The 2010 Safra Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon was held this morning in the city area. The flag-off for the half marathon was 0515 hours at Esplanade Bridge. The highlight of this year’s 21-kilometre route was running past the Double Helix bridge along Bayfront Avenue and alongside the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resorts.
In the first two kilometres, participants proceeded towards Collyer Quay, Shenton Way and Robinson Road, finding themselves surrounded by skyscrapers in every direction. After running past the Fullerton Hotel and the Esplanade Bridge again, there was a right turn towards Raffles Avenue, running behind The Float@Marina Bay. Another right turn brought the participants to Bayfront Avenue leading to Marina Bay Sands. Bayfront Avenue was gently sloped, so there was a slight slowdown up to the Sky Park entrance.
This was followed by running up the Benjamin Sheares Bridge towards East Coast Park, following last year’s route. That’s 9 kilometres so far. We then proceeded into East Coast Park via the Fort Road exit. Last year, there was a 50-metre-stretch-of-darkness. This year, this stretch was lit up with floodlights, and there was an event marshal stationed in that area to ensure safety of the participants.
After the East Coast Park leg, which indicates the 13-kilometre mark, participants proceeded to Mountbatten Road and subsequently, Nicoll Highway. Upon making a right turn after Nicoll Highway MRT Station, it was approximately 17 kilometres done. Just like last year, the final four kilometres brought the participants onto the F1 track, past the Esplanade, across Anderson Bridge and into the Padang.
Overall, the event was well-organised and certainly massive. Water points located less than 3 kilometres apart were more than sufficient. There was a slight improvement from last year’s timing with a net time of approximately 2:14.
Up next is the 10 km Mizuno Wave Run, 15 km New Balance Real Run and the Nike City 10k. All three are held back to back on three consecutive Sundays starting 10 October 2010.