Now that you know a little about the history of the fun run and why they’re so important in our previous article, we’d like to propose expanding Singapore’s running calendar so it includes even more offbeat events that fit under the umbrella of the fun run.
Our list of ideas is just the tip of the iceberg as we introduce these 14 offbeat themes:
1. Scooby Doo Fun Run
When U.S. Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton began her quest for the presidency, she named her tour bus the Scooby Doo for a reason: this dog is always racing somewhere.
Holding a Scooby Doo Fun Run in Singapore offers unlimited possibilities: Raise money for a local dog shelter. Pair the race with a puppy fashion show. Or see how fast teams can collect “mystery clues” in an amazing-race-type event!
2. Sailor Moon Fun Run
On the first Saturday in August, Sailor Moon fans get together at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to dress up, show off, pose for selfies and get into the spirit of this fantasy character’s personality. There will be fantastic costumes all around if organisers in Singapore decide to use this colourful caricature as a fun run theme.
Make it an evening event to enhance the experience—especially if there happens to be a full moon or a bright crescent!
3. Naruto Fun Run
Want to draw landmark crowds? Stage a Naruto-themed fun run and invite the character’s creator Masashi Kishimoto to judge the outcome! He’s travelled to the U.S. to promote his new manga, so why not visit Singapore?
A themed event promoting his next iteration work will surely be a hot hit now that his 15 years of character serialisation is behind him. Decked in nifty ninja gear, who wouldn’t want to flaunt his/ her Jutsu moves?
4. Dragon Ball Fun Run
Are the only runs you associate with Dragon Ball the virtual ones you take when racing through temples using a gaming console? For a popular manga/ anime series with avid fans from around the world, you can bet that Singaporeans are willing to get off the couch and indulge in a fun run.
Imagine the surge you get when, surrounded with fellow ‘Saiyans’, you roar “KAME-HAME-HAA!”
5. Doraemon Fun Run
This manga character has adapted into a successful anime series and media franchise with lots of young and young-at-heart followers, making it the ideal symbol for a new race that’s for all age groups. Start small—raise funds for a school in need of supplies since Doraemon is the Gadget Cat from the Future!
Add a best feline costume judging or make it a contest to see which team is best dressed like the Doraemon gang.
Or take a cue from the Doraemon Run launched in Taipei last November. Participants even took home “take-copters”, the iconic propeller hats in the cartoon!
6. Slam Dunk Fun Run
While we’re on the roll with manga/ anime-themed ideas, let’s not forget this one: If you love basketball and comics, it’s almost guaranteed you are a Slam Dunk manga series fan!
We can see runners stopping long enough to slam dunk balls into nets—but your take on this race could be wilder, so see what you can come up with!
7. SpongeBob SquarePants Fun Run
It’s been done in 2015—NASCAR held a Sprint Cup race on 9th May at the Kansas Speedway covering 267 laps on a 1.5 mile track. You may not have top race cars but you have or know kids, right?
Without a doubt, they’d love the dude who lives in a pineapple under the sea. How about a beach race that gives youngsters a chance to win sand buckets after renaming their race area to ‘Goo Lagoon’ like in ‘Bikini Bottom’? The possibilities are endless.
8. Popeye the Sailor Man Fun Run
Chester, Illinois is home to the Popeye 5km run and 5km competitive walk. After 35 years, this fun race has quite a following.
Popeye T-shirts are highly-prized commodities, and would be in Singapore as well, but if you want to put a spin on this event that nobody else has thought of, how about featuring Popeye’s girlfriend, “Olive Oyl,” the star of the show and make it an all-girl race?
9. The Flintstones Fun Run
Did you know that some U.S. schools encourage young soccer players to participate in the sport by playing a game called Flintstones?
In the spirit of members of this Stone Age family, you can adopt the name for a run that is part on foot and part in vehicles. Here’s the twist: Kids build their own Stone Age vehicles from cardboard boxes and “race” these cars to a finish line to see who wins.
10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fun Run
We’ve stolen this idea from a website urging runners to undertake more fun runs by dressing in costume, and one of the most creative ideas suggested is to run wearing a turtle shell backpack as an homage to these rascals.
Participants in this themed fun run could not only clock distances but get in some strength training, too. Perhaps with obstacle courses to match Splinter’s ninjutsu training? Add iconic masks to the event and let those ninja turtles loose!
11. Winnie the Pooh Fun Run
Hundreds of competitors showed up for the 2006 U.K. Winnie the Poo races, but they didn’t have to wear running shoes because this contest, called Poohsticks, consisted of dropping sticks into a river and seeing which crossed the finish line first. An 8-year-old won!
Here’s an idea for running and Winnie the Pooh fans: stage a bridge run, reminiscent of Winnie and Christopher Robin hanging out on the bridge in Ashdown Forest in the book.
Of course, refreshment stations enroute or at the run festival must have Pooh’s favourite—honey!
12. X-men Fun Run
We know what you’re going to say. There are already too many X-men track and field events that are anything but fun runs, so how does one to distinguish the ultra event from one that pays tribute to fantasy characters?
By making this the hottest futuristic costume run Singapore has ever seen. Hugh Jackman would be proud. Heck, invite him to flag off the runners!
13. Smurfs Fun Run
Feeling blue? Competitors might be not feel but look just that if you organise a fun run requiring entrants to apply blue body paint to participate.
Even staid, serious runners will relax at the start line when it’s populated with these lovable blue characters! We can already imagine the run festival set up to look like the little mushroom village, where participants can taste “smurfberries” after the run.
14. Super Mario Fun Run
Be prepared to laugh when you think about staging a relay run that requires participants to hand off plungers rather than batons, in keeping with Super Mario’s profession as a plumber.
Keep costs down by buying plungers from a discounter, but if you enlist plumbing companies and suppliers as sponsors for this event, they may be happy to supply the batons.
We’ve got many more ideas, but now it’s your turn. Let us hear from you—especially if you agree that Singapore needs more fun runs! Which of the runs mentioned here appeal to you most?
