SAFRA BAY RUN & ARMY HALF MARATHON PROMISE MORE FUN

Organisers of the SAFRA Singapore Bay Run (SSBR) and Army Half Marathon (AHM), to be held on 28 Aug, are promising to keep runners entertained this year as the event returns after a hiatus last year with giant inflatable obstacles at the 5km Fun Run, and illuminated acts lining the route.

As with previous years, there are four races of varying distances: the 21km Army Half Marathon (AHM), SAFRA 10km Race, SAFRA 5km Fun Run and Families for life 800m Challenge.

New for the AHM route is a longer stretch before hitting the Marina Barrage. The new route will take runners along Shenton Way after the early-morning flag off at the Esplanade Bridge.

This (route) allows runners to space out before they reach the Marina Barrage, which experienced some congestion in previous years, said Major Benedict Leo, a member of the organising committee.

The rest of the route also saw adjustments to reduce the number of sharp turns for a better running experience. Participants will meander along the Stadium Park Connector and run close to the National Stadium. Some of the sights along the way include the Marina Bay waterfront and the city skyline.

As the soldiers and families run past the scenic Marina Bay skyline and the CBD area, they are reminded of the reason they serve to protect our way of life and the economic prosperity of our nation, said Colonel (COL) (NS) Simon Lim, Chairman of the Executive Committee and Vice-President of SAFRA. He is also Director National Service Affairs.

Adding to the festive atmosphere will be crowd favourites, cheerleaders and belly dancers, who are among the acts making a comeback for this year s event. New acts include illuminated stilt walkers and Samba drummers.

Two giant inflatable obstacles modelled after the Standard Obstacle Course (SOC), which will be familiar to most Singapore Armed Forces servicemen, will make their debut at the 5km Fun Run. One of the inflatable obstacles is a 5m-tall structure made to resemble the Apex Ladder.

We hope that SOC-inspired inflatables will enable them to share more about their NS experience with their loved ones, and (help them) create meaningful memories together, COL (NS) Lim.

For the first time this year, the Families for Life Challenge is open to both fathers and mothers of the participants, who must be between four and 12 years of age on the race-day. Previously, the event was open only to fathers.

At this year s race will be men from the 724th Battalion Singapore Guards (724 Gds) who will stand-down a day before race-day.

Said their Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel (NS) Joshua Tjandra Tjahjono: We want the men to remember the bonds and friendships they have built over the NS journey and coincidentally the SSBR and AHM will be held a day after the unit stands down, so we thought it would be meaningful to get as many of the guys together to do this together as a unit, for the last time.

He added: But we certainly hope they will also come forward to take part in the future of their own accord.

Apart from those running at the event for old times sake, the event will also see die-hard runners such as the running team from the 2nd People s Defence Force (2 PDF).

I m going to try and hit a time of below an hour and a half (for the 21km race), said Lieutenant (NS) Devathas Sathianathan, 28. A lawyer by training, he is a competitive athlete who had represented Singapore at the Southeast Asian Games.

Said teammate LTA (NS) Colin Tung: Many of us (in the team) know each other from other races but having the opportunity to compete under that one banner of 2 PDF gives us that opportunity on race-day to win it for the unit.

For more information, visit www.safra.sg/ssbr_ahm