It was a great turnout of 5,200 participants for the New Balance Run On Race at the scenic Gardens by the Bay (East) last Saturday, 20th August 2016.
The New Balance Run On which was into its 2nd edition for this year, gave the participants an opportunity to push themselves further by increasing the distance of the race from 5km to 7km while providing an additional 1km at the end to motivate participants to run on. The participants who completed the extra 1km earned themselves a limited edition patch.
5 age categories: 15-19 years, 20-29 years, 30-39 years, 40-49 years and 50 years and above was created to ensure a level playing field.
Representing RunSociety, Ashton and Desmond who were first time participants for the race, had filled stomachs at the race.
“Upon arriving at Gardens by the Bay, I got all excited about the various booths giving out free treats. The truffle fries, tropical sling popsicles and hot dog buns were an amazing treat pre and post run, not to mention free beer too!”
Beginning the race on the fourth wave, the boys found themselves slightly trapped by the crowd in their official bright red race tees,
“It wasn’t a great running experience with the lane at the start being so narrow. Eventually as the wave proceeded, the bottleneck crowd dispersed and we began to enjoy the run.”
After the race, the participants were treated to free food and drinks. They gathered in the open space to celebrate their accomplishments by indulging in some well-deserved food and drink with premium draft beer specially imported by Wunderbar and complimentary truffle fries and ice cream.
The revelry took place to the backdrop of DJ A/K/A from ATTAGIRL!, who pumped up the mood for runners who finished the race, and was followed by the mellowed synths of local band Riot in Magenta to close the night.
“We finished our race, pretty quickly I might add, and shamelessly rewarded ourselves to the buffet for the hard work we had put in. We stayed a little longer and swayed to the performance of Riot in Megenta,”
said Ashton.
Besides the food and merriment, participants were also treated to temporary tattoos from Bada Bink! to stand-out from the crowd! They were also given the opportunity to immortalise their moment of glory by capturing their photos in printouts that move using the Gifster application.
“We believe that both sport and the arts have a vital role to play in society as an outlet of expression and expanding the mind and soul. Through our collaboration with artists like ATTAGIRL! and Riot !n Magenta, along with The Local People art market for our race pack collection, we aim to offer metropolitan and core runners a fresh experience. Running is not just a sport, but a lifestyle that has become more social and allows one to stay active and culturally engaged at the same time,”
said Eugene Yeo, New Balance ASEAN Product and Marketing Manager, when asked to comment on the partnership between New Balance, local artistes and businesses.
The Singapore leg is the fourth of seven stops on the New Balance Run On Tour. The last three legs for the year will be in Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines.
