The Skyhawk Nature Run is a boutique run that takes place along a very special route that takes participants through the kampungs of Melaka, in Malaysia.

These kampungs are inhabited with people who will come out of their houses to cheer on the runners. It is an extremely friendly race where you can feel the true Malaysian hospitality and one that has grown to become extremely popular with Singapore runners over the years. 

The 2024 edition featured a 10km and a 22km category. The 22km category is the mainstay event that has run for a few years now, whereas the 10km is a new event that was taking place for the first time.

I took part in the 22km event. Coming from Singapore, I traveled to Melaka together with the RTW tours group. They were very well organised and the logistics were done very well, with buses to not only pick us up from Singapore to our hotel in Melaka early on Saturday morning, but also a bus to take us to and from the race site in the wee hours of Sunday morning. So I didn’t need to think about anything else except focus on the run itself.

We arrived in Melaka around lunchtime on Saturday and our tour group went to a Nyonya restaurant for lunch. Their food was decent there, but the assorted kueh was way better than anything I have eaten back in Singapore. It was so good that I ended up polishing off nearly all the kueh I had bought during my short time in Melaka.

The afternoon and dinner time was spent walking around Jonker Street where we explored the shops and bought some snacks to bring home. However we had to get back to the hotel early because I had to be up before 3:45am the following morning. The bus for the 22km runners left the hotel at 4:30am.

I wasn’t able to sleep well. It was a very restless sleep and I was still feeling quite exhausted when my alarm buzzed. But I had not come all the way to Melaka to spend Sunday morning sleeping. So I dragged myself out of bed and was able to make it to the lobby in time to catch the bus. 

We reached the race site at 5am. The flag off was at 5:30am so there was still time to relieve ourselves and catch up with friends prior to the start.

At the start area, one thing that caught my eye and brought a big smile to my face was the all-too-familiar green Milo van slowly rolling into the race precinct. I have always felt very nostalgic about the Milo van, and I am always happy to see it at races. 

We made our way to the start area at around 5:15am and the race started punctually.

The first few kilometres was on the road. We entered the kampung after about 5 or 6km and the rest of the route brought us through the various kampung areas. Most of the run was dark due to the early start time. But there were street lamps so there was enough light to see, except for two dark stretches at 11km and 13km.

The route is entirely tarmac so road running shoes are good enough. There is no need for trail shoes. In terms of the terrain, it is hilly and undulating with numerous slopes throughout the entire 22km course. So if you are running Skyhawk, do be prepared to train for plenty of hills.

It was super scenic and running through the kampungs felt very special. It is something that I definitely do not get to experience in Singapore. As well, the whole vibe of the race was super laid back and friendly. It was really Malaysian hospitality at its best.

Some of the kampung residents also came out and cheered us on. As I was running at a pace of roughly about 5:20 mins/km, I didn’t really experience their presence until the latter stages of the race due to the early hour. But it felt very special when I saw them, and could feel the happiness and warmth radiating off the villagers. They were genuinely eager to spectate the race and cheer on the runners.

There were plenty of aid stations located roughly every couple of kilometres apart. These served a mixture of water only, and both water and 100PLUS. There was a station at 10km serving watermelons though and this made me stop and look twice. We were treated to a viewing of fireworks around 10km too. I am not sure if the fireworks were related to the run or whether these were completely separate and just a coincidence.

I definitely took lots of videos along the way, because the experience was so amazing. It was really enjoyable and I had so much fun throughout the entire 22km of running.

There were signages along the way and these were accurately positioned. The first two thirds of the race had distance markers which counted up the distance, but the last third comprised of “3km to go”, “2km to go” markers. I’m not sure whether I prefer to count up or count down the kilometres as I run, even though I am aware that they mean exactly the same thing.

The 22km run was over all too soon. I finished in a timing of 2:00:27, and managed to place in the top 50 female runners. This meant I received a special edition gold medal at the finish line, rather than the silver medal that all finishers get. This was a pleasant surprise for me!

I know I would probably have gone under 2 hours if I didn’t take so much videos and pictures along the way. But then again, the Melaka Skyhawk Nature Run is a super unique running race like no other, and I have absolutely no regrets taking the time to soak up the scenery and enjoy the uniqueness of this beautiful race route.

We received a goodie bag packed with items after our finish, in addition to our blue finisher’s tee shirt. I have to say that this was very generous on the part of the race organisers.

Also, the race organiser certainly lived up to expectations with regards to the post race breakfast. There was a lavish spread consisting of mee goreng, Hokkien mee, bee hoon, Milo, Nestle chocolate milk, assorted kueh, Potong ice cream, cookies, bread rolls and many more. Everything was extremely delicious and I ate till I was feeling full. My favourites were definitely the tutu kueh and the Milo.

I also had a great time catching up with friends and running buddies afterwards, taking photos and chitchatting on how much we had enjoyed the run.

Overall I have to say that the Skyhawk Nature Run was a truly amazing race and I really enjoyed myself. I definitely recommend this race as one of the key highlights on the running race calendar. 

Video Recap