In the third year running, the highly successful Mizuno Mount Faber Run is back again, taking runners through the sights of the southern hills of Singapore.

Race Details

Venue: Open carpark space between Block 121 & 123 Bukit Merah View
(There will be multiple tents erected in the carpark itself)
Distance: 10km
Race Start Time: 0730hrs
(No reporting needed, just arrive on time with Bib)
Registration Closing Date: 24rd May 2009

Getting There
Based as of previous year events, baggage deposit is provided for all runners at the surrounding HDB void decks near the event main tent.
Otherwise you can leave your bags in your vehicles (if you are driving), there are ample HDB parking lots around the area.
Nearest MRT station: Tiong bahru (head into the mature HDB estate opposite Tiong bahru park)
Buses: 961, 855, 197, 147, 14, 196 (From Jalan Bukit Merah)

Race Route (See map image above)
Distance about 10km, but with relief feats. Similar to last year’s race:

• Henderson road up skipping the industrial distripark, across the AYE towards Pasir Panjang road, then turning up the Mt Faber hill from Pender Road.
• Passing round the route through Mount Faber landmarks such as the cable car station and comm tower.
• Down Mt Faber from Faber lodge towards CHIJ at Bukit Purmei towards Tiong Bahru park, then Delta House before circling Gan Eng Seng School and back up to Henderson road for the finish.

Modes of Registration

1. Online registration
You can register online. Registration page.
Online credit card payment (only VISA or MasterCard) is accepted.

Online only, World of Sports & PAssion card members’ Promotion!

• First 500 World of Sports or PAssion card members will receive a FREE pair of Mizuno running socks (worth $8.90) on the Race Pack Collection Day.
• Indicate and key in your World of Sports or PAssion card number during your registration.
• A separate email will be sent to you 1 week before the Race Pack Collection Day.
• Present your confirmation slip, promo email, together with your World of Sports or PAssion card on the Race Pack Collection Day

2. In person, walk-in registration venues:

• Mizuno VivoCity #02-16 Tel: 6377 0261
• World of Sports AMK Hub #B2-14 Tel: 6752 4267
• World of Sports Jurong Point #02-29 Tel: 6792 0547
• World of Sports Tampines 1 #03-14/15 Tel: 6786 6705
• World of Sports Paragon #04-29/30 Tel: 6735 4187
• World of Sports Velocity @ Novena Square #02-69/72 Tel: 6259 9656

3. Registration forms are also available at the selected community centres:

• Henderson Community Centre
• Cairnhill Community Centre
• Radin Mas Community Centre
• Bukit Merah Community Centre
• Queenstown Community Centre
• Leng Kee Community Centre
• Tanjong Pagar Community Centre
• Tiong Bahru Community Centre
• Tanglin Community Centre
• Pek Kio Community Centre

Race Pack contents:

• Running Tee
• Runner’s Tag
• iTag for Electronic Timing
• Mizuno Waist Pouch (worth $29.90)
• Mizuno Limited Edition Running Singlet (worth $32.90)
• Lucky Draw Entry
• 30% Discount on Mizuno regular-priced merchandise

Excludes selected nett priced items. Other terms & conditions apply.

IWD Fun Run/Walk 2009 Details
Date: 1st March, 2009 (Sunday)
Time: 3.30pm Registration; 4.30 flag-off time
Venue: Bedok Reservoir Park
GOH: Ms Jessica Tan, MP for East Coast GRC

Registrations
Closing date of registration: 27th Feb 12pm
Open to both men and women can apply!
Registration Website

As part of IWD (International Women’s Day) 2009, SCWO will also be organising a fun run/walk to bring celebrations of International Women’s Day to the masses in Singapore. The run will be held on 1st March, 2009, Sunday at Bedok Reservoir Park near the floating platform.

Open to all, yes, even men, run enthusiasts can take part in this 4.3km run around scenic Bedok Reservoir Park with their families and friends! As this is a fun event, grandparents can also take part and walk instead of run! Registration can be done individually, in pairs or in groups of 5. Participants of this run will be getting a goodie bag, a free tee shirt as well a free health screening. On top of that, they can stand to win 3 air tickets to any destination of their choice, courtesy of Jetstar Asia, when they cross the finishing line first!

Enquiries:
Singapore Council of Women’s Organisation
http://iwd.org.sg/index.html
or email us at iwdrun [at] scwo.org.sg

SOCG Team:
Siting 96538845
Siew Hoon 91123995
Elizabeth 91886635
socg.campaign [at] gmail.com

Managed to get a preliminary list of all the running and sport events to be held in Singapore for this year. For more comprehensive details such as venues, organizers and external links, check out the listing on my main page under “Events”. You will be able to get a bird-eye’s view of the lineup to date.

Hope this list will prove useful for anyone planning out your 2009 running event calendar or a training schedule to suit the events you are intending to run. Do note that I’ve omitted MR 25 trail runs, if you wish to view the MR25 runs, you can check out their calendar here.

In addition to these dates, I will be sourcing out details which I will feature as event info on my blog when I get the details. I will still be confirming few more details with the event organisers for this year, at the moment these dates are more or less confirmed to date.

Behold! the runs and such for 2009!

Note: This list is non-exhaustive and more events will be added/updated over time. If you spot an error, feel free to let me know. Cheers and keep running!

With 2009 drawing to a near, one cannot help but reflect on the year’s achievements and set targets on for the next. There is no surprise too that “keeping fit” or “losing weight” are one of the top 3 resolutions anyone can make, with almost everybody looking for a fitter and leaner lifestyle for the coming year. The bad is that, well, not everyone like us is disciplined enough to keep to our plans, but seems there is help.

Popping by Nike+, you will be greeted by an array of neat new features, it seems that the flash-laden site is now very much more community based and runner orientated now. A neat feature is the running resolution feature which you can tie down with a nike+ sportsband to track your runs and targets.

Its time of the year again and Christmas is around the corner. Thank god I’ve managed to get all those gifts, chocolate and greeting cards sent already, so I can very much relax for the week towards Christmas and manage a blog entry here as well, man it had been ages!

Some of my little indulges I made before Christmas will have to be this revolutionary sports bands a few of my track mates recommended me to use. Based on what they claim, it genuinely help in the aiding of muscle recovery and blood circulation to injured areas through a titanium ion resonance theory which originated from Japan. So what other better way than to pamper myself than to get few myself to try out. Lol, even if all those health benefits claims are bullshit, after all these necklaces look damn freaking sleek by themselves as a fashion accessory.

These bands are cool man, it’s like a must have for any runner out there. The thing is that though Phiten have their branches here in Singapore, namely their boutiques in Changi General Hospital, Marina Square as well as Taka, the price of these babies is a major turn off for me, about $60 to $70 each for the high end X30 to X45 ranges. I’ve got my Rakuwa X30 Red checkered (a rather rare colour) as well as the limited X45 black necklace ordered through a store on Ebay (thanks for the tip Elrick!) at only half the price you can get them in Singapore including shipping! One week later it was delivered straight to my door step! Whoa! It’s the real deal, made in Japan and shipped from Hong Kong (that’s a hint for ya).

Man! I know buying books off Amazon is cheap, but these at half price woot!

It’s time of the year again- running season with the Singapore Marathon this coming Sunday. I won’t be running this year’s race, so I won’t be able to do much of a pep and review of the race. Nevertheless, here are some notables for this year’s race as well as some tips I have in pacing.

Looks like this year’s race will be rather interesting as well. For starter’s this year’s event is the largest to date. Singapore’s Muhammad Shad Feroz will be running tied as Kenya’s Henry Wanyoike’s running guide in this year’s race, as Joseph Kibunja is down with injuries. I remembered seeing them as they pass me on the return journey after marina bay on the esplanade bridge in last year’s race, in their relative speed, they were like almost literally sprinting throughout their half marathon. You can really see the bond, trust and soul in their run- and I guess that is what the race is all about.

Tips in pacing
The pacers to look out for this year will be the official Team Adidas pacers (in light blue Adidas wear) as well as Team Fatbird (in Nike dark blue running attire). Trifam is not the officially pacing this guess I believe. Remember, if you are sticking to pacers, try not to run in front of the pacing group and keep your pace constant (i.e don’t speed up or slow suddenly), this will be beneficial to all the runners within the group. If you have the capacity to jump a notch up in the pacing group (say from 5.30hrs to 5.00 and so on), break free from the group and run at a constant pace till you meet the other pacing group in front, then stick with them. Once you are accustomed, then go on for the 4.30 or 4.00 using the pacing groups as “slingshots”. Do note and make you have the capacity to do so before attempting the next bar as doing so will burn you out earlier in the marathon compared to sticking to a group.

Waterpoint tips
Stand Chart races are known for their excellent race management, not to mention waterpoints as well. A 100 plus umbrella at a waterpoint do really mean that there is 100 plus dispensed there and they are usually located at the front and end of the waterpoint, unless stated “water only”, so do make full use of the length of the waterpoints and take a cup near the end, where the crowd is usually thinner or even, non-existent. this will help in clearing the congestion, particularly from the 30km mark onwards, where many runners will start to “hit the wall”.

Also, take sips and watch for spills- a wet shoe accelerates abrasion in your shoe- it’s like asking for foot-full of blisters within 5km, so take precautions not to spill your drinks, particularly watching where you throw your cup as well, do you not want a cup full of 100 plus being splashed onto you as you are overtaking near the bins right?

Some other tips

• Deep heat is good, but don’t go for every opportunity there is. It more of a mental placebo after multiple applications as it won’t be effective then.
• Do not open and gobble up your power gel the moment you get your hands on one, only to have to deal with a sticky mouth and hands for the almost a few kilometers before the next water point. Instead grab one and only down it once you see a water point or those signs indicating one coming up.
• The dusk time is a popular time where “ninjas” will run into the bushes for business, especially round the popular marina bay area, despite portable potty stationed at water points (which usually have at least 3-4 people queuing at any given time). Instead, time your toilet urges properly, clear yourself before the start of the race at home (not at the event toilets) and time a break in between at toilets along the route (e.g petrol kiosks, etc), avoiding popular areas like the East Coast toilet unless you really need to. From experience unless you have a bad bowel urge, a pre-race toilet break will usually see you toilet-free even until the end of the marathon- you will sweat everything out and your urine will be dark and minimal post-race, which is completely normal.
• For clothing abrasions, Vaseline is far better than anything, including plasters. Look for the medical points and the staff there will be more than willing to supply you with some.
• You can take passive and active means to counter blisters. Besides taping up your blister prone areas before the race, if you feet is prone to blistering (or if you know it will after a certain distance). Tear off some spare duct tape (aka black tape) and row say a good 20cm of it into a small row and stow it say, in your running pocket or a running pouch. Make an impromptu pit stop (or when there is no medical point nearby) and wrap your toes up mid-race if need be, it’s a real life saver.

For those running your first marathon, it will be an eye opener for you, and a personal record in the making as well, remember- finishing it no matter what timing you have it what that matters.

Take care and have a great race come Sunday!

After more runs with my “marathon capable” Nike Lunar racer, here is the 2nd installment to my review of this fantastic pair of running shoes. I can’t deny that my following runs after my first with this pair were quite abrasively painful, particularly given my gait change to this new shoe, so I needed a longer resting time and rotating between shoes for the skin abrasions on the side of the big toe and the last toe to heal before giving the shoes another fair go.

I brought the shoes out for more short-middle distance long runs to test the cushioning, together with some track 400m speedwork to test the responsiveness and feedback.

With each passing run, I am glad to say that the shoe is more accustomed to fit my foot now and I am starting to see the potential of this pair of racers. Considering me myself being a long time Nike skeptic for their running shoes, this racer had quite a formidable task to proof itself worthy into my running arsenal mainly dominated by Asics, Mizuno and New Balance shoes for most of my active running period.

I will be breaking down my thoughts for this pair of shoes over few following areas. Though the shoe is not perfect, it’s combination of many performance factors coupled with it’s weight advantages which makes it really impressive for it’s class. Looks like we have a winner here.

Mid sole
The mid sole is shaped like an accordion, and acts like one too- returning energy after each running stride. It is also blessed with a rather broad waffle base which acts like a piston to push off the foot on each strike. Though this really made the mid sole stick out, that didn’t not bother me much at all. The shoes have a bouncy feel when you are jumping around stationary, almost too cushiony. The shoe still maintains this light bounciness on light jog, however, it turned firm and responsive when you start to pick up speed. Just like a performance car on sports mode, you can simply just feel the shoe stiffen up in response when running in them, and that really give me some good support and protection to your legs as a whole and a good stable and a responsive take-off when you are up for it. It’s amazing for a sole so minimal.

Upper
The body of the shoe is wrapped in a modified synthetic rubber compound we know as Nike Free, allowing for an anatomical fit over a gradual break in. This fit also allows the muscles in the foot to gain strength by providing less constriction, it will be advised to gradually break into the shoe rather than immediately running long distances as to prevent muscle cramps and other discomforts. This material also gives the shoe a rather waterproof amphibious feel typical in those worn by tri-athletes let be steeple chase runners themselves. Ventilation is adequate with a breathable mesh construction and my feet was relatively dry after a 10km run in plain cotton non-neoprene socks. There is quite a lack of internal padding inside the shoe- mostly made of the synthetic rubber, which do not look will expand very easily. I am wary whether this material will be able to expand over time, but my bet is, if you were to get this pair of racers, it’s wise to get 1/2 size wider than your usual sizing.

Road Performance
I can say, having ran with other lightweight racers before, this shoe is a serious competitor to other trainers in it’s class and surpasses them in terms of weight and cushioning.

Effective Cushioning
Time and again, running on urban surfaces in parks and around my park connector felt very comfortable in the racers, the Lunarlite foam material absorbed the landing of my feet rather well. I am impressed with its ability to absorb the impacts and shocks from the hard surfaces very well without sacrificing responsiveness as well. It’s so good, I can even tell the difference between park and traffic tarmac to the new or worn concrete pavements without looking at it! Moreover, Nike sports research lab studies claims that Lunarlite Foam spreads pressure loads across the whole foot, thus reducing impact on bones. I was able to verify with less leg fatigue after my runs on a fixed/known elapsed distance as verified on google earth on or my Polar RS400sd, which really makes it very tempting for me to run more than what I usually do.

However just like a all cushioning foam (like the Asics equivalent of lunarlite, Duomax, Mizuno’s Wave foam as well as the “energy returning” Adizeros) there is always is always a material threshold where the shoe will start to lose it’s cushioning effectiveness- where you have to rotate in another shoe for the other to recover it’s “springiness”. I’ve not ran a respectable distance to find out about this threshold (as a runner’s weight also plays a big role in this). But knowing that Jeanette Wang, the winner of sundown 84km used the lunar’s throughout her race, it’s safe to assume that cushioning will remain effective for most of the distances we can humanly run at a single go.

It is also a known fact the lunarlite foam can get rather unstable after being immersed in water. Though, the tough outer shell does a good job in protecting against causal puddles and splashes, it pays to keep out of running in the rain water (which you logically shouldn’t), deep puddles or mud floods during cross-country runs (particular in macritchie itself) to prolong your shoe’s active lifespan.

Outsole
The outsole is clad in the trademark lime green which is non-marking. The thing which strikes me quite a bit is the minimal yet strategic placement of carbon rubber outer sole pads only on the high wear areas of the shoe, makes you wonder of the desperate measures Nike is taking to cut weight here. The outsole seemed sturdy as post run checks yielded no noticeable wear.

How these outsole lugs are afixed dawns the question of durability, as the pads themselves, though essential are relatively thin and in no time I can see the black rubber wearing off and exposing the outsole itself, which can lead to traction problems. After clocking in about 100km with this pair of shoes so far, I am glad to report that the outsole cushion is still not fading and the footstep is just still as quiet and efficient as ever. My bet is that unless you really drag your feet, the shoes can still be able to hit and effective lifespan mileage of at least 500km, or even let be 800km. I will not recommend this shoe for wear down training or LSD as that is not a job for a racer, but rather for short runs and competitions, to even a timed casual 2.4km run for your IPPT where it will really serve you well.

Construction and Durability
I always like simple shoes and I particularly like the simple design of the racer. It is being built with as little parts and no fancy plastics “spoilers” here and there which can only come off after a while of running, painting “function over form” after all a running shoe have to perform, with the looks aside!

I took the shoe out for a speed training run, doing some speed work and timed dashes. The shoes perform really well on the track and the weight added to the and I was able to sustain my speed over a considerable longer period on my 400m rounds. Though timings are not drastically reduced, I could do more timed runs in a given window without feeling too beat up.

After repeated speed work, I can firmly say that that shoe can be said to be durable for the job but not recommended to be your primary training shoe- unless you want to put it on a premature self-destruction course. These shoes are not cheap. For wear down training, I will recommend a heavier, more structured shoe as few biomechanically efficient runners who can train in such a minimal, lightweight shoe and reap benefits from it, unless in races themselves. Though such a light shoe is very ideal on paper in most cases, I will not recommend it as a full fledged training shoe, unless if you are the few who can take on the shoes and still produce the results in your races.

Feedback
Got quite alot of feedback from many runners of the heel tab area being too high, often resulting in a heels and Achilles having been cut by the upper tongue resulting in redness, skin abrasion and blisters. Though this can be easily remedied by proper protective socks around the ankles or sticking blister pads, seems that there are too many complaints in this area to render it much of a runner’s fault but rather a possible design flaw.

I personally do not encounter this problem myself, but I think I can owe it to wearing well padded socks that protected my Achilles from the shoe.

Final thoughts
This shoe is like a gem on it’s own and will truly shine in short to medium competitive runs, whether it’s the function you are looking for this shoe is also quite a head turner as well.

There are 2 main shoes in the Lunar line at the moment, the LunarTrainer+ and LunaRacer+, from what I know, the racer is actually the softer and slightly more stable shoe, but the trainer is more substantial and will last longer (though I have not tested this claim yet). Overall, if you are looking for a pair of lightweight racers in your competitive runs or where the need for the weight advantage and cushioning will be effective, you can’t go wrong with the lunars. Nike press releases stated that the Racers will be available in 12 different colours of the Q1 season of 2009, maybe that is something to look forward too with the opening of Nike village at Orchard Wisma soon as well.

I am glad to say that Nike had definitely hit the jackpot this time. It simply just brings the “spring” back in running again and you will be rest assured that I will be hungry for more. The Luna racer gets my recommendations as a runner’s must have for this season.

Nike Lunarlite Racer+

Lowdown
A combination of technology and function makes this an excellent “marathon capable” lightweight racer suited for anyone of all ages who simply desire one of the best in responsiveness and cushioning available on the market today.

I’ve got a new pair of Nike Lunar racers and promised to write a review of it. So here goes, the first part with my first impressions.

The first thing you can do is to pick up this pair of shoes and wonder what the? It weighs too light to feel real, it feels even lighter when worn. Just like a new subject of scrutiny in front of a panel, there are many perspective one can view the Lunar racer from. A conservative may call it “bombastic”, “shouty” or “bold” while accountants and economist can may remark that Nike had taken out all the equipment and jacked up the price. Either way, you can’t deny that the shoe is simply stunning at first glance, and that is not just the full story yet.

Flywire explained
So being an engineer myself, let take alook at it from an engineering point of view. The shoe is very solid built, yet very flexible. Employing Flywire technology in the shoe’s upper, one can simply go “Mmmm this looks just like a suspension bridge”. True enough the shoes does indeed works like cables on a suspension bridge, providing precisely engineered support for the foot. Just like the bare necessity of cables strung on a bridge, the Flywire filaments, made of a strong fibre called Vectram are placed only where support is required, anchoring the sole of the shoe to the lace hoops and a secondary Flywire for the runner’s heel area. This minimalist design does what a fully padded shoe is able to do, without the extra materials, allowing a great shedding of materials, which in turn equals reduction of overall weight.

Indeed, Flywire technology gained instant notoriety on the track scene during the Osaka 2007 World Track & Field Championships, where team USA middle distance runners, both medaled with Zoom Victory Spike. Thanks to this innovation, track spikes with Flywire now easily come in the under 100g category, a weight never before achieved by Nike without compromising durability, integrity or support. This racer is no different either.

Overview of the Nike lunarlite racer+

Bare necessities- Flywire construction on the inner side

Lunarlite cushioning foam base and sole

Applying the innovation to distance running was the next natural choice, giving birth to the lunar racer. This Lunar racer weighs in at about 160g per shoe for a US size 10, nearly 4 about 100g lighter than my current racer and I can say in it’s league, one of the lightest racer footwear available on the market today. If Nike is not breaking aiding the breaking of Olympics records, it’s engineering records they are breaking here as well.

Lunarlite, we’ve got cushioning!
Lightweight and very responsive are two qualities which usually never go on the same sentence. The same however, can be said for the Lunar Racer with respect to cushioning. This is largely attributed to the Lunarlite foam ported for footwear use which has it’s roots from NASA’s space shuttles.

Lunarlite foam distributes the pressure patterns and spreads pressure loads more evenly across the foot to help protect it from pain, injury and reducing impact on bones. Moreover Lunarlite foam’s “pillow-like” softness was claimed to reduce energy in the midsole, requiring lesser energy to take successive strides and allows the conservation of energy from pounding making runner’s feel less beat up- all important for distance events.

Left sole features a Nike+ sensor pocket for Nike+ sports band

In the belly of the beast

Time for a trail run!

The Lunarlite foam is said to be the next biggest achievement Nike had made since Bill Bowerman’s invention of the original Waffle sole, also know as the revolutionary “Moon Shoe” (which in turn gave birth to the “Waffle Racer”) in 1974. Designed by Nike’s Kevin Hoffer, this new cushioning system is a successor worthy to the waffle, yet faithful to it’s roots with a rather similar planetary naming convention to it’s older sibling.

Initial run impressions
So with all the hype lets, the real test is of course taking the shoe out into the wild for a short preliminary 10km run and see whether it lives up to it’s name. Though, yes, I can hear you say that this is a racer, not a trainer, but since the racer and trainer spot the same sole piece, only with a different upper, it’s a good way to test and gauge the effective cushioning it offers for longer runs.

My initial runs were rather enjoyable. Ventilation was sufficient and my feet didn’t stink nor sweaty even after the run with cotton socks. However, past the 7km mark, I can feel increasing soreness on the sides my big toe and my small toe. There are noticeable skin abrasions and soreness on these areas on my toes upon inspection after the run. I can give it that the shoes are not burnt in yet and gait changes for the new shoe. It will take sometime before I can come to a conclusion for the small toebox size.

My feet spots a normal (medium) arch with mild to neutral pronation. The shoe itself corrects the pronation so you can ensure even landing of your feet for optimal wearing and support. If your feet is really on the wide size, I will recommend getting half a size larger than your standard foot size. For now, knowing my threshold my in this setup, my guess is that if I were to take this out for a long run, from experiences, I believe my feet will start blistering past the 25km mark. But after all, yes this is a racer, so the optimal employment for this shoe will be short to middle distances, where the shoe can really shine without the frills.

Running over a varying degree of terrain such as concrete, tarmac and gravel. The shoe do take off quite alot of the pounding of my feet. Cushioning is good and relatively good and responsive, particularly the midsole. There is no fancy mix of sole parts here, just continuous piece of lunarlite foam from tip to heel, which is simply good in term of durability and I am glad Nike is pulling in this direction- from my experience with older Nike shoes, fancy sole parts always tend to tear off prematurely which severely impacts a shoe’s lifespan.

I am impressed that I do not fatigue as early as I expected to do on this pair of shoes. I will be also be very interested to find out how much mileage the shoe can take before the cushioning effectiveness starts to drop. Though I think it won’t hold (or fair enough to compare it) to my Mizuno Wave Creation 8, the Lunar racer does provide very good cushioning for a shoe in it’s class and weight category.

I will be putting the shoes for more test runs, particularly speed work tests round a track where I think this shoe will truly shine. That to, having to break in the shoe and eliminate all the other variables before putting a firm recommendation on the shoe. Stay tuned for the second part of this review.

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