The largest international running event in Vietnam, more than 13,000 runners took part in the Techcombank Ho Chih Minh City International Marathon in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.

A virtual option

However with Covid-19 making regional and international travelling all but impossible, the Techcombank Ho Chih Minh City International Marathon introduced a virtual event for runners like myself who were unable to travel to Vietnam and experience the race.

With four distances, 42.195km, 21.1km, 10km and 5km, to take part in, runners were required to complete their chosen distance in a single run session last weekend, from midnight on 10th April to 11.59pm on 11th April.

Running the 21.1km distance

I registered for the 21.1km distance, and did my half marathon last Sunday morning in Singapore.

Registration for the race was through the Liv3ly website, and this made it very fuss-free and simple, because Liv3ly stores my personal details securely, based on the previous times that I have entered a race via their portal. This saves a lot of time and effort keying in our personal particulars each time.

It felt quite weird to be taking part in Vietnam’s largest marathon event here in Singapore where I live, but until international travel and in-person racing resumes again, I guess that virtual events are here to stay.

Cool and comfortable start for the run

Because of the heat and humidity in this part of the world, I woke up early on Sunday and began my run just after 6am. My route was a pretty straightforward one, running through East Coast park out towards Marina Bay and back the same way. 

I usually enjoy running this route because it is a pretty flat and scenic route passing through many of Singapore’s iconic locations. There are also no traffic lights to contend with, especially important when running virtual events as it helps me to maintain my rhythm without constant stoppages.

I was running at an easy/steady aerobic pace, allowing myself to enjoy the scenery and soak up the sights and sounds of the city of Singapore slowly waking up without putting too much strain or pressure on my body during the run.

It was also pretty cooling for Singapore standards during the first half of my run, due to my early starting time. 

It was a hot run back

But after the halfway mark, when I was running back, the sun came out and it started to feel significantly warmer.

I could tell that it was getting to be a very warm morning. As such, the second half of the run was a struggle. The fact that I was running solo also make it more difficult and the mental aspect of running started to toy and play games with me.

My heart rate was also rising quite rapidly due to cardiac drift and the heat, but I think I did a decent job in keeping my heart rate in the steady zone.

Run tracking

I had been using the Move by Liv3ly app to track my run. For tracking, both the Liv3ly app as well as our personal devices i.e. Garmin, Suunto, Polar, works, so this is quite flexible. 

While both my Garmin and the Move app were tracking effortlessly with the press of a button, I have to comment that when my Garmin watch hit 21.1km, the Move by Liv3ly app had actually credited me with a 22.2km run. I was rather surprised by the significant difference.

Finishing at Starbucks

It was so hot by the time that I had finished the 21.1km (according to Garmin) in front of the Starbucks outlet at around 8.30am in the morning. 

My running buddy was waiting for me at the end point and we enjoyed a hard-earned breakfast at Starbucks afterwards. The ice-cold coffee there had never before felt so deliciously inviting.