Race Review: Run For Hope 2022

After three pandemic-fuelled years of cancellations and virtual runs, the Run For Hope returned again as a physical race last Sunday morning at Marina Barrage.

For cancer research

Run For Hope is an annual run organised by Four Seasons Hotel Singapore and National Cancer Centre Singapore, and the event aims to raise both awareness and support for cancer research.

I would say that I felt pretty excited to take part in a physical running event again. I was part of the 10km physical category.

Reaching the race site

I took a cab to Marina Barrage and reached just before 7am.

The 10km race was scheduled to flag off at 7:30am.

There was also a 2.9km category which was flagging off later, at around 7:45am.

I met up with my running friends Dan and Ben at the start of the race. Both were also taking part in the 10km.

Arriving and flagging off

It was a small-scale race and while there was a crowd congregating, it did not feel congested. There was still adequate room to move around and breathe.

The first wave was flagged off early at about 7:25am. The emcee was extremely lively and energetic, perhaps a tad too energetic.

After the first flag off, the rest of us were held back to wait for the second wave.

There, they gave some last-minute instructions on running etiquette and race logistics.

I found it a bit weird that the first wave was flagged off before these instructions were given.

The second flag off was at about 7:30am and from the moment the horn blew, many of those in front of the start pen immediately began walking.

It took a minute or two for me and Ben to find our way past the walkers in order to start running.

Very hot

It was already hot at that early hour and the sun was burning.

We maintained a moderate roughly 5:30/km pace. It was a casual pace that we could still chat and laugh around while running 10km at.

The route

For most of the way, the route was not too congested and there was adequate space to run.

Occasionally we had to dodge cyclists as it was a public path after all, but apart from the tail end of the run when we bumped into groups of walkers from the 2.9km category, it was mostly ok.

The route took us from the Marina barrage towards the Gardens by the Bay East, where we then took a turn towards the East Coast park park connector.

We got lost

There was no marshal at the turning point. So Ben and I were not sure whether to turn or to go straight towards the Sports Hub.

So we ended up checking the route map online in order to figure out which way to go.

Usually I don’t check race routes beforehand; I mostly tend to rely on the marshals present to guide me.

It was rather confusing and I would have expected a marshal to be positioned there if runners needed to make a turn.

Water points

There were about three water points along the way, but the water available was being given out in 500ml cartons – rather than in the form of cups.

As a result, I didn’t take any, even though I would have appreciated a few sips, because I would have to stop on the sidelines in order to open the carton to drink, which I thought was quite cumbersome.

Cups of water would have been better appreciated.

Distance was short

We passed by the 1km mark when we were about 800m into our run according to my Garmin.

This trend would continue through the race, with the 2km marker at Garmin’s 1.4km and the 3km marker at Garmin’s 2km.

The 4km and the 5km markers were approximately each 1km apart, but due to the early markers being very inaccurate, the distance was never going to be correct.

An 8km run instead

We ended up finishing the run when my Garmin hit 8km.

The route was 2km short. This is considered inexcusable for a 10km run.

I was pretty taken aback by how short the route was and I guess I was somewhat looking around to see if there was a 2km detour somewhere else, before I considered myself as having finished the race.

Ben and I had finished the run together and we were joking about the short distance when we realised that the run was over.

Apparently Dan, in order to make up for the short route, did extra loops of the Marina Barrage in order to hit 10km. Maybe I should have done that too, on hindsight.

But by the time I had finished running, it was scorching hot and the race carnival was beckoning.

I later heard that the 2.9km route was short too. This is not acceptable.

Carnival area

At the finish area, towels, water and coconut juice were being given out. There was no medal for this race.

Heading towards the race carnival, there was free ice cream being given out by a sponsor on the completion of an easy bicycle challenge. I took this up as the queue was almost negligible at that time, and the ice cream tasted super rewarding and delicious.

I had gone for the strawberry peanut-butter flavour and I enjoyed the contrast of the fruit with the earthiness from the peanut.

Later, I found out that fruit-flavoured ice blocks were being given out too by another sponsor, and I took this as well. I took the mango one as it is one of my favourite fruits. It tasted really refreshing and the icy-coldness was good to keep my body temperature down.

We hung around the carnival for a while and checked out the various booths and chit chatted for a while before heading off for breakfast.

There were bouncy inflatables as well, which I guess were targeted more towards the children at the event.

Chilling out and post-run workout sessions

In the background, the emcee was trying to pull runners towards the stage to take part in “fun” workouts and games post-run.

But I guess after having completed the run, everyone was pretty tired and preferred to rest and chill out, rather than doing more physical activities.