Hello Kitty Run Singapore 2014

Hello Kitty Run Singapore featured a non competitive 5km route which is covered in iconic landmarks at Sentosa. The aim for this run was to gather Hello Kitty fans and non Hello Kitty fans to join in the big day out to celebrate her 40th Mass Birthday Bash.

 

I am lucky to have a handful of running kakis around me who love interesting good cause runs. The registration for the inaugural Hello Kitty Run Singapore were fully sold out within a short period of time, and my running buddy and I are glad that we managed to secure our slots. Thanks so much for the kind slots!

 

 

Upon receiving the text email from the organization to pick up the race pack at Suntec City Tower 3 Atrium, and I decided to pick it up on the first day of the collection (Friday) since my work place is at Suntec City. Guess what? I made a wrong move, the queue was horrendously long, and I skipped my lunch just to collect the race pack. On the other hand, my running buddy went on the last day of collection which was on a Sunday, and she told me there was no queue at all. I was like WTF @_@ when I heard that!

 

The race pack consisted of a Hello Kitty Exclusive Running Tee, a Special Edition Plush Toy, Hello Kitty Skin Tattoos, race rooklet with information and of course discount vouchers from sponsors! To me, the allure of this run were the finisher medal and the plush toy.

 

I met up my running buddy, ChewyJas at VivoCity for our Hello Kitty Run. Thanks Baby who woke up early to send me to the run venue and I kept my belongings in the car due to there being no baggage storage section at the event premises.

 

Hello Kitty celebrated her 40th birthday on Saturday, 1st November 2014 with the 17,000 participants who turned up for the very first Hello Kitty Run which was held at Sentosa.

 

The celebration set off on a happy note as the participants serenaded Hello Kitty with Happy Birthday song.

 

 

The run was flagged off at 8am by Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel, and it was set off in waves of people. We were lucky to cross the start line in the second wave which was at 8.15am.

 

 

 

 

The sky turned gloomy when I was at the 2.4km checkpoint, so I increased my speed, as I did not want to be caught in the rain. I reached the finishing point at 8.40am, and I took 25mins to finish my 5km.

 

I quenched my thirst with mineral water and I ate some biscuits which were provided for the runners. It started to rain very heavily while waiting for ChewyJas to join me at the finishing point, and I began to worry that she would be affected badly by the rain.

 

 

Finally, I received a text message from her that she has reached the finishing point, and she was drenched! She took 40mins to complete her 5km run. Good job, buddy! She took her finisher medal and we waited for  almost an hour at the finishing sheltered area for the rain to subside or stop before leaving the Sentosa Island. We took some welfies to while away the waiting time.

 

Due to the heavy downpour, it caused a big mess and massive jam at the medal collection area. Unfortnately this run did not seem to have a contingency bad weather plan which resulted in many runners soaked under the rain. There were no ponchos given to runners at the race route but crews were equipped with them! I hope the organiser can look into it seriously in regards to the lack of bad weather plans for outdoor events and watch out for the runners' well-being, especially young children.

 

Pardon me for my rants, as though my running buddy and I were not affected by the rain, but I felt sorry for those who were trapped in the rain outside the medal collection point.

 

 

Back to my finisher medal which I received upon completed the run, and this marks my 3rd medal. I am so looking forward to my competitive GEWR on the 9th November 2014.

 

Jess Baby's e-cert