Theme Runs Galore

The Singapore race scene has really heated up. From just 4 races in the month of January this year, there are now 11 races in the month of August alone and another 9 in September and that not counting the odd Triathlon and weird odd races.

But the latest in thing in running events is not the multitudes of 10 km races or the Ultra (there seems to be one every month) but theme races. Theme run are all the rage now and none so than the upcoming Hello Kitty Run.

The Hello Kitty Run has sold out its 15000 slots even before registration opens and at $65 per registration, that is a cool $1m in the pocket for the organiser.

If my memory serves me correctly, last year was the year when the themed race from overseas came to our shore. It started with the Color Run, which was sold out even though it was spread over 2 days and ended with the Run for your Lives, a Zombies themed Run. In between there were the Electric Run and Commando Challenge. 4 in total.

This year, there are at least 7 most of which are sold out. The last one with a cartoon character to cause great excitement was the Garfield Run and now we have the Hello Kitty Run. 

What's next? Snoopy Run? Or Mickey Mouse Run?

New Shoes

It has been a long long time since I have so many pairs of new running shoes. But I reckoned it time to retire some of my running shoes and I am mighty excited at what I have to replace them with.

First on the list is my 4th pair of Saucony Kinvara. This is my 2nd pair of Kinvara 3.

I bought this a few months ago at the Royal Sporting House when there was a 50% discount. I guess the hefty discount was due to the Kinvara 4 being out for some time and the release of the Kinvara in other countries and they were trying to get rid of the number 3. Number 3 suits me fine though and if it ain't broken, why fix it? And at 50% discount I can't go wrong, not with my current pair hitting over 700km and although a bit worn out at the sole, still giving good support.

This is the left sole of the current shoe. Having clocked 708 km, I think it is still in pretty good shape. For the record, I managed to clocked 661 km on my earlier Kinvara 2 so who says Saucony shoes are not lasting?

Next new pair is my first Skechers. I been meaning to get a pair of Skechers Go Run since I first read about it but flinched at the price. But now that Go Run 3 is available, the price of Go Run 2 has finally been reduced and I managed to get a pair at $89.00! 

This will be my everyday training shoes to replace my Puma Mobium which despite my earlier apprehension has served me well and is still in good condition despite clocking more than 500 km todate.

Last but not least, is my first "new season" shoes. It has been a long time since I have a brand new first season shoes and for that matter, a free shoe to trial but here it is. The New Balance 980 Fresh Foam Trail courtesy of New Balance Singapore and Trail Running Singapore.

Ain't it a beauty? Unfortunately, trialling this will have to wait as I am giving trail running a short break while I focus on my training for my next attempt on a road ultra. And beside, I still have 2 relatively new trail shoes still waiting for me to pick them up.

The Runner and her Phone

You know this crazy obsession with mobile phones has gone overboard when people stares at their phone when walking, going up and down the escalator, driving and running. It seems that if they can bring it into the water, they probably will. Wait a minute, isn't there waterproof phone now available?

Anyway, I am really intrigue why people will bother to take part in a running race and then while running, keep staring at their phone like these participants here.

 

Ok maybe they need to communicate with their friends on their whereabout but surely they are a nuisance to other runners. I mean how do you message and run at the same time? I tried walking and texting and cannot even do it what more running?

Seriously folks, put the phone aside, enjoy your run and take it out only after the run. You won't miss anything.

There nothing to be ashamed of

Recently we at Running Shots got a request asking for us to remove a photo. Now getting request to remove photos is quite common. Most time it is due to a wardrobe malfunction or some very glaringly faulty shot. So when this request came we thought nothing of it. Probably a badly taken photo that slipped QC. It sound like it though from the message which I quote:

"I know I'm not tagged but omg guys a lil bit of quality control! Please please please take it down"

When we took a look at the photo, we were real surprise. There was no wardrobe malfunction. Neither was it out of focus or badly taken. In fact it was a perfectly well taken shot. There were 3 persons in the photo. 2 Caucasians (a man and a woman) and 1 Chinese man. What was unique was that the couple were obese. But there was nothing word with the photo per see.

Last year I wrote a post  about how to look glam for one's running photos and got whacked left right centre by a lot of ladies. I guess the point which the ladies were trying to carry across was that it should not matter whether one look glam or otherwise when they are running. What is important is that they made the effort to go out and run. And I totally agreed with this stand. 

So for this particular case I guess this lady was the reverse of all the other ladies. The only reason I guess was she didn't want other people to see her obese self. Which I think is very wrong and silly. In fact, she should be proud that despite her size, she is doing something about it and out there participating in a race. 

For me, every time I see someone who is older, obese or handicapped participating in a race, I am encouraged and motivated by them. And I think that it is wonderful that despite their condition, they are still out there pounding away and not letting their condition get to them. A case in point is our very own blade runner, Sharif. His life story would make a very compelling sob movie but every time I see him, he is always cheerful and encouraging others in their own.

So I think this lady should not be ashamed of her size. She should be proud and happy of herself. And my message to everyone who is willing to wake up at ungodly hours, pays exorbitant transport fare and race fee to participate in races, you are beautiful in your own special way and you should never  ever be ashamed of it.