One of the bigger Half Marathon events in Singapore, the 2018 edition of the 2XU Compression Run took place last Sunday morning at the F1 Pit Building with three categories, a 5km Fun Run, 10km Competitive Run and 21.1km Half Marathon, in order to cater to runners of differing abilities and preferences.

Runners who took part in the 2XU Compression Run, which was organised by Pink Apple Events, had thought that the event was well organised and many of them had a great time.

Said Nigel Sng, 42, a regional sales manager, “I was in the first wave for the 21.1km. The event was organised well. There were plenty of drinks, bananas and gels and no route congestion. But some points along the roads were quite narrow though.”

Agreed Serene Cheong, 35, a Chemist who took part in the 5km event, “The race was very well organised. There was no congestion and the distance markers were accurate. I also loved the cool towel after the race and the Pocari Sweat as excellent.”

Also loving the cold towel was Yeo Kim Kiat, 52, a quantity surveyor, who ran in the 21.1km race. He said, “It was good to give runners cool towel after we had crossed the finish line.”

He added, “but it was quite wasteful to see many runners throwing the towel into the bin.”

As well, Kim Kiat also cited that the distance for the half marathon category was quite accurate, and that his watch measured 20.9km when he had crossed the finish point.

But Damon Lee, 43, an IT engineer, begged to differ. He said “The distance for the half marathon should be 21.1km but my Garmin watch only measured 20.4km.”

Kiew Yi Heng, 27, a QA analyst, who also did the 21.1km event, also shared Damon’s sentiments. He said, “The race route was short by 500m. The organisers should improve on their route distance more accurately and improve more on the wave management – though the management did the latter well before any major damage occurred.”

Kiew Yi Heng and his running buddy

But according to Serene, the 2XU Compression Run had been perfect. She said, “Everything was very good already. There’s no improvements I can think of.”

However, Alan Foong had some slight improvements for the 21.1km flag off. Said the 53 year old Technician, “Perhaps the organiser could minimise the time interval between the waves, though I understand that they did try to reduce the bottle neck effects along the route.”

And agreed Yi Heng, “They were observant enough to see that wave two would be filled with walkers according to my friend who started in wave three which was delayed, to minimise the chance of human jam at some parts of the route.”

Kim Kiat also shared similar sentiments. He said, “It was good to flag off the runners in waves as it got rid of the bottleneck during the run. I guess this was the main reason why many runners got a personal best. But ten minutes between waves is too long as runners would be more than a kilometre apart.”

And as well, Alan also felt that some points along the 21.1km route were a bit dark too. He said, “Also, the organisers could also re-think the route and minimise U-turns. And along certain points of the route, it may have helped to provide additional illumination to increase safety for runners.”

And agreed Damon, “The lighting at some parts of the route was very dark. I saw one runner fall down at the Marina Bay Sands side there.”

According to Yi Heng though, the marshals did a good job throughout the 21.1km race route. He said, “They did well in marshalling the route and warning the runners about the stairs to avoid tripping.”

Damon had also pointed out that the hydration stations had been excellent and well stocked. Said Alan, “The hydration stations were well spaced apart and there were both bananas and energy gels at some of the stations too.”

Agreed Kim Kiat, “There were sufficient water points with adequate water supply as well as bananas and gels. I didn’t have any weight loss due to water after this race.”

Kim Kiat also pointed out that due to tiredness of his legs, he did not really explore the post race carnival even though there had been booths put up by the various event sponsors present.

These had included a yoga session and massage services for runners. Said Nel Tusiani, 47, an operations assistant, “The yoga session after the race was good to stretch out our muscles afterwards and there was also a complimentary massage session for all participants.”

The race pack collection process which took place a couple of weeks before the event day, also went very well, according to Kim Kiat. He said, “The organiser set a very high standard for other organisers in terms of the collection of our packs. I managed to get my pack in around ten minutes plus.”

But Kim Kiat had felt that that the cost of the run, at $60 for the 21.1km event, had been a bit expensive, compared to other similar race events and runner entitlements given out.

And Damon also shared the same sentiments about the 2XU Compression Run race pack expo, as he also did not need to queue for long and had been in and out of the area, rather quickly.

Nevertheless, runners generally agreed as a whole, that 2XU Compression Run is one of the better races in Singapore in terms of the general management and organisation of the event as a whole.

Said Alan, “Pink Apple is one of the best race organisers in Singapore.”

All photos are courtesy of the interviewees in this article.