Despite heavy rain and lightning in the wee hours of this morning, the Income Eco Run took place with 5,500 runners running for a zero waste and sustainable lifestyle. Income Insurance pledged $1 to every kilometre clocked and a total of $70,000 was raised to support green initiatives.

This year’s run was especially meaningful with Income celebrating its 55th anniversary, marking the occasion with two firsts at the event. These were: 

• A by-invite-only 55km ultramarathon that flagged off at 11pm on Saturday June 7, and 
• A 1km Pets Category on Sunday morning for furry friends.

I took part in the 21.1km half marathon category.

Soon after I woke up, I was greeted by very heavy thunderstorm and rain. My first thought was to forgo the run and go back to sleep. It was tempting but I didn’t in the end.

I was refreshing the race’s Facebook page for updates. Eventually got an update at around 4:30pm that the race was a go, but the start would be delayed from the original 5:30am to 6am. So I decided to make my way down. 

Upon arriving, I got another update that the flag off would be further delayed to 6:30am. At this point, I was hoping there would be no more delays or possible cancellations. I realised that the 21.1km would definitely be the first to go if any category was to be cancelled as it is the longest.

Fortunately it didn’t and we were given the green light at 6:30am. 

Due to the delay for the 21.1km and the 15km, which was also flagged off at 6:30am, this had a roll-on effect for the remaining categories. All other categories flag-off times were pushed back by an hour.

The run started at the top of the Marina Barrage slope. While it might make for a good photo opportunity, I always find this location quite dark and narrow to begin a race. 

Also with the pre-dawn thunderstorm, I had to watch my step and slow right down when running down the grass so that I wouldn’t lose my footing and trip. I only picked up my pace after reaching the bottom of the slope.

The first few km went well. I was maintaining a good pace (around 5:20min/km) and the weather was good for Singapore standards. It was cooling and breezy after the rain and felt very comfortable.

From there, the run route was straightforward and easy. We ran to East Coast Park and back, u-turning at the skate park just before the Bedok Jetty. I run at East Coast often, so I know exactly what to expect in terms of terrain and road conditions there. It is flat and there is no elevation and therefore makes for easy running. 

However a few areas were narrow to run, especially with the out-and-back route, two lanes of runners, as well as random cyclists who were also coincidentally using the park that morning. 

I saw many familiar faces along the way. This is what I like about Singapore runs, the local running community and how runners here are all so supportive of each other. It was nice to see everyone on the run. 

The water stations were well spaced apart and serving ice-cold isotonic and water. I made sure I took fluids at every station as I know how important this is for refuelling purposes.

I found myself dropping pace around the halfway mark. The long stretch of East Coast park was getting boring and my mind was losing focus on the run. From around 12km, my target was just to complete the run and get back to the finish point regardless of pace. It was also gradually getting more humid as the rain had stopped and the sun was gradually seeping through the clouds.

We exited East Coast Park in the final kilometres of the run, towards Bay East Gardens en route to Barrage. To make up 21.1km, we had a short detour of about 1km in the direction of the Tanjong Rhu park connector. By this point, I was purely focusing on completing. 

The 1.25km home stretch down the Bay East Garden parkrun route felt like forever. But finally I saw the Barrage bridge up ahead and ran up it. The finish line was just ahead.

I ran through it. 1 hour 58 mins 00 seconds (unofficial watch time). 

We received a can of isotonic and a banana upon crossing the finish line. 

The race carnival was simple and straightforward. There was a booth by Plastify where we could make our own race medal for free. I think not everyone may have been aware of this as it was not well-publicised. Nonetheless the medals were pretty and unique.

Other than that, there were game booths where we could win prizes (I only managed to win a towel) and a booth giving out ice cream, which unfortunately was only available for staff and their families. In past years, the ice cream was made available to everyone. 

The general theme of the booths was all about conservation and environmental protection which is in line with the message of the Income Eco Run.

I had a great time at the Income Eco Run catching up with familiar faces and meeting and greeting friends. It was a great day out for the local running community and I hope to be back again at this fun event next year. Thanks again to Income Eco Run for putting together the event and doing a great job to handle the weather woes with timely updates and regular announcements. 

Race Video