The Singapore Kindness Run 2019 - 10km [Race Review]

The third edition of the Singapore Kindness Run took place at the National Stadium this morning and saw 1,500 participants in the event, where graciousness and good sportsmanship were displayed.

Organised in conjunction with Get Active Singapore 2019

This year’s Singapore Kindness Run was held in conjunction with the launch of “Get Active Singapore 2019” and there were two categories for the adults – which were a 3.5km Family Fun Run and a 10km Ambassador Run.

As well, there was also an 800-metre Kids Dash targeted at the young ones – because it is never too young to learn to be kind, espouse the values of kindness and contribute to a more gracious society.

Building a gracious and kinder running community in Singapore

The main aim of the run had been to build a more gracious and kinder running community with participants encouraging one another, keeping the running route litter-free and adhering to running etiquette that accommodates slower-paced runners.

The race is a ground-up initiative by the Runners Heart-Reach, in collaboration with the Singapore Kindness Movement.

And the Singapore Kindness Movement believes that kindness is in everyone and they hope to encourage everyone to start, show and share kindness and graciousness, one kind act at a time. By sparing a thought for the people around us, they hope to create a gracious society and make life better for everyone.

Running the 10km Ambassador Run

This year, I had been invited to take part in the 10km Ambassador Run – as a Kindness Ambassador to spread kindness and graciousness amongst the local running community.

This 10km event was scheduled to begin at 7:00am in the morning, today.

Race Pack Collection

The collection of our race pack for the Singapore Kindness Run had taken place one week before the start of the race – at the Heartbeat @ Bedok.

And it was a fuss-free affair, due to the lower number of runners taking part in this event, so I was in and out in less than five minutes.

The race pack, which was a drawstring bag, was also very simple. Inside was my race bib, together with a white running singlet and a sprinkling of goodies from the event sponsors. These had included a sticky memo pad, a bread roll and an eye mask, as well as flyers and brochures.

Getting to the National Stadium

On race morning today, I dragged myself out of my comfortable bed when it was still dark, and reached the National Stadium just before 6:30am.

I then made my way towards Gate 9, which had been the designated entrance for the runners.

Already, there was a relatively long line of runners waiting to have their bags and bodies searched, and I joined the queue.

Fortunately it moved quickly, and I found myself inside the stadium about five minutes later.

Inside the Stadium

At the stadium, I hung around waiting for the event to commence.

And I could hear upbeat and catchy National Day songs being played and these helped me to get in the mood for Singapore’s birthday, which takes place on 9 August. And I found myself unconsciously swaying to the beat of these songs.

Because many runners were still continuing to stream in, it turned out that the flag-off time was delayed slightly.

Warm-up commences

There was a vigorous mass warm-up session at 6:45am, after which we walked towards the start pen, which was located on the National Stadium track, for the official flag-off ceremony.

Lack of toilets

Towards the end of the warm-up session, I suddenly felt the need to use the washroom again, but I discovered that there were apparently no public toilets located near the start pen.

The nearest ones were a few hundred metres away, and at the top of the National Stadium staircase. There was a risk that heading all the way there would make me late for the flag-off.

So I feel that it would have helped if the organisers could have installed some portable loos on the Stadium track.

Race Flag Off

Flagging off the event had been Dr. William Wan, who is the General Secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement, along with Singa the Lion.

And the pair had been joined by Sports Hall of Fame inductees, Adelene Wee – Singapore’s first World Bowling Champion and Sheik Alau’ddin – Singapore’s legendary Silat champion.

After the flag-off party had arrived and congregated on stage, the 10km race began at 7:15am.

Beginning My Race

For the first 200 metres of the run, we ran around the air-conditioned National Stadium track.

GPS watch goes awry

I was not able to gauge my pace for this section, because my GPS was playing havoc – due to the enclosed area within the Stadium.

For instance, I knew for sure, that I was definitely not running at a 12 minutes/kilometre pace, which my GPS had been indicating at that stage – that is my leisurely walking pace.

My GPS continued to go awry for at least another 200 – 300 metres after running out of the Stadium – so I decided to run purely based on feel.

When my GPS watch eventually corrected itself – after about one kilometre into the run, I realised that based on my current pace, I had been running at somewhere between 5:30 – 6:00 minutes/kilometre pace.

That was actually a slightly faster pace than I had originally intended to run at.

But my heart rate seemed to be under control, so I decided to maintain the pace and see how my body would react – as I continued running.

Warm and humid weather

It was a rather warm and humid day, but the sun was not yet out when I began my race, so at least that had been a bit of a help, in terms of running and pacing myself.

Loopy Route

The race route had been quite loopy – and could have been quite confusing if runners were not paying attention.

From the National Stadium grounds, we headed towards Tanjong Rhu for 2km before u-turning at the end of the Kallang Park Connector near the Decathlon Lab at Mountbatten.

Then we ran back the way that we had come, before continuing on further towards Tanjong Rhu View and u-turned again at the PAssion WaVe @ Marina Bay. This point had marked 5km into the run.

We repeated the loop in the direction of the Decathlon Lab, again, one more time before returning towards the Stadium for the final two kilometres of the run.

Route was also flat

In spite of its loopy nature though, the saving grace was that it had been a flat route with no hills in sight, so this meant that I was able to pace myself more easily.

No bottlenecks, due to small number of runners

Though the running paths had been quite narrow at times, especially with race participants looping to-and-fro, the run did not feel congested primarily because of the low number of race participants.

So I was able to run properly without encountering any bottle necks.

Though there were a couple of times when I had to overtake slower runners who had been walking in the centre of the running path, there was, fortunately, just enough room for me to do so, by squeezing past them.

Nonetheless, I thought that either utilising wider paths instead, or else eliminating the to-and-fro nature of the route, would have helped, though.

Checkpoints to prevent runners cheating

There had been checkpoints positioned at each of the u-turn point to make sure that runners who had u-turned early would be caught out and disqualified. I thought this was good on the part of the organisers – to suss out any bad eggs during the run.

An attentive marshal

I also noted that there was an attentive marshal who was positioned in front of the Lovers Bridge, to indicate to runners which direction to go if they were heading for their second loop versus those who were on the verge of completion.

So at least this too, was good on the part of the organisers.

Hydration Stations

There had been two distinctive hydration stations situated along the 10km route, but because of the loopy nature, we passed by one of these twice.

Because the run was still short enough, I did not feel the need to take any hydration along the way. I usually do not need to hydrate myself midway, whenever I run 10km or less.

Race Signages

However I had noticed there was a complete lack of kilometre markers along the route for this run.

Fortunately for me, I had my GPS watch to gauge my distance and my pace, but those runners who did not, would not have had any indication of how their run was progressing.

That said though, the u-turn points had been pretty clear and distinctive, with large signages indicating to runners that they should turn around.

Monitoring my Heart Rate

My heart rate hit the lower end of my Steady Zone about two thirds into the run, and continued to increase from there, as the sun gradually came out.

I tried my maintain my pace under six minutes/kilometre, but I felt myself wanting to slow down – as the sun continued to beat down on me.

Final segment of the run

So it was a relief to see the Lovers Bridge come into my view, because this meant that I was now embarking on the final two kilometres of the run.

This final segment of the run brought us back to the Stadium compounds and then into the National Stadium, where we ran another 200 metres of the Stadium track – to reach the finish line.

Finishing

As I ran into the Stadium, there was a small group of runners who had already finished their race, staying behind to cheer on and congratulate the finishers.

My unofficial timing had been 57 minutes 54 seconds, according to my GPS watch with my heart rate hitting the mid-Steady zone at this point. I could finally catch my breath now.

Collecting my finisher entitlements

After finishing my race, I joined the queue to collect the finisher entitlements. The wait had been about five to ten minutes.

We received a 10km Kindness Ambassador T-shirt, as well as our race medal in the shape of Singa the Lion, a red “Get Active” water bottle in the shape of a dumbbell as well as a can of 100PLUS to re-fuel.

But when I got home, I later found out that the cutting of the t-shirt had been smaller than usual. As such, going for my usual size, made this tee felt tighter than my other pieces of clothing.

Race Carnival and Merchandise

Located next to the finisher booth, there had been another small booth selling merchandise relating to the Singapore Kindness Movement and its mascot, Singa the Lion, and I noticed toothbrushes, towels and children’s storybooks amongst these.

I had thought that some of the items being sold were quite cute.

But I didn’t buy anything from there – because I felt that none of these items would be practical for me. Perhaps they would be more suited for parents with young children.

As I continued to walk around the race carnival to cool down after completing my run, I spotted some carnival activity booths – such as a giant ball pit as well as the popular Jenga game.

I thought that these had looked like great fun – and I even tried my hand at the Jenga game for a while, bringing me back to my childhood days.

As well, Singa, together with Nila – the Sport Singapore mascot, were walking around the race village and posing for photos with runners.

Mass workout and heart formation

Once most of the runners had returned back to the National Stadium, the organisers conducted a mass dance workout followed by a giant heart formation.

And for this purpose, red t-shirts and national flags were distributed to everyone.

Participating in this segment, I had thought that this had been a great way to end a fulfilling morning, with like-minded people, after having completed a run.

Not much food and hydration available

Unfortunately apart from cans of 100PLUS and a small station near the Start/Finish area giving out tiny cups of water, there was not much hydration or food available at the race village.

So after the heart formation segment was over, I headed over to the Kallang Wave Mall to buy myself a cup of Milo. And on the way home too, I stopped off at the Old Airport Road food centre in Dakota and indulged in a light snack there, to replenish my energy.

A great time overall

Overall, I would say that I’d had fun at the Singapore Kindness Run. I felt that it had been a basic and small-scale race, attracting possibly just enough runners – to make it not feel too overwhelming or overcrowded.