Regardless of whether you are a beginner runner or a seasoned racer, the Decathlon Run 2022 is a hybrid virtual + physical running race catering to all levels of ability.

Comprise of two legs

The first leg is a virtual 5km run which can be completed anywhere and anytime of your choice, between 2nd to 26th May.

The second leg is a 7km physical run beginning and ending at the Decathlon Singapore Lab.

Ran the first leg last Sat 

I completed my first leg, which was the virtual 5km, last Saturday morning.

The start date of the Decathlon Run 2022’s virtual leg had coincided with the first week back for parkrun in Singapore.

Decathlon Run + parkrun 

So this worked out quite nicely as I could do it at parkrun and enjoy the mood, atmosphere and the thrill of the competition.

parkrun is a weekly 5km timed run or walk that takes place every Saturday morning at 7.30am. 

A couple of weekends ago, it had resumed again for the first time in three out of its four Singapore locations – at East Coast Park, West Coast Park and Bishan Park. 

This is after a hiatus of more than two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Reaching the start

I reached the start area, which was carpark B1 of East Coast Park at about 7.20am and the run briefing began at 7.30am. 

It was super exciting.

Starting my run

After a short warm-up walk to the starting line, we were running by about 7.40am.

This was when I switched on the Decathlon app, MyRaceGate, to track my run and have it recorded as my virtual run session. 

Once I had pressed the start button, there were some audio cues describing and introducing the Decathlon Run before a 10-second countdown timer appeared.

When the timer went down to zero, it was time to go.

It seemed to be a pretty humid morning.

Maintaining my pace

I tried to maintain a pace of around 4.30mins/km and hoped to hold this for the whole way. 

I didn’t know if I could, but I might as well try, right? Doing so would put me at about 22 minutes for the 5km.

Audio cues on the app

During my run, MyRaceGate was giving me audio cues regarding my distance and pace, to inform me whether I was on track to meet my target pace. 

This is pretty nifty as it helps to keep you motivated to keep going, especially for runners who do not run with a smartwatch.

I had put an estimated finishing timing of about 25 minutes into the app.

Going out, it felt rather humid, but there was also some breeze and a bit of tailwind which helped me to keep the pace going.

Running well until halfway

I was running quite well until around 2.7km, but then after u-turning, I found myself being held back by some headwind and my pace slowed as a result.

I quickly realised that the MyRaceGate app was ahead of my Garmin watch, in terms of the distance and pace. Perhaps it could be GPS issues. I generally trust my Garmin more.

Beginning to rain

The raindrops came at about 3.5km in. 

It was moderate enough to get me soaked, but thankfully it didn’t turn into a heavy downpour. The rain continued on during the home stretch. 

At least due to the rain, it felt somewhat less humid than it had earlier.

I think I must have picked up the pace again at this point, as I was quite eager to get out of the rain.

The Decathlon app actually announced that I was done and finished me early, when I still had several hundred metres more to go. 

But I still carried on running, because I wasn’t quite done yet.

My finish and timing

When I finished the parkrun route at 5km, my official timing on parkrun, was 22 mins 52 seconds. This is the timing that I am going to use.

The timing is also a new personal best for 5km, smashing the previous one of 24 mins 11 sec which I did a month ago at the parkrun in Amsterdam. 

Yes. I am very happy with the timing.

The Decathlon app, in contrast, had recorded my finish time as 22 min 02 sec.

Now I am looking forward to the 7km physical run. Let’s see how it goes.