macritchie resevoir run

Sunday the hubby and I ran in our first race in Singapore.

The race bug first bit us last year when we did the Great Wall Race, half marathon for the hubby and I did the 10K. It was a fun race, and the camaraderie was infectious. I was really surprised how supportive the other runners were, cheering each other one, throwing out words of encouragement as they passed and clapping for you as you cross the line. Complete strangers were your biggest cheerleaders. It was a fun vibe at one of the world's most stunning tracks.

Singapore is big into running. For one, they have the weather for it year round, and people seem to run at all times of the day. There are a plethora of races on offer, leading up to the Singapore marathon at the end of the year. We signed up for this race, the Salomon X Trail Run a few weeks back, with the hubby setting his sights on the 12K, and me the 5K. We chose the race for several important reasons, 1) because it was in the MacRitchie reservoir near our house, and 2) it started at 7:30am, later than many of the races here....

The hubby steadily trained leading up to the race, increasing his distance each week. I on the other hand, did what any natural athlete would do:

1. Stopped exercising altogether for three weeks leading up to the race
2. Drank 5 margaritas the day before at a birthday party
3. Hardly slept the night before as was too stressed about having to wake up at 6am on a Sunday

As we set off for the race on Sunday morning, I was too afraid to have coffee (what if I have to pee or worse?) and annoyed that an apple and half a banana were not cutting it. So I felt hungry, yet also half asleep. Dom took off at 7:30 and I was there to wave goodbye as he walked to the starting line. I then stood around in the rain until 8:30 when the 5Kers got to start, which was an exciting hour of my life.

All went smoothly once we finally took off, running was cooler than standing around in the still, humid, drizzle. I kept a good pace and jogged the path until we suddenly hit the trail. Now, despite the name, Salomon X Trail Run, for some reason the word "trail" hadn't really popped out at me... I get really grumpy every time we run a trail. First of all, I think the ground is slippery, there are slick leaves hiding hidden tree trunks, branches and worst of all, I find it considerably hotter than outside the trail. It's almost like a humidity tunnel through the trees. Add in hundreds of other runners and I started to like the trail even less. MacRitchie is full of great paved paths, which are nice and wide and seem ideal for a large number of runners. The run being on the trail simply hadn't occurred to me.

After feeling confident that I had run more than half the way, I allowed myself to walk for a bit and finished the rest of the race doing bursts of walking/running. Crossing the finish line, I felt great, and even better was being there to watch the hubby cross the line. I was so proud, I had tears in my eyes.

A few observations about the race in Singapore, and comparisons where possible to the Great Wall race (the only other race I've done, hereafter called GWR):

• Some people in the 5K were only there to walk, which is super annoying if you are behind said people trying to pass on a narrow trail. This didn't really happen at the GWR, mostly everyone there tried to run as much as possible.
  
• There wasn't much camaraderie at this race, maybe because Singapore is such a running culture and people are just that much more competitive? I was missing the fun atmosphere at the GWR.
  
• There was a very diverse participation in terms of age, lots of little kids, age 5-7, teenagers, adults and seniors. This was definitely new to me, and while its great to get the whole family involved, and I really admire that, I was sort of horrified I'd be running with a 5 year old and was pleased when I finally passed him in the trail. He was walking with his Dad, which tells you how fast I was going...
  
• Waiting for the race they played super loud hip hop music over the loud speakers, the unedited versions. Which seems a bit inappropriate in front of all the families with young kids. However I had no problem listening to my gangsta playlist during the run.
• The hubby's highlight was being passed by a one legged guy, who had one of those curved blade-like legs. I assured him, thanks to the Olympic committee, we know the blade gives that guy a competitive advantage. Hubby then told me the guy stopped to take pictures and was still ahead of him.
  
• At the end of the race, you could line up for a banana, water and a small cup of a sports drink. Healthy, simple, and boring. It meant everyone cleared out of there pretty fast. At the GWR, you could use one coupon for food, and one for drink. For food, your choice was a subway sandwich or a slice of pizza, plus a banana with either. For drink, it was a soda or a beer, in addition to free-flow water. I'm not ashamed to say after that 10K I went with a beer. And people hung out, enjoyed the view, and had a few drinks. Fun times. It was like that moment in Mexico when I was 18 and rushing for the cruise ship, with one peso left in my pocket. Dehydrated with my throat feeling like sandpaper, I was faced with a dire situation at the kiosk near the dock. One peso could get you either one beer, or one bottle water. I bought the beer - which I think sums me up pretty well.

We're glad we did it, and I'm proud of us. I went home and finally read my Runner's World magazine I bought in the US in June. They had a cover page article on running a 5K, captioned "RUN - Don't Walk!" What a novel idea, I think that might be my goal for next time, to run the entire time!! And not drink the day before, that too.

Some of the Salomon runners on the trail - surprisingly hubby and I didn't get our photos featured on the site...