Initially organised by Tampines West CSC in conjunction with the Community Sports Festival @ Tampines, the 50 Hours Non Stop Run first made its debut last year as part of Singapore’s Golden Jubilee Celebrations.

And this non-competitive run had returned again this year, complete with its attractive $20 race fees and unique format – which gives runners 50 hours to complete a total distance of 43km (10 Loops) at their own time and pace around the Bedok Reservoir.

The 50 hours timing had begun on Saturday 30 April 2016 at 9am and it finished on Monday 2 May at 11am. This coincided with the Labour Day weekend.

According to the organisers, the interesting race is targeted at neighbourhood runners who wish to complete various distances at their own time, target and pace.

And when runners reached certain distance milestones during the run – that is, 12.9km (3 Loops), 25.8km (6 Loops) and 43km (10 Loops), they were eligible to receive a medal. So altogether there were three medals to be collected by each runner, at this event.

Runners loved the event

Runners who took part again this year, had found the event interesting. Said Michael Aw Yong, 52, Head of Finance at a bank, “This was my second time taking part and I love the way that this event caters to people from all walks of life, as it is held over 50 hours and so there is no pressure to complete it within the time allowed.”

Added Steven Goh, 46, a Regional Manager, “I like the 50 Hours Non Stop Run concept because this allows runners to have free selection of time slots to start and complete the run to accommodate their own weekend schedules. Supporting this event for the second year, I also managed to convince my wife, Jowendry Loong, to join me to run this time round.”

Making the most of the 50 hours time limit had been Mervyn Chew, 50, Head of Training. He said, “As with previous years, we can break up the event into several runs over the 50-hour period. And that was what I did. I went at 9am in the morning to complete three loops and then again at 3pm to finish the remaining seven loops.”

A Well Organised Run 

Mervyn added “it had been a well organised run overall and the volunteers were really helpful. In fact they were enthusiastic and cheery despite the hot weather in the morning. Refreshments were also sufficient as there was isotonic drinks and plain water – and both were ice cold. There was even X-DRAGON energy drinks given to us in the afternoon.”

Art Dimapilis, 46, an IT Consultant, also felt the organisation was good. He said, “I can say it’s well organised. There were roving marshals on bikes and a few marshals on the route. There were two water points – one about 1.5km from the start point and another at the end.”

Scorching Heat

Art, who had started his run around noon, felt that the weather had been quite hot for him. He said, “I was late for my stated flag off time at 11am and only started running close to noon. At this time the weather was hot and it really takes a toll on runners – a number of them were walking and it included me as I was recovering from a cold and cough. It only cooled down a little around 2pm when there had been a slight drizzle.”

He added “But despite the scorching heat, i got a chance to talk to other runners and a lot of them were friendly. It was another way to make me forget the heat. The marshals and volunteers are also friendly.”

Also finding the heat to be quite hot was Huang ShaoFei, 42, a Director. He said, “I started my run on Saturday morning and the weather was very hot, as expected, but was otherwise kind to runners who started the race early. It was also very well organised and I was pleasantly surprised that there was not only water and isotonic but also energy drinks for us.”

Time flexibility was good

Loving the time flexibility of the 50 hours had been Jeeb Akid, 35, an AV technician. He said “Running the 50 Hours Non Stop Run was one of the ways for both me and my wife to bond and spend time together. We loved the idea of having the flexibility of completing 10 Laps of Bedok Reservoir Park within 50 Hours. We were able to run and complete errands within this period.”

He added “After the third lap we even went to Eunos Hawker Centre for ‘kacang pool carbo loading’ before completing the next three laps, and even heading to Suntec City to collect the Cold Storage Kids Run race pack with our son.”

Relaxed atmosphere

Loving the relaxed atmosphere at the 50 Hours Run was David Tan, 39, an Area Manager for a restaurant chain. He said “The event has a very relaxed atmosphere as it was non competitive and no timing was recorded. So i could see that there were lots of participants just there strolling along to get some exercise hours in. The run route was also very straightforward as we just had to follow the path.”

He added, “Though we were told there would be one hydration point at the end point, there were actual two, with the other one somewhere near the 1km mark. However the organisers were worried that the isotonic drink would run out after Day One, so around after an hour they started to mix water with the isotonic drink and I had to specially request for my cup to be filled with just isotonic. But I noticed that during the later part of the day, that the mixing had stopped – they probably calculated and realised they had sufficient stock.”

For David though, who had completed his run on Saturday, he felt the weather was good. He said “The day I ran, the sun was only blasting for two hours before the sky turned dark which was good to run in. That was also part of the reason why I decided to complete all ten laps on the same day rather than coming back again to do so. Getting three medals in one event is nice, and value for money.”

ShaoFei also thought that the run was nice and value for money. He added, “All in all, this was a great fun run and I will definitely be back for this event next year!”