Jurong Lake Run 2011

Date: 10 July 2011

Venue: Japanese Garden / Chinese Garden, Jurong, Singapore

Distance: 10km (Garmin: 10.12km)

Chip Timing: 50:58

Garmin Timing: 51:03 minutes or 5:02 min/km for 10.12km

Result: 13th placing (Open) (results here)

Website: http://www.juronglakerun.com/

Km1-2

I lined up about 15 rows back since this is Singapore (a.k.a. land of the speedier runners) and I wasn’t looking to race this (fifth consecutive run since Phuket). That turned out to be a mistake because the crowd + narrow footpath = zero space. It took me nearly 1.5 km before finding some breathing room. We started at the Japanese Garden side and came out onto Yuan Ching Road before whizzing past the “Start” gantry on the left – this was one of those rare point-to-point races.

Photo log (credits to Ronald Heng). I look like death!

Km 3-5

It was back into the gardens at this point with the first checkpoint and water station. This was a relatively flat portion of the route.

Km6

Km6 was the second checkpoint – this was where we ran by the side of the lake; my only issue was the flooring – planks! I couldn’t get the feel and response on my foot and thought I might be hitting the floor a tad too hard. At the back of mind was the fear of the impact of everyone’s weight on the planks.

Km7-8

We moved onto the Chinese Garden and this was where the slopes came up – a small hill and a bridge (ahh…those picturesque stuff you see in movies). There was also a pagoda and a statue of Zheng He here – absolutely beautiful running through this portion…if you’re not half dead like me or chasing for time.

Km9-10

Things started unraveling with my left foot in the last 2 km which slowed me down a bit – it turned numb and I was worried about tripping. We ran on the sidewalks here and again, I couldn’t pick up the signals properly – asphalts are best for me.

Pros:

a) Shout out to the organizers!

b) Shuttle service from Lakeside MRT.

c) Great medal design.

                           

d) Wonderful swag – loads of goodies and can-be-used ones (e.g. FOC McChicken amongst others).

e) Distance markers; a twist to this was that they were in reverse order.

f) Carnival at the end point – more freebies from 100Plus, AIA and PayPal including more bananas, 100 Plus, Oreo cookies.

g) Results posted within 24 hours.

Cons:

a) Too crowded especially at the start point. Perhaps they could have implemented a wave start similar to the Passion run – Japanese/Chinese Garden paths were narrower than those on ECP.

b) Too many twists and turns.

Photo log (credits to Ronald Heng):

Blueberry danish on Firefly flight.