After experiencing my maiden marathon in December 2009, I have signed up for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2010. This will be my second marathon and it will take place on 5 December 2010.
Besides a change of sponsor (from New Balance to ASICS), this year’s Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore will feature three different race routes, from three unique start points – Orchard Road for the Full Marathon, Sentosa for the Half Marathon and Esplanade Bridge for the 10km category.
Runners will run pass landmarks such as Clarke Quay, Chinatown, the Esplanade, Singapore Flyer and the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort. Here’s an interactive video of the full marathon race route.
On the glorious Sunday of September 12th, 2010, I was awoken at the ungodly hour of 3am to prepare and to catch the chartered bus to the Padang, the start point of the SAFRA Singapore Bay Run – Army Half Marathon 2010 (SSBRAHM2010). I was participating in the half marathon (21km) which started at 5.15am.
Touted as the largest annual mass running event in Singapore (with participation at 70,000 in 2009), SSBRAHM2010 was jointly organised by SAFRA and The Army.
Besides the unique route taking 21km runners over the iconic Benjamin Sheares Bridge, for the first time, participants of the 21km AHM and 10km race ran past the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort (IR) along Bayfront Avenue. Those who took part in the non-competitive 5km Fun Run enjoyed a visual treat of the Marina Bay landscape as they ran along the iconic Helix Bridge and Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade.
This year runners from 10 foreign armed forces came to take part. The competition was pretty intense!
A carnival atmosphere greeted the runners at the end point,with many finishers making a beeline for a well-deserved rub down from one of the sponsors.
I had a very positive experience at this year’s run. From the time I woke up to the time I crossed the finishing line, I felt good at every stage of the race and was very glad to have joined and completed the run.
I did not bettered my 21km PB timing, but I was quite happy with my timing of 1hr 47mins (net) and that put me at the 4th percentile of all finishers in the half marathon.
“Why do you deserve to meet Wayne Rooney in person?”
This question has been swimming in my head for the last 2 weeks since I was invited to take part in the Tiger Beer regional online influencer challenge.
Frankly speaking, I was stumped by this question, I mean, what has one got to do to deserve to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Manchester to visit Old Trafford Stadium and have a kick-about with Wayne Rooney? Yes you heard it right, The Wayne Rooney! The biggest Manchester United fan perhaps? And I’m not gonna kid you by pretending to be the biggest Man United or Wayne Rooney fan, that my room is decked in Man Utd colours, that I sleep in Man Utd perjamas, bedsheet and pillow case and wear Man Utd jersey to work everyday! No, that’s just superficial and doesn’t prove anything! Read the rest of this entry »
Over the last 12 days, 3500 young athletes had competed against one another, lived together, laughed and made friends with each other in the first ever Youth Olympic Games here in Singapore. All too soon, the show has come to an end, the Olympic flame will burn no more, but the warmth hospitality of Singapore will be remembered and the Olympic values will continue to live in the hearts of the young Olympians.
China top the medal tally with 30 Golds, 16 Silvers and 5 Bronzes with Russia coming in second with 19 Golds, 15 Silvers and 11 Bronzes. The host nation, Singapore finished the Games with 2 Silvers and 4 Bronzes.
The closing ceremony promised to be as spectacular, if not better than the opening ceremony. The 3500 athletes were invited onto the floating platform to party away and enjoy themselves.
The Olympic Flag was lowered and then passed on to the next host city, Nanjing in 2014. Singapore’s Mayor passed the flag to IOC President Jacques Rogge, who then passed it to the Mayor of Nanjing.
With the passing of the Olympic flag to the next host city, it was time to extinguish the Youth Olympic flame.
After suffering the disappointment of crashing out of the football semi-finals, the Cubs picked themselves up to play Montenegro in the Bronze medal play-offs. The Cubs won the match 4-1 and duly add another Bronze to Singapore’s medal tally.
Here’s a look at day 10 of YOG competitions in pictures.
