Osim Sundown Marathon's 5km run for kids a hit

Osim Sundown Marathon's 5km run for kids a hit

RACE participants applauded the organisers' decision to add a new race category, up from the usual three - 10km, Half Marathon (21.1km) and Full Marathon (42.195km) - at the Osim Sundown Marathon this year.

The 5km fun run, introduced for children between six and 12 years old, proved to be a hit. A total of 3,000 runners took part in the new category, which was the first race of the night.

Said Elizabeth Wu, 34, who was with her son Benjamin: "Soaking up the atmosphere, especially along the Singapore River, was really, really nice.

"However, I feel that they could lower the age limit for the fun-run participants as it is non-competitive and it seemed really enjoyable for the participating children."

The young runners were also given a treat to the fireworks display from the National Day Parade rehearsal held at The Padang.

Said Benjamin, six: "I really like the fireworks. The 5km run was tiring but I liked it."

In total, up to 26,000 runners took part over the two days, with the marathon attracting nearly 7,000 entrants.

Among the runners were familiar faces like Rachel See, Colin Tung and Ravin Kumar, all of whom participated at the recent SEA Games.

Said See, who was second in the women's 21km: "I wanted to keep my momentum going, and today's result was not satisfactory, but I will be running in a few short local races to keep myself fit."

Briton Stuart Haynes won the men's marathon in 2hr 41min 34sec.

He said: "I had a couple of injuries (affecting) my ankles, hamstring, tendonitis, and I almost pulled out today. But I felt great during the run and even bettered my previous timing of 2:45:09 in 2013.

"I looked around and I did not spot any Kenyans or familiar faces, I thought I stood a chance and left the pack at around the 2km mark and was alone till the end."

Ullas Narayana and Thomas Greene were second and third respectively in 2:53.54 and 2:57.24.

Ang Chee Yong, 26, was the fastest Singaporean finisher in the marathon, ending the race in fourth place (3:03.24).

In the women's division, Kenyans Viola Jepchirchir Kimeli, 28, and Susan Jemutai Chepkwony, 33, came in second and third respectively with 3:17.48 and 3:24.03 behind Sakiko Matsumoto, 28 (3:07.29).


Get MyPaper for more stories.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.