Suunto 10km Run and Product Launch

To launch their new collection of Suunto Spartan Sport GPS watches, Suunto Singapore organised a 10km race and a cross fit session, which was then followed by the product launch over buffet breakfast.

Suunto’s session had been attended by Suunto ambassadors and local athletes, as well as Suunto dealers and members of the media.

The event had flagged off at 7am last Saturday morning with the 10km race, which was a simple out and back running route from the Gardens by the Bay to the Singapore Sports Hub and Tanjong Rhu before heading back to the starting point.

Suunto sponsored athletes at the session.

For the race, it had been originally announced that only the first 20 runners to complete the race would “win” the buffet breakfast. But then, in the end, Suunto had decided to reward all of the runners, for having turned up that morning.

Said Yeo Kim Kiat who had later commented on Facebook, “I am appreciative to Suunto for including the super slow runners like me in their event.”

And the race winner had crossed the finishing line in just over 47 minutes and received a Suunto sports watch for a prize.

Following the race, the cross fit session had been quite intense; we did three reps of the following exercises: Lunges, planks, burpees, push-ups and mountain climbers. Everyone had seemed to be quite exhausted after the session… perhaps except for the Suunto trainers.

Suunto Spartan Sport performance watch

Race wrist tags for runners.

The product launch, which had taken place over buffet breakfast at the Bakerzin cafe at Gardens by the Bay, had introduced runners to the Suunto Spartan Ultra Copper Special Edition watch, which is targeted at athletes who value a classic look.

Sharmin Photographer, Suunto’s APAC Regional Commercial Director took attendees through a brief introduction of Suunto as a brand, their history and what inspires Suunto products, before Linus Chow, Suunto’s Commercial Manager (APAC Export), brought runners through the features of the Spartan Ultra collection.

Runners line up at the start line.

A premium multisports GPS watch with a classic and urban look, the Spartan Sports watch delivers the same growing set of training and outdoor features as its predecessors introduced earlier this summer, but features a stylish copper plated titanium grade bezel with matching copper plated stainless steel pushers and buckle, creating an elegant presentation whether you are at work or sweating it out in your next race.

Said Suunto’s Performance Business Unit Director, Sami Arhomaa, “In the Suunto Spartan Sport, we have created the trimmest all-in-one GPS watch that Suunto has ever made. And the Suunto Spartan Sport is not just sleek. It is also built to last. Under the hood, the Spartan Sport shares the same outdoor grade colour touch screen, engine and software as its recently announced big brother, the Suunto Spartan Ultra. And it comes with the same great training specific features for triathlon, running, cycling and swimming.”

The reason why Suunto had incorporated Spartan into the name of their latest watch collection, according to Chow, was because the Spartans were a group of ancient warriors and they had wanted to symbolise that their watches are meant for sports “warriors.”

Runners on the way.

Other features of the Suunto Spartan Sport watches

The watch, as shared by Chow, is also meant to be water resistant up to 100 metres, as well as offering users with with guided route navigation features, barometric altitude with Suunto’s FusedAlti™ technology, a digital compass as well as a powerful battery life for up to 26 hours coupled with good GPS accuracy.

Other features in the watch also include 80 pre-defined sports modes together with racing and training modes. There is also a multisport mode to cater to triathletes. And for popular sports like running and cycling, dedicated sports modes like interval running and treadmill are also built into the watch.

One of the Suunto watches on display at the event.

Suunto MovesCount

As well you can also track your training and get insights on your progress with the Suunto MovesCount, a feature that Suunto is rolling out in their line of watches. This is an app that is free for download on both Apple and Android, and syncs easily to Suunto’s watches.

With the Suunto Spartan Ultra’s MovesCount feature, you are also able to compare how you are performing against other members of your peer group. For example you can compare your open water swimming 1,900m personal best to see if you rank in the top 20 per cent of your peer group and how much faster you need to be to reach the top 10 per cent.

Sweaty after the run.

Suunto MovesCount feature also provides facts on what training others in your age group have done to meet their targets and you can use these as a gauge to compare against your own training plans.

Suunto Traverse

At the product launch, Suunto also launched two new models in their Traverse product family. These are the Suunto Traverse Alpha and the Alpha Foilage and they are specially developed for fishing and hunting.

We had a great time.

Said Petteri Hernelahti, Suunto Outdoor Business Line Manager, “Seeing the popularity of Suunto watches amongst fishermen and hunters and nothing that very few watches address their needs, we decided to reach out to them with a dedicated product. True to Suunto’s heritage, the Traverse Alpha combines rugged design with unique features such as shot detection to create the most advanced watch for fishing and hunting.”

The watch also contains a location based moon phase calendar with moonrise and moonset times to determine the best time to put your fishing line into the water. The barometric pressure graph keeps you up to date on the latest weather changes,

The Suunto Traverse collection of watches are also compatible with the Suunto Apple and Android MovesCount app.

The morning session had ended with a mini competition whereby attendees tried their hands out on riding a stationary bike for 4 minutes to clock the longest distance. The winner had clocked about 1.87km – and was rewarded with a Suunto watch.