The New Balance Real Run Trial @ Sentosa

Today was the 4th trial run for the NB Real Run. There is a series of 5 trial runs, and I have only been able to make it for this, before the actual race day on Aug28. I have been wanting to try the route, since this one involves a stretch of sand, which according to many runners who did last year's real run was treacherous. The sand was also a major reason why many of the past runners are not running in this year's Real Run, for fear of sustaining injuries.

I met the MF Runners at SAFRA Clubhouse, and we did a jog to Sentosa at 7.15am, as part of our warm up. We had Lai Chee join us today, as she was keen to participate in the Real Run trial too. We reached Sentosa at about 7.40am, and paid $2 each at the entrance. We proceeded straight to the Visitor Arrival Centre, and already quite a crowd were getting ready for the NB trials. I immediately walked to the queue for shoes, and got myself a NB766 to try. This is the first time I am wearing a NB shoe, and I was looking forward to see how it fits and runs. The initial feel was good, a bit firm, but very light. The color and looks wasn't as good as the NB574 (for wide feet). A few of us, Jaime, Ong, Andre, Colleen, Hock Soon, Lai Chee and myself stayed for the NB trial, whilst Chairman led the rest for a scenic run round the island. Later we heard from Chairman, Jimmy, Goola and Adam that they had a wonderful run, with an undexpected sighting of a veteran man in G-Strings. Goola said she will write a report on that.

The NB Trial Run started promptly at 8am, with a brief by the organizer. I followed the crowd of mainly young fellas, and initially, there were a few nice ladies in front too. As we progressed, I moved up along, increasing the pace to about 5min/km. After about 2km, met Chairman leading his group of SAFRA Runners from the opposite side of the road. They shouted my name and cheered for me. I gave them a wave of acknowledgement and moved ahead. The SAFRA TP group were also sighted on the opposite side of the road, and it seemed they had a big bunch there on Sentosa Island for their Sunday run.

Along the way, it was touch-and-go for me and a few male runners, overtaking one another, while I was anticipating the arrival of the beach. This NB route was surprisingly not flat, and was quite interesting and challenging for the first 5km of road. At the 5.5km mark, we hit the beach. My initial steps were wobbly, and I was sinking into the sand of the sloping beach for the first 500m. I slowed down to a jog, and tried to steady myself. I then used my leg as anchor to prevent my slipping and sinking into the soft sand. I also tried running on the slight wetter but firmer portions of the beach. I soon got out of the first stretch of sand, and got some relief with running on road again. After another 200m or so, we hit the second stretch of beach. This was to be a longer stretch than the first, and when I finally climbed out of it, I was drained. My breathing was quite hard, and my legs felt soft. All these were compounded by the hot sunny weather we were facing. My NB cap actually helped to defend some of the rays, but my head was suffering from poor ventilation.

When the sand portion was done, we were left with 3km of the final stretch to go. This was mainly on tarmac road through a jungle terrain. I took the opportunity to recover for about 1.5km. I was feeling drained, but still managed to keep myself moving. No one overtook me all this while, and with 1.5km to go, I trailed a group of 3 young runners, overtaking a few people along the way. Finally reached the end point after going through a series of small trails and bends. With about 50m to go, I saw my time at 49min15sec. I rushed all the way to the end point and had to be satisfied with my 49min50sec timing. Ice cold 100Plus were provided by the organizers, and I had at least 3 full cups of it. One of the best post-run drinks I have had.

After a while, I returned the NB766 trial shoes, and met up with the rest of the group - Andre, Colleen, Jaime, Ong, Jaime....Derrick and some TP runners were there too. We discussed a bit about the run, and how it was compared with last year's Nike Real Run. We then met up with Chairman and the rest of the gang, and proceeded to slow jog back to the ClubHouse. Apparently 1-2 of the runners took a bus from Sentosa to the ClubHouse. We had a good wash up and proceeded for carbo-reloading at IKEA.

Distance Ran:10km XC ___Time:49:50min____Pace:4:59min/km
Average HR:169bpm___Max HR:175bpm___KCal:771KCal