The SCMS Official Warm Up Run

Last Saturday morning, the StanChart Marathon Official Warm Up Run took place.

The SCMS Official Warm Up Run took place last Saturday.

Targeted as an official “training” run to prepare runners for the year-end Standard chartered marathon Singapore (SCMS) and to gauge how their progress is going so far, this race had flagged off at 6.30am at the Singapore Sports Hub with four different distances – 5.2km, 10km, 15km and 21km.

Official pacers for SCMS making their public pacing debut.

Runners had a great time

Runners who took part in the event had a fantastic experience.

Everyone had a great time.

Said Marc Jaenpallares, 36, a Software Engineer, “It was a really nice run today. The ambience was good and the race environment was quite nice. Also the pacers were great and they helped to keep me on target – overtaking them is always a good sign that your progress is going well.”

Challenging to wake up so early

SCMS mascots are out for photo opportunities with runners.

Added Ivan Ong, 31, an analyst at Standard Chartered Bank, “The warm up run had been really good to prepare us for the real thing. But it was challenging to wake up so early on a Saturday morning… so I am proud I reached the Sports Hub on time, at 6.25am.”

He added “I covered 5.2km today and I feel ready for the 10km that I am running at SCMS – where I hope to be able to achieve my target to complete it within 1 hour.”

It was a great way for runners and pacers to gauge their training for SCMS.

It was a great way for both runners and pacers to gauge their training for SCMS.

Also finding it a challenge to wake up at the early hour, had been Wendy Ong, 37, a tax auditor. She said “I could not sleep last night and had to come here so early in the morning. But it was quite fun though, and I think that after today, I am ready to run 10km at SCMS.”

She added, “I followed the 7:30 mins/km pacers today and I should be able to complete my 10km at the actual race within 1 hour and 20 minutes.”

A runner poses with the SCMS Official Warm Up Run finisher medal.

Happy that he ran a personal best timing

For Dave Mackerness, 34, a Business Development Director at Kaer, it had been challenging for him to hit his targeted timing. He said “The biggest challenge was to hit my race time at the Warm Up Run but the pacers helped me out and I just stuck with them – I am happy I managed to get my personal best of 49 minutes for 10km today, and I hope to go even faster at SCMS.”

Some runners gave their all, but others used the run for training.

He continued “I had actually felt like slacking a little bit – so this Warm Up Run gives me the confidence to get going again in terms of my training for SCMS. I feel ready for SCMS. I registered for the 10km, but now I am even thinking of upgrading to the Half Marathon for the SCMS race.”

She thinks she can still do better

The setup at the National Stadium for the Warm Up Run.

Lee Qiao Ming, 19, however, felt that she needs to do more training before SCMS. Said the Digital Engineering Student at Nanyang Polytechnic, “though the route was a bit slanted, and uphill the race was good. I’m running the Ekiden at SCMS and I think that I can run a better timing than I did today.”

Runners cool down after their completion.

She added “Though the pacers needed to guide me today, I’m happy though that I managed to run about 7:30mins/km pace; my usual speed is about 8mins/km. I hope to improve further on this, by the time that SCMS comes round.”