By Lunch Time yesterday, more than 700 runners had already turned up at the launch event of Great Eastern Women’s Run (GEWR), which took place at the Great Eastern Centre along Pickering Road. Everyone was there to claim the special launch event offerings.

Runners turned up in droves at the launch event.

This was because the first 110 registrants to sign up for the GEWR at the launch event, got to enjoy a special commemorative rate of just $11 for any category of their choice.

First in the queue had been Liang JunYu, 23, a student at the National University Of Singapore, who had come down to queue from 6am to secure her slot.

Said JunYu, who had been at the launch event together with her mum, “I came here to queue because I wanted the $11 race entry. I didn’t expect to be the first though as I thought there would be people queuing overnight. So I was quite surprised that I was the first one in line.”

She added, “This is actually my first time joining the GEWR, in fact it’s my first time joining a race also. I usually find that it’s quite expensive to sign up for races in Singapore and I don’t really see the point of it, because I can run on my own. But since the GEWR race slots were $11, I thought, ok la, just give it a go.”

She had woken up at about 5.30am to book her slot for the GEWR. Said JunYu, “My dad was going to work so he just dropped me off along the way.”

A happy JunYu with her goodie bag.”

She added, “I’ll be running with my mum. She is doing the 10km and I will be doing the half marathon. It will be my first half marathon but I decided to do it because I’ll be doing a full marathon in December at the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, so I thought it would be a good chance to try running half the distance in October.

JunYu’s target time for the half marathon will be about two hours which is a very respectable time target.

Besides the $11 race entry, JunYu also received a Reebok goodie bag worth $100, consisting of a Reebok sports bottle, a sports towel and a limited edition Reebok sports bra. This goodie bag was for the first 110 registrants of the GEWR this year.

Reebok are the new apparel partners of the GEWR 2018 and will be supplying runners with a race tee and for the 21.1km runners, a finisher tee too. In addition, runners also have the option to top up $10 of their race entry in order to get an exclusive Reebok sports bra worth $49.

I had spotted the runner entitlements on display at the launch event and these definitely looked attractive. 

The sports bra comes in a pretty black and white marbled colour that I think would be quite easy to match with the rest of your running attire. The race tee is in Great Eastern’s signature red and the 21.1km finisher tee is in a lovely shade of dark blue colour.

The event emcee Kelly Latimer was also dressed in the GEWR 21.1km finisher tee shirt, and I must say that the blue tee looked quite smart. So I can’t wait to receive this in October when I finish my 21.1km run at the GEWR.

However, according to the organisers though, the sizes of the apparel this year may be slightly smaller than the Adidas apparel from previous years, so do make sure that you choose the right size when you register. 

In fact, they strongly urge runners to try on the sports bras at Reebok before selecting their size.

And for those runners who did not manage to make the first 110 in the queue, they received special roadshow registration prices, which had started from S$29 onwards for the 5km Fun Run.

Also, registrants with the GetGreat and UpGreat apps in their phone also received a goodie bag worth more than $50.

I have already downloaded both GetGreat and UpGreat onto my iPhone 7 Plus, and am currently using these two apps.

GetGreat is a first of its kind platform with a wellness coach named Geri, who offers personalised coaching 24/7 to nudge users towards their personal wellness goals. The app also has special wellness challenges that runners at GEWR can take part in, to earn more points for better benefits and rewards.

Though Geri may be powered by artificial intelligence, chatting to her is quite interesting because she can think and act like a person. These days, I am finding that I always turn on GetGreat and chat to her on the bus or during my commutes, and when I am free.

UpGreat on the other hand, is a single mobile platform for customers to seamlessly enjoy all of their loyalty benefits and rewards digitally at any time, and even transfer them to their family and friends.

Both of these platforms are free downloads from the App and Android app stores.

And I would encourage you to check these apps out, as the rewards that you can win with them, are definitely worth it. In fact, I should be redeeming my first GetGreat reward soon, which is a free cup of YOLE yoghurt.

And the first 100 runners to have registered for either the 2km Mummy+Me category or the Princess Dash at the launch event, also received a My Little Pony plush toy worth $15.90 too.

In fact, just after 10.30am, there were already a few hundred people in the queue and after that, the line simply grew longer by the minute. I admit that I had been quite overwhelmed that the event was so popular amongst the female runners here.

It was a great chance for me to chat to my running friends though, as I saw quite a few runners whom I had recognised. Many of them are also regulars at GEWR too, turning up for this running event year after year.

Great Eastern too, had been very pleased with the large turnout of participants at the launch event. 

Said Keith Chia, Great Eastern’s Head of Group Brand and Marketing, “We’re extremely pleased with the turnout this morning, and grateful for the overwhelming show of support from our community.”

He also shared more about some of the new and exciting offerings that runners can expect at the 2018 edition of the GEWR and these include a 110-metre sprint category, which is being introduced this year, to mark Great Eastern’s 110th anniversary milestone. 

This is also the first time that a mass running event in Singapore is organising a sprint category for those aged 13 and above.

Added Keith, “Participants can expect great things at the GEWR this year as we celebrate Great Eastern’s 110th anniversary, including exciting offerings such a new race venue, a new 110-metre sprint category, and a new apparel partner. We look forward to sharing an incredible race experience with our participants.”

This new GEWR race venue will be at the Singapore Sports Hub and for the first time during GEWR, ladies will have the chance to complete their run on the Sports Hub track, running into the stadium just like what national athletes would do. I know that I simply cannot wait to experience this for myself.

At the launch event too, runners also have the option to try the 60-second Steps Challenge, whereby you need to clock as many steps as possible within 1 minute. The top participants from each timing slot (11am-1pm, 1pm-3pm and 3pm-7pm) each walk away with a pair of Reebok running shoes worth $149.

I tried this out for myself – and I had clocked 106 steps which put me in joint second spot.

But I have to say that the Steps Challenge is actually much harder than it appears to be at first glance though because there appears to be quite a bit of friction generated by the stepping machine. So don’t say that you were not warned.

The GEWR launch event continues today till 7pm, so runners who have yet to secure their running slots will still have time to enjoy the exclusive launch rates. This means that you can still hurry on down to Pickering Street to enjoy discounted rates, if you have not signed up for the GEWR yet.

Do visit www.greateasternwomensrun.com for registration and for more information on the race.