It certainly feels great to be a woman during the Great Eastern Women Run that was held last Sunday at the Marina Bay Floating Platform.
Despite the light drizzle and overcast sky, women from all walks of life displayed courage and endurance when they came together with the aim of completing the wet and challenging run. At the flag-off point, the women were really enthusiastic about the run and many supporters comprising of the women’s brothers, boyfriend, husband, sons and etc., were there to lend their support and cheer the women on!
Jacqueline posing for a picture before the run.
Race flag-off by the VIPs and Guest of Honour, Dr Amy Khor. Dr Amy Khor herself also participated in the 5KM run with the ladies.
The ladies enjoying the run despite the grey skies.
In less than 34 minutes after the flag-off for the 10KM Race Category, the first woman to cross the finishing line is from Kenya.
Jacqueline participated in the 10KM Race Category and completed the run in less than 90 minutes, a timing that I considered not too bad for someone who didn’t even train for the run!
To be honest, I was initially quite concerned about the safety of the runners due to the bad weather but the race organiser really took painstaking efforts to ensure that medical coverage was sufficient. However, Jacqueline did commented that it would have been better if the race routes for both the 5KM and 10KM categories are different as there were areas that experienced heavy human traffic; making the race quite difficult to run.
To further provide an enhanced running experience, there were also 21 female pacers for the 10km and 21.1km route this year, marking a first for a run in Singapore. The pacers, who had to undergo two months of training, were cherry picked by Team FatBird.
Although the run was only meant for the ladies, the men and children were able to entertain themselves at the Live Great Carnival that were bustling with many activities.
The Great Eastern Women’s Run was also an opportunity for female runners to raise awareness and funds for health issues closely associated with women. This year, $38,370 were raised for the Breast Cancer Foundation, Singapore Heart Foundation, Singapore Cancer Society [Cancer Prevention Fund] and Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations.
I’m pretty sure Jacqueline would be raring to sign up for the Great Eastern Women’s Run next year; especially when she was pampered with the tons of goodies that were made available! If only there was such a race for the men!
