The inaugural Lazada Run Singapore took place this Sunday morning at the Marina Barrage with four race categories – 5km, 10km, 21km and the Kids Dash.
A regional series of runs
The Singapore race was the finale event of a regional series of runs by the e-commerce company which had taken place in Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia.
Running the 21km event
I took part in the 21km category.
This was flagged off at 5am in the morning.
Congestion in getting to the site
The Grab ride there was mostly smooth but when the car hit the Marina Gardens Drive, traffic slowed right down to a crawl. It took about 10 minutes in total to drive that final stretch.
Apparently the reason for the congestion was because this road was to be the start line of the race, so half of the road was closed off.
Thus, rather than two lanes, there was one lane for both incoming and outgoing traffic. 
Fortunately I had prepared more than enough time. I reached Marina Barrage and alighted from the Grab at 4.15am.
Furthermore, it was a rather long walk from the carpark drop off point to the baggage deposit area and then the start pen of the race.
This is because we had to make a big detour around the Marina Barrage and the Gardens by the Bay MRT station in order to get there, due to the barricades that had been put in place for the run.
Lack of toilets
I have to point out the lack of toilets at the race area. I didn’t see any other toilets apart from the permanent ones located near the carpark and near the barrage “bridge.”
There really should have been some port-a-loos near the race start pen.
I did think of using the toilet at the MRT station but this was shuttered and closed because the train service had not yet started for the day. 
I do hope that the organisers can consider bringing in some port-a-loos for future editions of the Lazada Run.
Reaching at the start pen
I reached the start area at about 4.40am and slowly inched my way towards the front of the first wave. The crowds were pretty thick but I managed to find my way through.
As I was going in, I heard the emcee call my name. Thanks so much Kelly – it’s always lovely to hear your bubbly voice at events!
My Coached buddy Jacelyn was already inside the start pen too and we wished each other luck prior to the race.
I also bumped into with Justina inside the race pen and the two of us ended up running the whole way together because our race target was similar.
Start was quite punctual
The flag off for the first wave was pretty punctual at 5.00am for the first wave. My run log reflected a 5.00am flag off timing as I was near the front. 
The second wave flagged off ten minutes later. I thought that five minutes should have been adequate enough to send off a second group of runners. There were two waves in total.
Target: Sub two hours
We pretty much ran at a steady pace of around 5:30 mins per kilometre throughout the run. Justina and I were pacing each other to a sub two hour half marathon.
I think that we were running at around 5:20 mins per kilometre in the beginning.
As a result of this, we caught up with the two hour pacers in the first few hundred meters and we overtook them soon after.
There are four different groups of pacers for the half marathon category: two hours, two hours 15 minutes, two hours 30 minutes and two hours 45 minutes. This is to cater to runners of differing abilities. 
All the pacers, however, started at the beginning of the first wave. Perhaps the location of the pacers could have been staggered so that both waves of runners can benefit from pacers.
With the current arrangement, runners who wanted to use pacers would have had to arrive early and get into the first wave.
Race route
The first half of the race brought us around Marina Bay, touching on iconic Singapore locations such as the National Stadium, and the F1 Pit Building.
This first segment was quite humid. I could feel this wall of hot air hitting me quite soon after I had crossed the starting line and it felt somewhat stifling.
The second half took us into East Coast Park, in an out-and-back from Fort Road to Marine Cove.
I was glad that they had managed to find a way to avoid the green bridge, which would have been another upslope if we’d had to cross over it. 
The East Coast Park segment was pancake flat and therefore easy to run.
Due to some sea breeze, this segment was more windy and the humidity levels were lower. As a result, it was more enjoyable to run.
Overall I would rate the race route as being very pleasant to run on. 
Smooth run
As a whole, it was a well organised race.
The route was paved and smooth and the lighting was good despite the fact that the sun had not yet risen for the entirety of the half marathon.
The only exception was in the first couple hundred meters or so, when it was pretty congested and we had to fight through a bit of human traffic. However the roads eventually opened up and more space was created for us to run. 
There had been one occasion where we had to cross the bridge in front of the Marina Bay Sands in the early stages of the run.
But the organisers had thoughtfully built a makeshift ramp over the stairs to prevent any tripping hazards.
Other than that, the route was quite easy to manoeuvre and it was mostly flat, with some gentle inclines that did not pose much trouble. 
Nicoll Highway was part of the early stages but there was nothing too challenging because my legs were still feeling relatively good.
Route was clear
Other than the odd cyclist, the route was also clear and free of members of the public and non-race congestion, due to the early hour of the race and the fact that most people would be at home asleep in the wee hours of the morning. 
A few spectators were present. These people were members of running clubs who had come out to cheer on their runners.
Marshals
Marshals were present to guide runners and point them into the correct direction at the critical junctions and u-turns.
I thought they did a good job and they were definitely on the ball when it came to spotting runners and telling them which way to go.
Race hydration
The hydration stations were positioned roughly every couple of kilometres. About half of them had both water and 100PLUS isotonic beverage while the rest were serving water only.
The drink was ice-cold and refreshing. I was glad that the non-carbonated 100PLUS had been chosen en-route as gassy drinks don’t sit so well with my stomach during runs.
Distance markers
The distance markers in the first section of the race had a shopping twist – as Lazada is an e-commerce platform, there were shopping discounts which could be accessed on Lazada by scanning a QR code printed on the markers.
These had ranged from 5 per cent off to $15 off. Some codes has no minimum spending. This is a pretty interesting way to promote people shopping on Lazada.
However for the second part of the run, the promo codes on the distance markers had changed to motivational messages aimed at encouraging runners to reach the finish line.
Actually I must say I was quite disappointed that there weren’t more promo and discount codes for me to utilise!
Distance accuracy
In terms of the distances and their accuracy, I noted that a couple of the markers were a few hundred meters short. For example, the 18km and 19km markers were at least 300m out based on my watch.
However these discrepancies was rectified in the end because the final kilometre was about 1.4km according to my Garmin watch. 
Therefore the overall distance was accurate. Race distances should always be accurate. So this was good.
It must be noted that my own watch measured 21.03km, but I’d encountered GPS issues when I was running under the Sheares Bridge area around 8km so I think that this was the reason for the slight shortfall in my own GPS.
The majority of my friends’ watches had distances of around 21.1km to 21.2km for the half marathon.
Sub two hours
Justina and I finished the half marathon in 1 hour 55 minutes 43 seconds (nett timing. Sub two hours.
This is the official timing and both of us have exactly the same time.
Results are efficient
I noted that the Lazada Run race results were released a couple of hours after we had finished running.
This is very efficient of the organisers and another plus point for the Lazada Run that I liked. 
We were ushered to collect our finisher tees and medals upon completion. The finish welfare area was just after the finish line, meaning that no walking was required.
The finisher medal is heavy, large and solid. The quality looks good and the design is nice, with the super cute Lazada Run mascot Lazzie engraved on it.
We also received a banana, a 100PLUS and a bottle of water when we finished. 
Collection area issues
For the finisher tees, there are apparently separate men’s and women’s sizes which was a plus point. I always like races that have a female cutting for the finisher shirts.
But the collection area was quite confusing as I heard that some runners had received the wrong gender for the finisher tee and it did not fit them as a result. 
I think this issue had resulted because the male and female lanes for tee collection were not clearly marked out.
For me, the Female XS fits me perfectly and the cutting is also good. I am very happy with the tee and I can definitely see myself wearing it.
Regretting not visiting the race carnival
I have one regret about the Lazada Run. 
I did not know that there was a big race carnival on the top of the Marina Barrage slope.
I guess I was tired after my 21km run and so my foggy brain did not see that the carnival was there until I saw the Facebook and WhatsApp postings from other runners some time after I had already left the event site. By then, it was already too late to go back to the race site.
I think that perhaps the event organisers could have considered having a more prominent place to put the carnival that would be more easily accessible to runners without having to look skywards or climb up a slope to get there. This is especially torturing for the tired 21km runners. 
But then again, there wasn’t too much space left at the bottom of the Marina Barrage as the space was already being used for other important race elements such as the various start and finish lines, and the baggage deposit area.
But from the photos that I had seen, the carnival looked good, with lots of booths and plenty of freebies given out to runners.
Apparently there were so many items given out that some runners had to request cardboard boxes to bring home all the freebies and samples.
As well, there was also a shopping cart game which I heard attracted super long queues at the carnival. But then again, the prizes for the winners of this game were apparently quite attractive.
I will definitely check out the race carnival next time and make up for this year if the Lazada Run makes a return next year.
I would think that the carnival alone and all the free goodies available there would make the Lazada Run well worth participating in for many casual and recreational runners like myself. 
Large elite prize money
For the elite runners, this race is a no-brainer to take part in, as the prize money is quite big for a local race. The prize pool was apparently USD $3,000 in cash.
So the top runners from Singapore as well as the region had all come out to vie for the prize money. In the end, I noted that many of the top-placed winners were Kenyan and African runners. I guess that this should come as no surprise to me. 
Conclusion
As a whole, I have to say that I had a very pleasant and enjoyable experience at the Singapore Lazada Run 2023.
I would definitely recommend this run to everyone if it continues to be a mainstay on the Singapore running calendar.
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