This
year’s Sundown Marathon attracted about 30,000 participants and I believe that
it still continues to draw a good crowd being the only night marathon race in
Singapore. The race was held over 2 days
at the F1 pit.
Moving
the race from Changi Exhibition Centre where the race was traditionally held
was a good decision as F1 pit was definitely more accessible. There were ample
inexpensive night parking facilities in the nearby offices and hotels.
I
joined the half marathon race as a lead up to my next race – a marathon in
Phuket in a week’s time.
About the race
The
half marathon was scheduled to start at 11.30pm and I arrived at the venue at
quarter to 11.00pm. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t have to jostle with
a crowd to enter the race site. The bag checks were quick and marshals were
efficient in directing people to the right entry gates.
There
were 2 waves for the half marathon distance and most people started to stream
into the pen 30 – 45 minutes prior to race start. I joined the 2nd
wave which flagged off approximately 8.5mins after the earlier wave went off. Although it was the later wave, we still had
the same amount of cheering from the strong crowd of supporters. That was
really very motivating and it was delightful to see excited faces around me.
It
was great at the flag off and there was no jostling for space as everyone raced
into the night. The route started to get congested as we turned into Stadium
Boulevard as only a portion of the road was cordoned off for the event. A majority
of runners including myself started to deviate onto the pavement which had very
poor or little lighting. There were also congestions throughout the entire
length at Tanjong Rhu and Geylang Park Connector which was made worse by the
congregation at the hydration stations.
As
we headed towards Marina Bay Golf Range, the congestion eased off but soon
enough it was shoulder to shoulder again as we entered Gardens by the East. This section of the Gardens is new to me and it
looked like it is undergoing development. Although I felt bored running through here, I
was appreciative that there were no potholes and lighting was sufficient. We
had to run a loop, u turn then head out towards Marina Barrage. After the u
turn, we saw the pack of 10km runners on the other side so the course was
congested throughout.
The
path leading to Marina Barrage was wide but lighting was bad and at certain
parts it was dark so much so that I landed squarely in a big puddle of water!
We finally crossed the bridge into the Barrage and I felt so relieved to
finally see proper lighting and a hydration station where volunteers handed out
gels and bananas.
The
rest of the course was an all familiar route – passing through Bayfront Ave,
Collyer Quay, Fullerton Road, Esplande Drive and finally turning into Raffles
Avenue where the finishing line was. I was delighted to see beaming faces of
friends and supporters. This area was well managed as there was no congestion
or long queues for medals.
Other
commendable areas include sufficient and well spaced out hydration points.
Majority of the stations had water all ready and there was minimal scrambling. The
marshals were energetic, enthusiastic and very encouraging. I attribute this to
the organiser having done a brilliant job in briefing the volunteers. I believe that this is the best in the recent
series of local half marathon races I have participated in.
Areas of improvement
One
of the few drawbacks of the race is that the race being held over 2 days is an
increase in road closure and logistic costs which translates to a higher
participation fee. A majority of runners I spoke with felt complained about the
dramatic increase.
The
course needs to be redesigned to minmise congestion but I believe routes are
always subjected to approval by LTA. Perhaps one of the ways to resolve this is
to have the 10km race starting much later.
I
noticed that there were several runners having early onset of cramps and this
could be due to not having enough mileage or proper nutrition before and during
the race. My running partner and I stopped to help a runner who fell to the
floor due to severe cramps. He was wearing ‘zero drop’ shoes which for the
untrained or undertrained be a disaster. As such, the organiser might want to
consider making muscle rubs available at the hydration stations. Alternatively, organiser could also offer
training programs to help runners (especially the leisure runners) build
mileage and educate on the right attire or shoes to wear.
Last
but not least (though not wanting to sound like a broken record), organiser
should remind runners about race etiquettes particularly the ‘keep left’ rule.
A bullet in the athletes’ handbook does get overlooked so it may be very useful
to have the emcee could consciously mention about it before the flag off.
In conclusion
Despite
the few drawbacks, it was still a very well organised race and I am pleased
that the organiser made a few changes to provide participants a different experience.
I applaud the organiser for the efforts
and will strongly encourage anyone keen to experience a night race to do
Sundown.
All
in all, it was a good race in my opinion and will continue to make it to my
next year’s list of to do races.
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