This morning, about 14,500 women took to the streets of Singapore, participating in the 2019 Great Eastern Women’s Run – which is Asia’s largest all women’s run.

Started and ended at Singapore Sports Hub

Beginning and ending at the Singapore National Stadium, the race, which is organised by Infinitus and now into its 14th edition, has been empowering women to live great through running, over the years, and 2019 was no exception.

Up until last year, previous iterations of this race had taken place at The Float @ Marina Bay, so the Singapore Sports Hub is a relatively new location for this event.

 And to cater to runners of different preferences, there were several categories – the 5km fun run, as well as the 10km and 21.1km competitive events for adults, and the 2km Mummy + Me race and the 100m Princess Dash for the children.

I ran the 21.1km Half Marathon

The 21.1km half marathon category, which I had registered for, was scheduled to flag off at 5:15am, this morning.

So I dragged myself out of bed by 3:15am for my pre-race morning ritual, before grabbing a cab down to the National Stadium. 

In the spirit of celebrating and supporting women, the Great Eastern Women’s Run encourages participants to purchase and wear tutus for charitable causes – the Breast Cancer Foundation and the Women’s Health Research & Education Fund. These has been a mainstay of the event for the past few years. So I complied, putting on a tutu on top of my running shorts before I left my house.

Reaching the Race Site

I reached the race site at 4:20am, which would give me plenty of time to spare.

However it took longer than expected to collect my media passes because we had to wait quite a while for our contact to show up. So it was fortunate that I arrived early at the race.

The race starting point, which was along Nicoll Highway, opened just before 5am, with ladies streaming in. I was able to snag a good spot near the front of the start pen.

Ross and Kelly were the emcees

Soon afterwards, I could hear the chirpy voices of the two race emcees Ross Sarpani and Kelly Latimer. I was wondering how they could be so energetic and lively at 5am in the morning.

Both Ross and Kelly have been the regular emcees at this event for as long as I am able to remember, and as we waited out the minutes for the race to begin, the two emcees entertained runners with their lively banter and shared their mandatory safety briefings with runners, before the elite wave was then flagged off at 5:15am sharp. 

In the moments leading up to the race flag-off, I noticed that the overhead bridge above Nicoll Highway was lined with supporters. These were mainly the male partners of the ladies who were running in the race and the two emcees acknowledged their presence.

Our Run Begins

The rest of us had been flagged off at about three minutes after the elites.

Out of the blocks, I followed the two-hour pacers, with my heart rate hovering somewhere around the high easy to low steady zones as I ran.

Scenic Race Route

The race route took us around Singapore’s city centre, passing sights such as the F1 pit building, Singapore Flyer, One Fullerton, the Singapore Merlion, Marina Bay Sands as well as the Gardens By The Bay. 

It had been advertised as being a scenic route, but due to the early start, I couldn’t see very much along the way because it was still dark.

Narrow Paths

There had been a couple of occasions towards the beginning of the run, when the paths seemed a little narrow and congested.

But then after the first few kilometres, once the masses had become more spaced out, this was not an issue for the remainder of the run, even though the running paths were still relatively narrow, at times.

Dark Patches

Unfortunately there had been several dark patches along the route, such as the area around the F1 Pit Building and the Singapore Flyer.

As the organiser did not appear to make any attempt to provide any form of lighting at these areas, they may have been potential tripping hazards for runners who were going too fast and not watching their step.

The pacers whom I were running with, warned the surrounding runners to be careful too.

There were a couple of glow sticks at the Marina Barrage area, but I didn’t think that these really helped at all.

Large Signages

But there were consistent, large kilometre signages indicating each kilometre passed. This was good, and they were not easy to miss.

As well, according to my GPS watch, the positioning of the markings were accurate enough, with the average differences between my watch and the signages being roughly a couple hundred metres, give or take. This falls within my acceptable range. 

And for ladies who do not record their run using smartphone apps or sport watches, such signages are helpful for them to gauge their pace as they run.

Great Hydration 

As well, there had been plenty of hydration along the way, though, with nine hydration stops serving either water, or a mixture of both water and isotonic drink. The hydration was more than enough, in my opinion.

I took the isotonic drink whenever I saw some, and to my relief, the drink was cold. I always prefer taking cold drinks when I am running, because it feels very refreshing to me.

As well, there was one banana station about midway during the race. I was feeling more thirsty rather than hungry, so I didn’t take a banana. But it was good of the organisers to provide the bananas for runners who needed the carbohydrates and sugars to keep on going.

Second Half of the Run

The latter part of the run brought us along the surroundings of the Marina Bay Golf Course, which was probably the most dull segment of the run because there was nothing to see at this stretch.

With my heart rate creeping into my moderately hard zone somewhere around 15km into the run, I backed off the pace, in order to bring my heart rate back down to the high end of my steady zone, knowing that it would probably go up again because of cardiac drift.

I settled into a 6min/km pace for the remainder of the run, with my only aim at this point being to complete the distance and enjoy the rest of the race. 

As the kilometre markers passed by, I counted them down one by one.

My legs were beginning to feel a tad heavy by this stage of the run, probably because I haven’t done much long distance running since the Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon a month ago.

But I gritted my teeth and just continued running on. I didn’t want to stop, not when I was so close to completion.

Running into the Singapore Sports Hub

As we ran into the Singapore Sports Hub, I knew that the run was on the verge of finishing and this helped to energise me. 

Once again, there was a sprinkling of supporters at this stretch of the race; they were mostly comprised of the male partners of the runners.

Finishing 

I spotted the 20km marker around the Singapore Indoor Stadium area, and I pushed myself to keep going, reminding myself that there was just one more kilometre to run.

The final kilometre of the race brought us around in a partial loop of the Sports Hub – en route to the air-conditioned track inside the Singapore National Stadium dome, where the finish line was.

In the final 100 metres of the race, there were quite a few spectators lining the course – comprising of runners who had already completed, along with a sprinkling of men who had come down to support and cheer their loved ones. 

It may not have been the same as being cheered by a packed stadium full of spectators, but for an amateur athlete like me, I suppose that this type of crowd is probably the best that I could hope for.

I picked up the pace slightly when I saw the finish line, crossing the finish line in a time of 2 hours 03 minutes – which I am quite happy with.

My Finisher Entitlements 

Upon finishing, I collected my finisher entitlements which consisted of my medal and finisher tee, a can of isotonic drink, and a bottle of water. I drank the water quickly because I was feeling quite thirsty after my run.

And as well, each runner was also given a Breakfast Box courtesy of Polar Puffs & Cakes, and consisting of a sausage bun and a Swiss roll. This was quite generous of the race organisers.

I caught up with a few of my running friends after finishing, and we discussed how our individual races had went, as well as taking post-race photos together with some of them.

Race Village Freebies

Over at the race village area, there were more goodies and food samples that were given out free for the race participants. 

These included ice cream, milk and sparkling water.

And I had thought that the ice cream sandwiches from The Ice Cream & Cookie Co. were particularly tasty, and I quite enjoyed their Strawberries & Cream flavour.  

Over at the Kids Zone, there was also free carnival popcorn and candy floss available too, and I tried the sweet popcorn. Additionally, there was also a bouncy castle, as well as a few ‘My Little Pony’ standees targeted at the young ones.

 And also, some games were available at the race precinct for runners to try their hand at winning freebies, including PowerBanks, vouchers and gym passes, but because of the long queues at these booths, I did not go for these.

The Powder Room

Not forgetting the Powder Room also, which is a unique mainstay of the Great Eastern Women’s Run, for ladies to pamper themselves and clean up their sweaty bodies after finishing their race. 

And for some reason, it appears that this Powder Room seems to get better and better, each year.

Main Stage Activities 

Over at the main stage, plenty of activities were taking place, such as a mass fitness workout for the race participants, as well as an invigorating cheerleading performance. 

And once again, emcees Ross and Kelly were on hand to provide more friendly banter and entertainment in between these activities, and unsurprisingly, they recognised me and called me.

Selfie Points

Lots of selfie booths were available for runners to take pictures, but there were continuously long queues at these, so as a result, I decided to give them a miss. It was unfortunate because many of these had looked great.

The event then ended with the prize presentations for the various categories, followed by the flagging off of the 100-metre Princess Dash for the kids – with plenty of onlookers watching and being entertained by the cute antics of the children as they geared up for their race.

That said, I do think that it’s always good to have kids categories at such races – because it is a great way of introducing running to children at a young age, therefore helping them to develop a healthy love for running and the outdoors.

A well organised race

As a whole, I would say that despite some shortcomings with the race route, the Great Eastern Women’s Run overall was otherwise pretty well organised for the runners.

However, the level of security seemed to have got substantially tighter at this year’s edition compared to previous races.

Nonetheless, I always look forward to every iteration of this race, because of the female energy and excitement coming from this running race, and I have to say that the 2019 edition certainly did not disappoint me.