Taking place over a three-months period, the Decathlon Virtual Run is a three-legged virtual run that tasks runners with completing three monthly challenges over three months.

Photo: Decathlon Singapore

A three legged challenge

This is unlike most virtual runs where runners are simply tasked with completing the requisite distance.

Leg One took place last month and runners were tasked with running a total distance of 21km throughout the month.

Leg Two, which took place this month, was a 10km run on either trail terrain or a running track.

And the finale Leg three requires runners to complete 7km at one go, ending their run at any of the major Decathlon stores across Singapore.

As you can see, these challenges range in difficulty based on your fitness level and running ability.

However, being mostly a road runner, I figured that Leg Two was the one which would take me out of my comfort zone the most.

Completed last Sunday morning

I completed Leg Two last Sunday morning in a single activity, choosing the Green Corridor for the 10km run.

The Green Corridor was picked because it is a trail terrain, but unlike MacRitchie, it is flat.

Began running at the Bukit Timah railway station

Me and my running buddy began at the old Bukit Timah Railway Station, an iconic place along the Green Corridor trails. Our aim had been to clock about 5km out and back, to complete the 10km distance.

We ran towards the direction of Woodlands, stopping at the train tracks parallel to the Rail Mall to take a picture.

This had been a peaceful and interesting run, surrounded by lush greenery on either side of us; unfortunately though looking beyond the greenery, we could still see the HDB blocks in the distance to remind us that we still were in the heart of urban Singapore.

Based on what I observed during my run, the changes that have been made to the Green Corridor tracks have preserved the beauty of the flora in the area, while at the same time ‘flattening’ out the main path to make it easier for the average city dweller to walk or run on.

Rail corridor test track

After reaching the Rail Mall, we headed down a stretch of trail that ran directly parallel to the Upper Bukit Timah Road, u-turning at the rail corridor test track.

This is a 400-meter stretch made of different materials – ranging from gravel, porous concrete and gravel. And it was quite interesting to run on, with so many differing textures.

Running back

Our route back was the same way that we had come.

Unfortunately though, the return leg was rather crowded and I found myself constantly having to dodge both walkers and cyclists, some of whom were occupying the entire path. 

It was quite annoying and this ruined the peacefulness and serenity of the trees and lush nature surrounding me.

As well, the sun had come out and it was also getting very warm by this point and I wanted to finish the run quickly.

Finishing off the run

We finished the run back at the old Bukit Timah Railway Station, taking the mandatory photos for the social media – to prove that we had run there. 

When I was done, my Garmin had clocked about 11.66km. Better to over-clock rather than under-clock the mileage right?

As a reward for waking up that morning to run, we stopped off at Balmoral Bakery at Sunset Way, which had been nearby to our run location, to get some of their famous, old-school bakes before heading back home. I definitely say that we deserved it.