Last Saturday evening, The Music Run took place, flagging off from Marina Bay.
This year, The Music Run event is returning to Singapore after a five-year hiatus.
A 5km party
I took part in the Music Run which was billed at being a 5km party, filled with lively atmosphere and loud music.
Music and vibe at the beginning
There was music by Black Murphy right at the beginning before we even started the run. They were playing on stage and many runners were dancing and swaying to the beat. So far so good. 
The music was blasting loudly till just after 7.30pm, which was to be the flag off time for the first wave of The Music Run.
Confusing signage
The signage to the start line was not clearly indicated and as a result, I could not find where the actual start line for the race was. I guessed wrongly and as a result of this, I ended up in the second wave, together with the crowds who had danced and swayed to the Black Murphy before the run.
Beginning the run
So I did not start my own run until 7.46pm, I soon ran into the walkers from the first wave after about 1km into the run.
For a fun run like this, I had expected a lot of walkers so this came as no surprise at all. 
Narrow paths and bottlenecks
There were some narrow paths around the Marina Barrage area too. This was around 1.5km into the run and it created bottlenecks on the route. Fortunately the bottleneck stretches did not go on for too long. 
The next 2km or so were quite congested and I found myself weaving in and out of runners as I tried to maintain a rhythm. I was taking this easy but I still preferred to run the route rather than walk. I guess I should really have started in wave one if I wanted to avoid the crowd as they are inevitable for this type of mass running event.
Music and entertainment
Along the way, there was music playing and entertainment such as stilt artists illuminating the route, but their locations were random and sporadic and if you blink, you would probably miss them.
As well, parts of the route were also not very well lit. This could be a tripping hazard. 
I still recall the previous Music Run that I did, where there was literally songs blasting out from speakers at every few hundred metres, which created a lot of fun and atmosphere. I guess I had been expecting something like that again at The Music Run. But this year’s event seemed to focus more on the pre and after-party rather than creating music along the route.
The total distance was 5.6km according to Garmin, which was a little bit long. 
Finishing and race village
I was back in about 35 mins according to my watch. A medal was placed around my neck and I was handed a finisher bag upon my completion.
Most of the crowds had not returned yet at this stage; there were a sprinkling of runners at the race village but the Black Murphy band was still on stage singing passionately. 
A few of the runners were swaying and dancing to the beat, but there were not yet enough runners around to create a true festive atmosphere. That would come somewhat later when the bulk of the crowds had arrived back.
Conclusion
The Music Run is a fun and enjoyable 5km event targeted at those who love both music and fitness. I would say that I had fun there running and soaking up the atmosphere and vibe.
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