The 12th edition of OSIM Sundown Marathon, Asia’s biggest night running event, will return to Singapore on 1 June 2019, under the new event management of Infinitus Productions.

Click here to view the Run Up To OSIM Sundown Marathon 2019 photos.

Humble Beginnings of OSIM Sundown Marathon

Originally created in 2008 as part of a unique training programme for ultra-marathons that require running through the night, Singapore’s first official night marathon has grown from strength to strength, beginning with 6,000 runners in the inaugural race to a total of 25,800 participants in 2018, making it Asia’s largest night run.

Said Max Phua, Director, F4U Pte Ltd, “The OSIM Sundown Marathon Singapore is our flagship event and we are happy to partner Jeffrey Foo, the Director of Infinitus Productions Pte Ltd, who was one of the co-founders of Sundown Marathon when we first started.”

Mass-endurance sports brand management company F4U had acquired Sundown Marathon as part of the event’s tenth anniversary celebrations, with the aim of bringing fitness to the masses through various sporting events. 

And in the space of a few short years, F4U has taken the race to five cities across Asia-Pacific, including Qingdao in China, Taipei in Taiwan and Iskandar, Johor and Penang in Malaysia.

Infinitus will bring a fresh take to the race

Now, according to Infinitus, they will bring a fresh perspective to Asia’s biggest night run and at the same time, preserving the unique characteristics that had initially made the race a favourite amongst the Singapore running community.

Said Foo, “We look forward to contributing our expertise and experience to this well-loved and established race and to create an unforgettable experience for our runners, returning and new ones alike.”

2019 Race at the F1 Pit Building on 1 June

The 2019 event will take place at the F1 Pit Building and runners can look forward to striving for greatness beneath a star-lit sky and cooler temperatures.

Race categories available, include the 42.195km Full Marathon, 21.1km Half Marathon, 10km Challenge (Individual and Team) and the 5km category which is open for both adults and children. 

And some of the new race experiences that runners will be able to look forward to come 2019, include an immersive race pack collection at the OSIM Sundown Marathon Singapore Expo as well as the Sundown Summer Night Festival on race day.

‘Run Up to Sundown Marathon’ Launch Event

And in order to launch next year’s race, 120 selected OSIM Sundown Marathon loyal runners, who were invited to participate in a ‘Run Up to Sundown Marathon’ event at the Bayfront Event Space, with a celebratory 4km run around Marina Bay in light of the upcoming 12th edition of the race.

Each of the invited 120 runners were also entitled to a complimentary slot to run in the Sundown Marathon 2019.

Having supported Sundown Marathon every year since 2013, I felt grateful to have been included as one of the invited runners.

Registrations for the launch event were scheduled to begin at 6pm with the event programme that we were sent, indicating a 6.30pm start for the welcome briefing, followed by the run.

I arrived just before 6pm, and got myself registered. 

Upon registering, I collected my event tee shirt, as well as two coloured LED wristbands, all of which was to be used for the short run.

Catching up with friends

And while waiting for the event to start, I chatted with some of my friends from the running community, who had also been invited to take part in the ‘Run Up to Sundown Marathon’ event. Apparently it seems as though the Singapore running community is a lot smaller than it may originally appear to be!

After most of the attendees had showed up, the event proper began at about 6.45pm, with Phua giving a short talk about the humble beginnings of Sundown Marathon and how it developed into the massive juggernaut the race has grown into today. 

Sundown Marathon to champion inclusivity 

At the event, Phua also took the chance to share more about the Sundown Marathon’s intention to champion inclusivity in sports and the wider community, with Infinitus Productions leading the way by contributing funds to the event’s ongoing charity initiative, which is named ‘Sundown With Love.’

Some beneficiaries of Sundown With Love, include the Singapore Disability Sports Council, Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and RunningHour and furthermore, for every race slot purchased, S$1 of the registration fee will be donated to the adopted charities. Runners will have the opportunity to donate additional funds to the causes via the official event website.

And at the same time too, he also thanked the loyal runners present for their continued support of Sundown Marathon, for, without their loyal runners, the race would not be where it is now.

In fact Sundown Marathon has bigger plans for the future though – the race organisers are setting their sights on being certified by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) by 2020, thus becoming the second race in Singapore to achieve this status.

The upcoming event in 2019, thus, is set to be the stepping stone for this prestigious aspiration and Sundown Marathon invites the community to follow their journey towards greatness.

And the Sundown Marathon brand also intends to expand to more cities across South East Asia, China and even the United States, in the future.

Ambushed by Ross Sarpani

But at last night’s event, in recognising that they cannot achieve all of this without their most loyal runners, the event emcee Ross Sarpani called out the names of all the participants who have been supporting the race steadfastly since its inaugural edition in 2008, before we then embarked on our 4km run.

In the starting pen while waiting for the run to flag off, Sarpani apparently ‘ambushed’ me when he spotted me, by saying hi to me and then telling everyone that ‘Pris Chew from PrisChew Dot Com’ is present.

Scenic 4km Run around the Bay

Led by pacers from Running Department, the 4km run took us through sights such as the Gardens By the Bay, Jubilee Bridge, the Merlion and the Promontory @ Marina Bay. 

It had been a short and scenic run, but unfortunately, the pace that the Running Department guys had set, had felt pretty fast, and as a result, my heart rate skyrocketed, in my efforts to keep up with them!

I did not really need to worry about getting lost during the run, though, a few of the Running Department guys stationed themselves at the key junctions as marshals, in order to show runners the way, if they were not very familiar with the running route.

Nonetheless, it was a relief when I saw the Bayfront Event Space up ahead, as that meant the end of the run… and it was now time for some makan.

Time For Makan

There were already quite a few hungry runners in the buffet line when I reached the Bayfront Event Space, but I joined the end of the queue. 

The food spread looked quite good, consisting of carbohydrate-rich fried rice and pasta, as well as other items as chicken, fish, prawn tempura, and broccoli, and chocolate eclairs, cream puffs and lemon mousse for dessert. I tried a bit of everything.

Session Ends

The session then ended with random runners being ‘ambushed’ by emcee Sarpani to share their Sundown Marathon stories and their reasons for coming back again and again, to Asia’s largest night run.

Sarpani didn’t ask me for my own Sundown Marathon story, but when he spotted me, he did introduce me again.

Before leaving the event, I took a photo with Sarpani and I also collected a small rectangular card containing a promo code which would entitle me to my free Sundown Marathon slot.

It had been a great launch event, a fun run as well as a good catch up with some of the friends whom I have made over the years that I have been actively involved in running.

Race Registrations To Open Soon

Registration for Sundown Marathon 2019 is not yet open. Super Early Bird registrations begin from S$32 on December 5th, both online as well as at the roadshow launch for the Standard Chartered Singapore marathon from December 5 – 8. 

Runners who register at the roadshow will enjoy a special registration rate and receive an OSIM Sundown Marathon Singapore goodie bag. 

And loyal runners are also being looked after, with special discounted loyalty rates made available till 31 January 2019. The loyal rates will only be available to runners who joined the race from 2016 – 2018.

For more information on Sundown Marathon 2019, visit www.sundownmarathon.com/sg.