More than 7,000 descended on the Bayfront event space early this morning for the Income Eco Run (IER), which included adult categories from 3km to 21km, as well as kids and pets categories.
I did the half marathon
I participated in the 21km, which flagged off at 5:30am.
This year’s event featured brand new routes and a new start area to accommodate 35 per cent extra participants. The route was straightforward enough and took us around the Marina and Kallang areas. There were several bridges, out and backs and loops along the way.
Nonetheless this route was quite beautiful to run along and I always enjoy seeing the sights and sounds of Singapore during local races – before the rest of the country wakes up.
The start was quite crowded and I had to walk the first 20 or 30 meters before settling into a running pace.
Very early on, I realised it was going to be a very humid run. This is not new for the tropics but in such conditions, we need to increase our electrolyte intake and manage our pace so that we don’t overcook ourselves.
At least the organiser was on the ball with the hydration. There was ample hydration along the way and the water and electrolyte fluids served were ice-cold, which was really good. Hydration is so important.
There were markings positioned every kilometre and these were large and easy to read despite the darkness.
A few areas were not lit up well and on a few occasions, I had to slow down to make sure I did not trip up along the way.
The sunrise at the Kallang park connector was beautiful with the reddish hues emerging.
Crowd support along the way was not much, but this is expected for a race in this part of the world, as people generally won’t wake up at such an ungodly hour to spectate.
At least the crowd was a bit better in the last stretch leading to the finish line, because runners who had already completed their race had come back to cheer on friends, family members and everyone else.
I crossed the finish line with my Garmin watch reading 20.68km. Some runners made up the distance to 21.1km by running extra laps around the end point or doing an extra lap of their own to the carpark behind, right before the finish.
Credit: David Tan
Credit: David Tan
Our finisher entitlements were a banana, can of isotonic and water. There is no official medal and finisher tee because this is a zero waste run.
The run carnival was interesting and educational and taught many things about recycling and how to be more energy efficient in our daily lives. The games were fun and I definitely learnt something new from my experiences.
Plastify also had a cool booth – DIY unofficial race medals made of recycled plastic. I queued for an hour to create my own medal. The wait was long but the final product was really pretty and I’m super happy with it. 
Overall it was a well-organised run that met all the runner needs seamlessly. The accuracy of the distance could have been better. But I still had a lot of fun and the whole vibe and experience was great. It was awesome to see so many people come together to make a statement for zero waste and conserving the environment. 
Said Dhiren Amin, Chief Customer Officer, Income Insurance, “over the years, IER has evolved into a platform that brings together like-minded partners and participants to take on collective climate action, from proactively pushing the boundaries on waste management year on year to bringing on more eco partners and experiences to inspire and encourage sustainable living.”
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