Singapore Race #1 :2XU Compression Run

Before the race start

As Per and I planned to go to Singapore for our major trip of the year, I immediately went to their local running website (www.sgrunners.com) to see which of the road races are available on the days that we will be there. As luck would have it, I registered myself for two races and had my good friend Melody claim the race kits for me (as they were distributed when we were still in the Philippines). The nice thing about booking for a race in Singapore is that everything can be done online (quite beneficial for non-residents visiting the country).

The 2XU Compression Run would be the first race that I would do, with a total distance of 12km, and would be a race around Singapore City. The race would start and end at the Singapore Flyer, the world's largest observation wheel (standing 165m from the ground - according to their website)! So there itself, we were already taking pictures of the wheel and the other buildings around it (Marina Bay Sands hotel comes to mind).

We were there quite early as taxis are abundant in the Singapore and everything is quite near to one another (just a 15-minutes ride from our hotel). I left my bag at the baggage counter, went to Per and did some stretching. But even at 6:45am, when the sun wasn't out yet, it was really hot and humid!

At 7:00am, our race began and it was simply divided into two Waves so as not to have any congestion at the race start. I sneaked into the first Wave even though the barrier was put up by the marshals. At least, I can sort of guarantee I won't be the last runner to finish this race given there were a lot of people waiting for Wave 2's release (never mind my real ranking with the chip timer).

What was awesome (even more awesome than seeing the Singapore Flyer up close) was that we would run on the actual F1 Race Tracks! There were even two uber-nice sport cars standing by at the sidelines, waiting for us to finish before they could even use the race track! Wow, that was definitely surreal and brought a smile to my face.

But the joy was replaced by tiredness as I had difficulty running in the hot weather. With the roads open for traffic and all 10,000 runners needing to use the sidewalks did not help at all. There were a lot of elbow bumping, a lot of weaving and I had to look from side to side just to make sure I don't trip someone. Argh, I really hate running on the sidewalks with everyone else and I can't imagine how I did that for the Sundown Marathon.

There were ample water stations here but had to wait for a few seconds each time as the volunteers pour water into the cups. That's fine, I wasn't aiming for a PR and this serves as a good excuse to not run yet. Hahaha!

Pocari Sweat: One of the sponsors of this race

The race route was great (especially for a tourist like me) as it took me to the various tourist spots in Singapore - we ran on the hexagon bridge (but had to climb some steps to get there), we ran right behind Fullerton Hotel and Esplanade, we ran right outside Marina Bay Sands, we ran in a park, we ran on an F1 race track and our route took us two times back to the Singapore Flyer (both times I hoped to see Per but failed to do so).

I counted the km down slowly and got excited as I neared the finish line. The goal is to just survive this race as still have a couple of days in Singapore and didn't want to be confined in a Singaporean hospital bed the entire time!




so tired... so very tired!

A very nice souvenir from Singapore, don't you think?

Thanks to Per for patiently waiting for me to finish this race :) It wasn't an easy task for her given how hot that day was.


There are a lot of good things in this race, but a lot of bad things too!

The first would be the horrible horrible baggage claim at the end of the race. The lines were just too freaking long! Just 3-4 pax assigned to handle 2,000 bags at a time for a total of 5 different lines. It was the worst experience here and took me 45 minutes just to get my backpack (and that's after I found a shorter line!). Per, who was waiting for me near the taxi stand, got worried as to why I was taking too long! 45 minutes! Sheesh! That's like running 6-7 kms more! Complete waste of time!


Another con to this race: As of this writing (race was held last April 10th), I still have not received my singlet yet!!! They did email me that the singlet will be mailed to my Philippine address next month (May) and gave me a free running cap when I complained about it... like that would help! I hope the organizers would learn from these mistakes. I also heard there were a lot of problems on the race kits distributions and a lot of people went home empty handed on those dates and were compensated by receiving a complimentary 2XU compression sleeves for their legs...again, like that would help.

And did I mention how much I hated running on a very narrow sidewalk with 10,000 other runners?


My race results:

Name	Dennis Quepe
Bib	6469
Race Category	12KM MENS
Nett Time	01:27:01
Gun Time	01:31:37
Rank	4059 of 5411
Quite slow! But it's okay as it is my first 12km for the year so a 2011 PR! Bwahahaha....

Men's Health All Terrain Race - June 15, 2008 (part 2)

Race started at 7:00AM for the 12k Trail Running. Not much runners compared to the fun runs held in Fort Bonifacio as it's quite far from Makati area and since it just offers a 12k route, it eliminates a lot of people just looking to do shorter runs (hint, hint).

At the beginning of the race, there were already a lot of uphill climbs, which prompted a lot of people (myself included) to walk instead of run in an effort to save on energy. But organizers made up for the hard start by having a lot of downhill running at last leg of the race. Course was a mix of concrete ground and pebbled (and some muddy) trails.

When I had a hard time getting a skin tan at the beaches of Boracay, here it was very easy as my skin got dark just from running for more than an hour. It was that hot! Automatic darker skin for all of us! Good thing there were enough water stations here to sate our thirsts.

It took me a very long time of 1 hour and 23 minutes to finish this 12km course but had already come up with a list of excuses to make up for it:

1. It was my first 12k Trail running race so regardless of how slow I am compared to my regular 10km races, it is still a personal record for my one and only 12k Trail running record. Clearly, this excuse is a one-time thing only.


2. I wore heavier but safer trail running shoes so not used to its weight and feel. But glad to have worn this old pair as it got dirty from the mud and saved me from a lot of potential ankle sprains had I worn my regular running shoes.


3. There were some open but inclined areas where I was thinking of running instead of walking but with the very hot weather, I didn’t want to run and risk a heat stroke. Yes, it really was that hot! Besides, none of the runners around me were running so figured they must all know what they were doing.


4. My performance here is still better than the Mens’ Health 8KM All-Terrain Race I joined exactly two years ago when I finished it at about 1 hour and 10 minutes. And this race is 50% longer than that one.

The bike race followed at about 9:00AM. We didn’t stay anymore for the awarding of prizes or Father’s Day Festival, as both would happen after the bike race, which would take another hour of waiting under the scorching sun.

Definitely a nice place to run given the change of familiarization in area, course and grounds but it is still something I have to think twice of doing a third time because of the long distance travel from my house.

Me and Gigay with Awarding/Announcing Stage at Background

All happy that we finished it regardless of our time. The word is SURVIVAL!

Group shot with Annlee, Wawie, me and Gigay

Start of 20KM Bike Race

Men's Health All Terrain Race - June 15, 2008

This event will be held in Timberland Heights, Rizal. Last time I did this was in June 2006 when they had their first All Terrain Race. Back then it was only 8KM but had a really hard time as incline is steep. It took me more than an hour to finish it and had hard time walking down stairs for the next couple of days. Now, these sadistic race organizers have not only put it back again but extended course by another 4KM!!

And this masochist Fatboy is here to receive it! I and my 200 pounds of blubber say to them, "Bring it on!".

Race will start at 630AM with warm up exercises to commence at 600AM. Fee is Php 300 (with Php 50 off upon presentation of Menshealth May/ June issues) and registration at all Powerbooks stores nationwide. To get race kit, you need to bring receipts to Summit office on June 11 at Robinson Galleria or on the race day.

For more masochist athletes (this Fatboy has his limits), racers can join BOTH the trail running and bike race events wherein they have to be back by about 830AM for the 20KM bike race. A Father's Day Festival will follow after all racers have finished their own respective races (just to show us that they aren't as sadistic as we think them to be).

Now, all I need to decide is whether I will wear my very light and reliable New Balance running shoes or opt for the safer but very heavy Fila Trail Running shoes... Last time, it was running shoes but don't want to get into any unnecessary injuries and with rainy season already here, risks are higher for a very frightened Fatboy...