2XU
Compression Run 2019
April 2019
I’m almost always in Singapore for leisure so why not race here? I’ve been missing out in joining Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon for the last few years since there is always a conflict with a company-related year end party, so I aimed to race within the first quarter of the year. I registered, booked a flight and made hotel reservations.
As a solo traveller coming to Singapore, I expected some questions from the immigration in Changi, and once again I double printed all my documents. Good thing there were just a few basic ones and I got off smoothly.
2XU has a lot of marketing and advertising online for this race so my expectations were kind of high. After all, this is 2XU and this is Singapore, so it better be a good race. The amount I paid for was less than the regular rate I have been paying for my international races, which is a plus. The race kit collection was held on specific dates a week before the race and I will not be able to collect my kit in person. The organizers recommended for international racers to have their kits collected by someone else during that period, so my sibling who is based in Singapore collected on my behalf. A few days later, they announced that they will be scheduling a new collection date for the international runners. Oh well, I already missed out seeing a race village or on-the-spot promotion for this race.
The start of the race is in the F1 Pit Building and the finish line is in the Singapore Flyer area. I didn’t want to splurge on the hotels in the Marina area so the closest I got was a hotel near Bugis since it would pass the Downtown Line going to Promenade MRT. I made sure that I check the venue 2 days before race day.
I realized later on that by the time I needed to leave the hotel to prepare for the race, the train station would still be closed. Distance wise it was just 2 kilometers and I didn’t want to get a Grab anymore, so I walked for 30 minutes to the venue. By the time I got to the venue I was already warmed-up, literally and figuratively. Weather in Singapore that day was hot and humid, and there were so many runners of various nationalities joining this race. I ended up in the fourth wave and started the race past 5 am instead of 430 am. It was nice to run in Nicholl highway and even around the construction areas in Gardens by the Bay. I just made me excited on what else Singapore will have in store for the future. I arrived in the finish line past my expected time but it was still ok for me. At least I got a 2XU finisher shirt after the race and a banana.
Due to the popularity and hype of this race, expectations were high, causing negative feedback from the participants to the point of reaching local media. Official photos have taken weeks to be posted, most of which are still incomplete. Finish times are still unavailable to date due to issues between the organizers and sponsors. There were unlit areas along the road and some were very narrow to the point that people needed to run in the trails instead of the roads. Hydration was not adequate enough for some and others were expecting bananas along the road. Maybe I have been through worse races so these things for me were just normal. I know the organizers did the best they could. It was not the best but it was not so bad either.
This is my second trip to Singapore for this year alone so I just made a few stops at Bugis Junction, Bencoolen and Jurong East. Probably I can consider another race in this country for another time, but for now I will keep my experiences at heart.