The first leg of the Decathlon Virtual Run kicked off at the beginning of this month.

Unlike other virtual runs whereby participants are tasked with running a single distance, the Decathlon Virtual Run comprises of three legs spread out from March to May this year. 

The aim of this concept is for runners to take charge of, and own their runs.

Run 21km anywhere

The first leg, in March, requires runners to complete a total of 21km spread throughout the month, in as few or as many runs as they want.

I normally run several times a week, and I completed my 21km of running in a few days, with my runs being at varying locations such as the Green Corridor, East Coast Park and the F1 Pit building. Running at different parts of Singapore helped to provide some varieties to my runs.

Heat has been crazy

With most of my runs being done on flat ground, hills were a non-issue to me, but there had been the heat to grapple with. 

This is because the past week has been crazily hot, even well into the evening. 

Struggling to run at 5.30pm

For instance, I remember beginning one of my runs at 5.30pm, thinking that surely the heat should not be so intense anymore at that timing.

But even at that hour, the heat had still been insanely hot and I found myself struggling. The heat soon proved to be too much for me and I ended up catching a bus home halfway during the run.

Rather than prolonging my suffering, I had reminded myself that since the 21km was to be clocked throughout the whole month, I had more than enough time to complete the mileage. So this meant I could afford to take the bus in this instance. 

It was a lesson learnt. There’s always another occasion to do a run, and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to me, while trying to clock a virtual run.

I was surprised that it’s so hot at this time of year though, because the heat usually doesn’t rear its ugly head till the middle of the year, that is, in June and July. 

Morning runs were better

After that bad experience, I decided to switch the rest of my runs to the morning. 

And my morning runs had fared somewhat better, with me being able to complete the target distances that I had set out to achieve, thanks to the heat being less intense at 7am, but unfortunately, it had still felt significantly muggy.

How to upload my runs

Uploading my run sessions were quite simple. When I registered for the virtual event, I had received an email containing an upload link. I simply located this email from my inbox and clicked on this link. 

All the key details such as my registration number and personal particulars had already been filled in, so I only needed to upload screenshots of my run details and fill in the distance of each run session. 

Screenshots can be clocked using any running app, such as Garmin Connect, Strava or RunKeeper, just to name a few. As long as the app captures the GPS, time, date and location for each run, then it will work.

Second leg to be in April

Now that the first leg is complete, I will be looking forward to April, for which the challenge is to clock 10km on either a running track or on trail terrain.