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In the end, I gave up and parked at the Marina Square which in fact had quite a lot of empty parking lots available. Where do you park your car normally? SAFRA Bay Run Army Marathon Since I wasted more than half an hour ...
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I was hesitating the night before the Race on Saturday night whether or not to run for the Marathon. As I returned home late on Saturday night, with no training and only 3 hours of sleep, I was thinking of all these excuses for not participating in this year?s event. In the end, I still dragged myself out of bed at 4am when I thought I had just fallen asleep. I don?t regret making this decision!
If I missed, I know I?ll regret for not participating in one of the largest annual mass running event in Singapore which more than 70,000 participating this year. And I will miss the fun running with my friends. This is the 20th Safra Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon and the weather was fantastic! Without rain and the sun not too hot, I could feel the cool breeze blowing along most parts of the route which is ideal for any run. The Marathon consists of different categories such as the competitive 21-km half-marathon and 10-km route, and non-competitive 5km fun run. Of course, I took the toughest one, ahem!
When I drove towards the City Hall around 4.45am, I was surprised that the traffic was already very heavy on the CTE. It was almost like a normal daytime traffic with a jam when I reached Dobhy Ghaut. I abandoned the plan to park at the Swissotel Hotel which is the ideal parking location for the marathon as the nearby carparks are full. I then intended to park at SMU, but the carpark was closed. I then thought of parking at the base of Fort Canning but the whole place was blocked of access as that was part of this year?s running route. To make it worse, I was directed back to Orchard Road and had to make a big u-turn back to City Hall. In the end, I gave up and parked at the Marina Square which in fact had quite a lot of empty parking lots available. Where would you park your car normally?
Since I wasted more than half an hour searching for a parking lot, I was late and the 21km competitive event had already started. Two of my good friends had waited for me and we proceeded to the starting point around 5.40am. I was standing in the 1st two rows from the starting line with the non-competitive runners which consists of mainly personnel from the Army mostly the full-time National Servicemen and the NSmen. My heart start pumping strong and eager to get moving when we were being flagged off.
This year, the running routes changed again, it was quite refreshing and I love this route. It took us past 20 iconic landmarks, including Bay East at Gardens by the Bay, Tanjong Rhu and Fort Canning ? for the first time.
This year, it was the first time, we ran past newly-built ?Gardens By The Bay?! A 350m stretch along Bay East at Gardens By The Bay and Marina Barrage was illuminated with lighted cones and rainbow-hued LED strip lights for the runners' enjoyment. The illuminated Balloon with some cheers really brighten up my run!
and also less tire physically?. Thanks to the volunteers who helped relief the pains of many joggers who otherwise may not even finish the race. They helped to spay cans of Salonpas on the aching legs of the joggers at many different places.
The Padang was already packed with people by the time I returned. There were free drinks, health product samples and enjoyable performances at the carnival. After resting, I headed home for a sumptuous breakfast to charge my energy up before I slept for hours.
I would never regret my decision to pull myself from bed that morning. Beautiful weather and beautiful scenery along the route make the running more enjoyable and fun. As you can see, I?m not really running for speed or competition. I took my time to enjoy the surroundings and interact with the people which gave me the energy and motivation to finish the race.
I love SAFRA Bay Run. I think it is very well organized and much better than other Marathons races I ran. There are so many water points, so many helpers and cheer performers that make you have a fantastic Marathon memory to bring back home to. It is not the race, it is the memory that I treasure. Thanks SAFRA, my good friends, the supporters and especially to all the people that I interact with!
My legs are still not fully recovered from the run this morning- but I had a fun day. I?m looking forwards my next Full Marathon - the Standard Chartered Marathon in December. Next year, I'm sure to be back for this SAFRA Bay Run and Army Marathon! YES, I?ll be back!
Hi! You took a snap of me and my men at the signals waterpoint.The photo looks great.I am glad you appreciate the long hours put in by many personnels like me.I am glad you found the event well organised.