Last night, Sentosa’s Palawan Green became a paradise of colours, as the island’s hottest beach destination played host to about 6,000 runners, who ran and danced the night away whilst getting doused in the event’s signature Illumi Glow Water paint.
Sentosa’s Palawan Green played host to the fourth edition of the Illumi Run last night. (Photo: Illumi Run).
Took place on the beach for the first time
Taking place for the first time on the beach, the Illumi Run, which had flagged off at 7.30pm, showcased exciting features such as a Neon Paradise route taking runners through five colourful themed zones. These included the Cosmic Land, which promised neon bubbles and psychedelic rainbow light displays, and the Flower Dreams, taking runners through a one of a kind neon rain shower whilst dancing through a colourful field of flowers.
There was lots to see and do at the Illumi Run.
The run also featured a 30 metre long inflatable glow slide, making it Singapore’s first night run with a slide.
Run was great fun for many participants
For many runners, the event was great fun. Said Harkesh Kumar, 38 and working in oil trading, “The run was good fun with so many people taking part. The weather was also very nice. But the best part had to be the neon lights and the luminescent Glow Water. The music was great as well.”
Participants were having lots of fun – even before the run started.
Kelly Lim, 16, a Secondary Four student, also shared his sentiments. She said, “The run was quite fun… It was great to get dirty, wet and soaked because the paint glows in the dark.”
Great way to bond with friends
To some, the event was a great way to bond with their friends.
She added, “Events like this are a great way to bond with friends and socialise more. The pre and post run music and entertainment was great as well. I will be back for more.”
The music was also a blast for many runners!
The entertainment and music line up had included sought after DJs in Asia, such as DJ TiNC, Rave Republic and Taiwan’s DJ Cookie, who pumped up the crowd, ending the night on a neon high.
Runners.. get set, ready… go!
Said Daniel Bangjennings, 17, an A Levels student at a local JC, “Both the pre and post run music was fantastic. They had a great range of music which appealed to our age group. It was perfect to get us hyped up.”
Daniel also admitted that he tried to avoid the neon Glow Water at first, but gave up on that eventually. He said, “The run was very exciting. The best part was the paint. I tried to avoid it at first, so I’m not as dirty as some of my friends! It’s ok that I didn’t get splashed so much; I’m still having lots of fun. Events like this are great to not only bring friends together, but also to make new friends.”
Friends get wet and dirty together!
Some improvements could have been made
Some runners though, felt that the event could be improved further.
Tucking into food and beverages on-site.
Said Kelvin Foo, 16, a Secondary Four student, “Overall the Illumi Run was a great experience. I loved the paint – that, and the post run party, were the best parts of the evening. But our legs got stuck in the sand during the run, and that made it hard to run or walk. It would have been better to run near the cement instead of on the sand.”
Kelly also shared his sentiments. She said, “Running on the sand made me feel very sticky and the sand stayed on my body. With the glow water as well, it would be quite hard to wash off later.”
Some felt that the glow paint was a bit hard to wash off.
Harkesh felt that the Glow Water was a bit on the thick side, too. He said, “Having more water based Glow paint would have been good. Water based paints would be able to dry off more easily, but I felt this one was a bit thick and sticky.”
Yasmin Fan Qi Xian, 15, however had loved the paint so much, that she felt that there could have been more splash zones spread out throughout the event. Said the Secondary Three student, “The best part of the whole event was definitely where I got splashed by paint and the beautiful neon colours! As long as there is paint, it is fun, and here, the paint was splashed onto us like rain.”
Runners loved the 30 metre long Glow Slide.
She added, “So I think it would have been nice to have more paint stations spread throughout the entire event, rather than just placed at special locations only.”
Organisers are pleased with how the event transpired
The organisers were happy with how the event had gone.
“We can’t wait to have another go on the slide!”
Said Jeffrey Foo, 44, Director of Infinitus Productions – the conceptualiser and organiser of the Illumi Run, “This was our first time holding the Illumi Run at Sentosa and we can’t be happier with the positive feedback that we’ve received. We’re extremely grateful to all the participants who came down tonight, and hope that all enjoyed the new experience of running and dancing through the beach while getting splashed with the Illumi Glow Water paint.”
While Foo also pointed out that though runners love the paint, not everyone wants to be completely drenched in it. He said, “We put in a lot of paint for this event but we can’t get everyone to be sprayed with paint. A lot of runners even put themselves in front of the spray can volunteers but we try and balance it out; some may be here for the paint but others are ultimately here for the music. As long as everyone has had a great time, it is more important to us than making sure everyone is drenched.”
The organisers felt that the event was a great success.
He added “This is our fourth year doing the Illumi Run and each time, we try and push up the whole experience; as you can see this year, we had the new venue and brought in DJs from Taiwan. We are pleased that the Illumi Run has gone up a notch this year. And we are already looking forward to delivering an even better Illumi Run experience next year.”
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