The Yellow Ribbon Prison Run was held at Changi Prison last Sunday, 1 September. This is a meaningful charity event held to raise awareness of the need to give ex-convicts a second chance and generate acceptance to support their rehabilitation process in the community. 
This is a cause I strongly resonate with and to show my support, I have been participating in this run every year since 2012.
There is a 5km and 10km category and I took part in the 10km which flagged off at 7:15am.
I opted to take a cab straight to the start point. A major traffic jam at Loyang almost resulted in me being late for the flag-off. I was still inside the cab at 6:50am so I had to make a decision. I decided to get out of the cab and run down 1.5km to the start point, arriving at 7:02am. It was definitely not the best preparation for a race!
The start point was at the SAF open field near Changi Village. I was just in time to see the guest of honour, SM Lee Hsien Loong, perform the symbolising act of unlocking the “second prison” and then we were flagged off. I started running just after 7:15am. 
I wanted to race this event to see where my fitness was at in the build up to Berlin Marathon at the end of the month. So I took off running as fast as I could run. Perhaps I started too fast, because after the second kilometre, my pace slowed.
The route was hilly and undulating. In terms of terrain, this is one of the more challenging races in Singapore. But I like to think of it this way: the hills represent the many challenges that the ex-convicts face upon their release before they are successfully accepted into society. 
There were about four water stations along the 10km route. This was more than enough and I took a sip at each water station to keep myself hydrated for the run. 
There were marshals along the route to guide runners which direction to go and there was no point along the run where I was unsure of which direction to go. So this was well managed.
There were kilometre markers positioned at every kilometre but some were out of position, for example, the 5km marker was positioned where my gps had hit 4.6km. 
We ran into the prison at around 7.5km, so there was still another 2.5km to go. I must always remind myself each time that entering the prison compounds does not mean I am done running. This final stretch is undulating and always feels never-ending to me. But I pushed on and tried my best to maintain my pace.
I finished the 10km run in an official timing of 47 minutes 57 seconds. It is a new personal best so I’m very happy with my timing. 
The race carnival is always awesome. There is a Milo van as well as plenty of freebies, such as Nando’s chicken, donuts and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. It is very generous of the sponsors and I really enjoyed the post-race goodies. As well, baked goodies and local snacks were available for purchase, such as Ang ku kueh and macarons from external vendors, and mooncakes and cookies from Score bakery, the Yellow Ribbon’s in-house bakery. Everything looked really delicious. 
The Yellow Ribbon teddy bears that were being sold at the race village were also extremely cute and adorable. They are of high quality too and can stand upright by themselves, which is not common for a stuffed teddy bear. 
As well, there was an informative and educational component to the exhibition. Here, we could take part in games such as mini-golf and finding our way through a mirror maze, whilst learning about the journey undertaken by the inmates from incarceration to their release and rehabilitation from prison. I always enjoy this segment of the carnival and the organisers have outdone themselves every year in this.
Some of the talented inmates who were in the midst of their rehabilitation, also got together on stage to sing and perform at the event. Their talent really blew me away.
After the run, there was a queue to board the shuttle buses to get out of the Changi Prison as everyone was leaving the prison at the same time. This year, apart from the usual shuttle buses to Expo, buses were also provided to Our Tampines Hub as well as various ActiveSG stadiums across Singapore.
I always enjoy taking part in the Yellow Ribbon Run and spending a Sunday morning supporting such a meaningful and significant cause. I must add that I will definitely be back again next year.
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