On Saturday, 3 March 2018, even though the day started with an overcast and there was a heavy downpour the day before, Run For Light 2018’s event venue at Punggol Waterway saw a perfect weather. And when the sun finally set down, the bright yellow event tees donned by some 2,500 participants cast a luminous glow to the skyline.
The first category flagged off on the race day at 4:30 p.m. was the symbolic 1KM blindfold walk that supports Guide Dogs Singapore Ltd (GDS) for the third consecutive time. Around 200 participants joined by the guide dogs, clients, staff and volunteers from GDS.
About 1,200 runners of 10KM category were flagged off by guest-of-honour, Minister Ng Chee Meng, Minister for Education (Schools), Second Minister for Transport, Grassroots Adviser for Pasir Ris Punggol GROs and MP for Pasir Ris Punggol GRC at 5:30 p.m. The 5KM fun run category also saw some 1,100 runners who were flagged off at 6:30 p.m.
Supporting Guide Dogs Singapore Ltd (GDS)
Before the flag-off, a cheque of S$8,000 was presented to Ms Vanessa Loh, General Manager of GDS by the event’s co-organiser, Mr Joseph Tan, Chairman of Punggol North Community Sports Club. The pledged sum came from the S$2 taken from each ticket sale and donations from participants. In her thank you address, Vanessa said,
“We are very grateful to Run For Light for their longstanding support towards GDS. Their donations have greatly helped us in running our services to support and enable the visually-impaired (VI) community in Singapore. We are also heartened to see many repeat runners taking part in the 1KM Blindfold Walk this year who have even roped in their family and friends! We hope this event will inspire the public towards an inclusive society and empower the VI’s towards independent living.”
Winners of Competitive 10KM category
At the front of the pack, the competition was intense between several elite 10KM runners immediately after the flag-off. The fastest 10KM runner who clocked 34 minutes 13 seconds hails from Nepal who is a familiar face in our local running scene. Nimesh Gurung was more than four minutes ahead of the second finisher, Singaporean Desmond Ang aka ‘Unbelievaboy’ who clocked 38 minutes 46 seconds. Abhishek, Dex Cheong and John Low came in third, fourth and fifth position.
The fight for the top two positions in the women’s category was quite close. The fastest female runner went to Sharon Tan who clocked 45 minutes 57 seconds followed closely by Verna Goh at 46 minutes 53 seconds. Third, fourth and fifth placing went to Yvonne Chee, Marie Leautey and Zhuang Hui Fen respectively.
Post-Race Activities
When the run was done and dusted for our runners, the race village at Punggol Town Square became the hive of activities. Some runners opted for the High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) by going through a series of exercises in a single round while another group swayed along when the Salsation workout kicked off. Others enjoyed lounging around listening to the latest songs played by the deejay.
From the look of the happy faces at the race village, the event has certainly ended on a high note. This added another feather to the cap to the event organisers, namely Ideas Room Consulting Pte Ltd and Punggol North Community Sports Club.
Plans are already underway for the fourth edition come 2019!
