Great Eastern Women’s Run 2023 Launches at Raffles Place

The Great Eastern Women’s Run is back in full force after the Covid-19 pandemic. This year’s event, the 17th edition of the race, opened to registrations today at Raffles Place.

Gracing the launch event were Low Yen Ling, Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, and Khor Hock Seng, Group Chief Executive Officer, Great Eastern.

Said Khor, “The Great Eastern Women’s Run has been the game-changing race for generations of women through championing female wellness and bonding while motivating women to unlock their own versions of greatness.”

Added Khor, “This year the Great Eastern Women’s Run is into its 17th edition and has become Singapore’s marquee event for championing female health and wellness. Our run inspires women from all ages and walks of life to stay active and lead a healthy lifestyle.”

Takes place Sunday 29 Oct

The 2023 event will take place on Sunday 29 Oct at the Singapore Sports Hub and will feature six categories, up from four last year.

The two extra categories are the 21.1km half marathon for the masses and the 100m Princess Dash for three to six year old girls.

They supplement the 21.1km by-invite-only half marathon for local elites, as well as the 10km, 5km and 2km Mummy and Me run for little girls between five to 12 years old.

Prize pool

More prize money is also being set aside this year to nurture local sporting talent. In addition to the 21.1km by-invite-only category, cash prizes are also being awarded to the top three finishers of the 21.1km and 10km local closed categories, with more than $18,000 worth of prize money being handed out.

Event Launch

To mark the opening of the event, Minister Low ran alongside representatives from Great Eastern, Daughters of Tomorrow, Singapore Cancer Society and national SEA Games runner Vanessa Lee on treadmills that had been brought in for this purpose.

The runners were flagged off by Khor, Great Eastern Group CEO. This display exemplifies this year’s race slogan of “Start Strong, Finish Great.”

Complimentary slots for first 115 runners to show up

The first 115 runners who came to the launch event wearing any Great Eastern Women’s Run t-shirt received a pair of complimentary race slots for a category of their choice, while other on-site registrants were able to sign up at a special launch-day promotional rate of $25.50 for the 5km, $39.90 for the 10km and $48.45 for the 21.1km categories.

As a result of all the promotions, the on-site queues were already very long when I arrived at around noon.

Said Khor, “A shout out to the many ladies in the registration queue who have donned their running tees from prior races, thanks for your enthusiasm and effort as I know many of you came down early to queue for the slots.”

But despite the searing heat that day, the participants were in high spirits and eager to sign up for the run.

Said Lim Siew Ngoh, 57, “I feel very excited and I want to challenge myself. At the run, I’m looking forward to having fun and I hope to see my friends there.”

She will be taking part in the 21.1km half marathon.

The full rates are as follows.

Giving back

The Great Eastern Women’s run will also be giving back to the community through actively fundraising for two charities: Daughters of Tomorrow and the Singapore Cancer Society.

Said Khor, “The funds raised will go towards programmes helping cancer survivors integrate back into everyday life and supporting underprivileged women in their back-to-work journeys.”

Organised since 2006

Singapore’s only all-women’s run has been organised by Great Eastern insurance company since 2006.

However the race was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, went virtual in 2021, and held at a reduced physical scale in 2022 with just 4,000 runners taking part.