runners who were not wearing GPS devices would be able to use these markings as an indicator to gauge their pace and timings.

I think that it is good for all races to have such signages – in order to keep runners on track for their respective timings.

Speeding Up

The last couple of kilometres took us past The Float @ Marina Bay and the Singapore Flyer before heading back to the F1 Pit Building. 

Knowing that the race was almost finished, I sped up a little at this stage – in order to finish my run on a strong note.

With about 300 metres to go, I saw the finishing line right up ahead of me.

Seeing My Coached Buddies

And at the same time, I spotted the Coached flag as I was nearing the finish line.

Coached is a heart-rate training programme for marathoners and triathletes led by former professional triathlete Ben Pulham from New Zealand, and I have been training with Coached for the past few years.

Both Ben and his lab partner, Jim Webster, were there to cheer on runners and it was particularly motivating to see them.

 A few of my fellow Coached runners who were already done with their respective races, were hanging around there too and I thought that it was great to spot them.

This gave me an added burst of adrenaline and energy to increase my pace again and push myself towards the impending finish line ahead.

Finishing My Run

As I ran through the finish arch, still feeling good, I took some time to catch my breath. I felt happy that I had completed another Half Marathon, even though it was not a personal best timing. 

My GPS at the end had clocked 20.88KM.

But then again, the intention had always been to treat the 2XU Compression Run simply as a long training run and not a race, so I suppose I have nothing to complain about with regards to my efforts this morning.

After completing 21.1KM and still feeling as though I possessed the energy to run further, I guess this puts me in a good position for the London Marathon, which I am running in three weeks’ time.

Some security guards had been stationed at the finish arch to urge runners to move ahead towards the finisher area to collect their entitlements – so as not to crowd the finish line.

Finisher Entitlements 

After taking a few photos of myself at the finish, I moved on to pick up my entitlements which had included a finisher t-shirt, finisher medal, banana, can of Pocari Sweat and an ice-cold towel. 

I had particularly loved the towel because it was cold and refreshing, and really helped to cool my body down, after having just completed a long run.

However, the cold towel aside, I thought that in terms of the standards, the rest of the finisher entitlements could have been improved.

For example, the medal felt quite light and roughly made, and the year of completion of the run did not appear to be printed on the medal itself; only on the lanyard.

Post Race Village Area

After that, I headed towards the race village and had a look around to see what was available.

 

This year, things were apparently kept very simple, with just some basic amenities available but not much else available. 

In fact, it had seemed as though the number of post run activities had appeared to have been cut down. For a large-scale race such as the 2XU Compression Run, I admit that I would have expected to see more.

The Various Booths

Jaybird had been giving out free food – namely apples and Oreos, for runners to replenish their depleted glycogen stores after the race. 

And all you had to do in order to redeem these was to ‘Like’ their Facebook page which was quite simple.

The Fitness First area also had a body analysis machine and several foam rollers. 

I tried out the body analysis and the results are quite positive. According to the readings, I am fit and healthy and I should just continue what I am currently doing with regards to my fitness regime. This was good news that I was happy to hear.

Using the foam roller was painful, though! One of the Fitness First people brought me through a few simple exercises to stretch out my tight muscles and like many runners, I realise that I am extremely tight and inflexible, especially in my upper legs!

The Pocari Sweat booth had been particularly welcoming, though, because they had plenty of ice-cold isotonic drink available, and runners could simply help themselves to it. And I thought this had been really good to quench my thirst after my run.

Photo Opportunities 

Looking around, there were a couple of standees too, for photo opportunities, including a giant sized Pocari Sweat can and a huge 2XU statue. 

And I noticed that a lot of runners were posing with these and some of them even had long queues. So I decided not to queue up myself, as the sun was beginning to come out by this stage.

Replenishing My Energy

Before leaving the Formula One Pit Building, I also replenished my energy with some of the catered buffet food available in the VIP/Media tent which had consisted of items such as fried scallops, breaded fish, buttered rice and dim sum items. 

I admit that this may not have been the healthiest fare around, but it had been good enough to fill my stomach after the run.

My Overall Thoughts 

However I did feel that considering the 2XU Compression Run is supposed to be a large-scale race, more post race activities could have been made available to runners.

For example, the organisers could provide runners with a wider choice of food and drink options for breakfast – to be either given free or available for purchase.

Or perhaps there could be simple games as well as some lucky draw opportunities for runners, in order to create more of an atmosphere and vibe about the race village and keep runners hanging around there for a longer time. 

And it had been this lack of fun activities that led me to leave the site not long after the race. Usually following a run, I tend to hang around the race village to soak up the fun, which I thought had been somewhat lacking today.

I recalled that in previous editions of the 2XU Compression Run, the post race village had been much more happenings and that there was more of an atmosphere and vibe there, too.

But I suppose that at least I had still managed to enjoy this morning’s easy fun run – because I had the chance to catch up with several of my running mates, both before as well as after the race, which had been a good thing. 

And I must say that having friends around to chit-chat with, always helps to make up for other disappointments that I may have experienced.