On Saturday evening, 21st April 2018 was the night for music lovers and runners alike to kickstart The Music Run by AIA 2018. This time around, there were 3 different categories to pick from – Fun Run 5K, Timed 5K and Timed 10K. I participated in the 5K Fun Run with my friend, that was scheduled to be flagged off at 6 p.m.
Prerace
As the 5K Fun Run was to be flagged off at 6 p.m., my friend and I decided to head to the music village a little earlier as we wanted to explore the music village as well as collect our race packs as we previously missed the race pack collection days.
The race pack collection at the information booth was fast and fuss-free, with only 1-2 people before our turn. Inside the drawstring bag, there is a Music Run T-shirt, a wristband, a sticker and temporary tattoos.
As we walked around the Music Village, we found an array of exciting activities such as the AIA Vitality Leap, AIA Fitspo Zone, AirAsia Just Dance and Silent Disco Yoga by Yoga Movement. We took a particular interest in the AIA Vitality Leap as well as the AIA Fitspo Zone and took a mental note to swing by these booths later on as it was nearing 6 p.m.
5KM Fun Run
Before the run, we were led in a short warm-up exercise by Fitness First instructors and was led to the starting entrance. At first, my friend and I heard the countdown by the emcee through the speakers lined along the path, and as we heard “3,2,1”, we were still caught in a large crowd of participants.
I was quite puzzled as to why we were still stuck here and wondered if this will be the case throughout the entire run. I later found out that the emcees were actually flagging off participants wave by wave, and we were just shuffling along the path to reach the real start pen.
I had a pleasant surprise when I saw volunteers dancing to the music, trying to hype up the crowd as we headed to the start pen. But it was definitely a nice touch, as the energy of the dancers were high, and it definitely rubbed off on us!
As we were jogging along the path, I could see multiple speakers lined along the way. I later found out that there were actually over 120 speakers lined along the Sound Track, pumping with a curated playlist of songs that helped to live up to the name of “live the beat”.
The run route was relatively similar to runs held in Sentosa, as we ran along the different beaches and resorts, and then taking a U-turn back to Imbiah and to the music village, at Palawan Green. Along the way, we also passed by the AirAsia crew who were playing on different instruments to hype the crowd to keep on running. It was a nice touch to be motivated whilst running!
Towards the last stretch of the run, there was an illuminated bubble zone as well as giant interactive party balls thrown into the crowd of music runners. This was one of my favourite highlights as it was a great spot for taking photos, and I also loved that there were quotes printed that showed “Be a finisher, keep on running”, to further motivate runners to keep on going as this was the last stretch before we reached the finish line.
We then crossed the finish line shortly, and were given energy bars and a bottle of mineral water, as well as our 5K Finisher Medal! Even though this was a fun run, I did time myself when we started running as I was curious to see how long I will take, and to my surprise, the distance measured was about 4.15km and was relatively shorter than the 5km stated. Nevertheless, I had a great time during the run itself!
Sponsor Booths
We immediately went to the AIA Fitspo Zone to get our hands on some freshly blended juice made, or should I say, “cycled” by yours truly! There weren’t a lot of people in this zone, which surprised me as I thought more participants will be swarming this booth after the run. The activity was quite simple, all we had to do was to fill in our personal particulars via a short link, and scanning a QR code to redeem a cup of orange juice with half a banana in it.
I was really quite excited to be doing this, as I was always intrigued by videos of people cycling to blend their own fruit juice on special bicycles. As I got onto the bicycle to cycle for my own fruit juice, it was easier than I thought, and in less than 3 minutes, I was done blending my own fruit juice!
The staff kindly helped me pour my juice into a cup full of ice for me to enjoy. It was indeed really tasty! I guess this is why they say, tasting the fruit of your own labour is the sweetest!
After refuelling our energy with the fruit juice, my friend and I decided to muster our courage to try out the AIA Vitality Leap that featured a 6m free fall! It was such a pleasant surprise to see an activity like this at a run event, it was most definitely a refreshing touch!
Thankfully, there wasn’t a very long queue when we were going to try out for the leap, it was a less than 10-minute wait before it reached our turn. We proceeded to put on our harnesses, as well as a helmet.
The next moment, the staff in charge just silently gestured us to go ahead and jump. I was a little surprised, as I saw many runners proceeding to sit down and slowly edged themselves off the platform. So I just asked, “Do I just jump?” And he reassured me with a nod. I looked at my friend and gestured the numbers 1, 2, 3 with my hand and we jumped down together.
The initial fall felt really scary as we were floating in the air, but we were quickly reassured by the harnesses that were safely holding us in the air, and we were slowly let down to the ground. It was a short-lived 10-second adrenaline rush, but it was not as scary as I had expected it to be!
Music Festival and Food Halls
After we were all pumped up with the adrenaline rush from the leap, we then joined the after party that featured DJ Sam Withers of Australia that took over the decks with a set of expertly-mixed dance tracks to entertain the music runners.
As I looked around me, all the music runners were full of energy and seemed to really enjoy the music and atmosphere of the festival. Likewise, I was soaking up the great energy from everyone and did enjoy myself very much.
During the music festival itself, there were also several times that the sky lit up with the brightest and biggest fireworks to bring up the atmosphere. It definitely did hype up the atmosphere, the crowd loved it!
With all the jumping and singing during the festival itself, we naturally got a little peckish and decided to explore the food options that the food halls offered.
There was a large variety of food options, with several food vendors selling staples such as pasta, as well as different speciality food like cupcakes and bubble milk tea. We didn’t get anything in the end, as we intended to grab dinner nearby instead.
All in all, I felt that this was a well-organised event, with plenty of exciting activities for runners to enjoy, and the logistics aspect of the run were well done too. I certainly did not expect any food to be given out after the run, but we were offered energy bars and it was indeed a nice touch. We were promised a music run, and it was indeed delivered as promised. This makes me look forward to the next edition of Music Run next year!
Event Overview
- Well organised event
- A large variety of activities for runners to take part in/li>
- Several fireworks display that hyped up the crowd
- Volunteers were friendly and hyper
