The Music Run™ is billed as the only international running series that pumps the ultimate music playlist, every step of the way. Regardless of whether you are a first timer, a casual runner looking to set your own pace or a competitive runner looking for a new personal best, The Music Run™ was set to get your heart rate pumping throughout your run.

Click here to view the Music Run 2018 photos.

And this was achieved through the ‘Inspo Zones’ along the run route and speakers pumping out 15,000 watts of music, lined at 40m intervals throughout the entire route.

The Singapore edition of the Music Run™ took place yesterday afternoon and last evening at Sentosa with three different categories – a 10km competitive run, 5km timed run and a 5km fun run.

The 10km event had been basically two loops of the running course.

I took part in the 5km fun run. This was scheduled to flag off at 6pm in the evening. I reached the Sentosa race village at about 5.30pm and sat down near the start pen, in order to wait for the pen to open for my running category.

At the same time, there were some live performances going on at the nearby stage area. While seated, I allowed myself to get caught up in the songs that were being played, in order to get myself into the mood for the Music Run™ ahead.

As well, I also caught up with a couple of friends who were also at the race, before the flag off.

Soon, 6pm came and the run was flagged off.

Prior to flag off, there was also a warm up by Fitness First.

As well, some dancers gave a live performance in time to energising music at the start line, to create the mood for the run.

For a fun run though, the route had been surprisingly challenging with a lot of upslopes – I realised quite quickly, that I had forgotten how hilly Sentosa was. So I found myself having to slow down in order to keep my heart rate constant.

Agreed Amjad Ali, 34, a Training Manager at the Family Dental Centre, “The route was very difficult with a lot of upslopes. That made it quite hard. We had to run up and down a lot.”

I also found some of the paths quite narrow too, and at some point, I was shuffling rather than actually running too. Fortunately I had been near the front of the wave though, so this meant that I did not really face bottlenecks.

Said Nicolas Reynard, 35, an opportunity coach and a chef, “Sentosa is quite narrow and it was quite hard for people to pass at times. Maybe runners should be educated to say, keep left or right, to let the faster runners pass. More people would then be able to enjoy the race.”

 But despite the challenging route and the rather narrow paths, the Music Run™ was still a fun event though, with loud music being blasted throughout the entire route. I usually listen to music when I am running because it helps to keep me motivated, but this time around, I was quite glad that I had left my Jaybird RUN earphones at home – so that I could soak up the full sights and sounds along the running route.

Added Jack Moloney, 27, an IT consultant, “The run was absolutely fantastic. It went by so quickly and was really motivating. The music was perfect too and that fact that I ran faster than my running buddy here, says a lot about how great things were. The concept was just perfect.”

And agreed Nicolas, “I do like to listen to music when I run. But I don’t like having something inside my ears. That is why the Music Run™ is great because I can listen to music without any wires. I can also use my ears to listen all around me at the same time.”

My only thought was that the music this time around had seemed to be all meshed together and that the songs being played was seemingly quite random. I still remember that when I had taken part in the first edition of the Music Run™ in Singapore, there had been distinctive music zones, with different types of music being played at the various kilometre markings, to ensure that there was something for everyone. It would have been nice if this concept had been brought back.

Nevertheless, I had particularly liked the bubbles along the route. These were around the midway point of the run and runners were tasked with running through a tunnel of bubbles, with the music blasting, unsurprisingly, at the same time. It was particularly motivating. I thought that this was a great idea too and it brought back some childhood memories for me, of the times when I had used to play with bubbles.

The drummers playing somewhere along the final kilometre of the route, were also great motivation – for me to run on and complete my 5km run. It was quite motivating to see them beating on their drums, and playing the energising songs which gave me the adrenaline that I needed to keep on moving.

Said Nicolas, “It was great fun when they did the drums; I really liked the style of drumming. The bubbles were also good fun as well.”

For the hydration, there had been one hydration point serving water at the halfway mark of the run but I didn’t bother to take any because I didn’t really need to drink anything when running 5km. 

However I thought that the distance for the 5km Fun Run had been a bit short though. My Garmin watch measured 4.1km when I crossed the finish line.

After the run, I collected my finisher medal, as well as a bottle of water and two packets of Kellogg’s cereal bars – as runner entitlements.

The second was to roll two dice that featured various types of workouts and the number of reps respectively. My luck wasn’t too great here because I wound up having to do eight reps of push-ups. But I managed to get through this.

At least I could count my lucky stars that it wasn’t burpees though – which is the core exercise that I dread doing the most.

The final task was to play a virtual reality bowling game. I had a bit of trouble with the coordination for this task, but after watching a demonstration by the staff manning this booth, I managed to complete this.

My reward for completing the AIA Get Active games was a pair of limited edition Music Run™ polka dot socks which I really liked.

Besides the AIA Get Active games, there were also other avenues whereby runners could win prizes and these had been the AIA Vitality Leap, AIA FitSpo and AIA Ignite. But due to the crowds, I didn’t really get a chance to try these out though.

I also took a look at the food and drinks that were available for sale at the race village. There was a wide range of items available, including carrot cake, hamburgers and pasta. 

Beer, coffees, juices and shakes were on sale as well. And the dessert, what had caught my eye was the “poop cupcakes” which were basically chocolate cupcakes that were decorated with a cute looking “poop” emoji. I thought they were really cute. 

Said Jack, “The festival was perfect and great for getting runners into the party mood. Every run should be like this. But it would have been nice to have free beer!”

And last but not least, the after-run party was fantastic too. The songs were infectious and the DJs were full of energy and adrenaline and were great in getting our hearts pumping.

Looking at the crowds of runners congregated at the main stage after the run, I was apparently not the only one who was having a good time partying at the Music Run™.

I must say that it had certainly been a good night out.

And agreed Amjad, “The festival and DJs were great, and everything was very well organised. The logistics and organisation were also done well and there were plenty of prizes for runners to win, too. Overall I enjoyed myself.”