Coney Island Run 2016

by thalia 21 April 2016 2 comments

This past weekend, our whole family (without Koda) went for the Coney Island Run 2016. We took the 5k Fun Run, with the usual running buddies: Slesta & Naia, Shinta, and Yana and her family.

We, especially Ari, liked going to trail runs. Actually, Ari’s only running race was a trail race: the very first Green Corridor Run back in 2013. So we thought, this one would be fun… It’s only 5K, flat course, and we have never been to Coney Island (because it’s sooooo far from our house — all the way at Punggol!)… Perfect to take Aina along, so we could run as a family. And Aina would be happy to run with Naia, her BFF.

Family Portrait on the very hot day. Couldn’t keep our eyes open ^_^

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as well as we thought, because the race organizer messed up big time in several areas. First of all, the start of the race was late for about 20 minutes. It didn’t seem much, but the 5K was supposed to start at 8:30am, which was late to begin with. We ended up starting at almost 9AM… You know, for the past few weeks, Singapore had been experiencing one of the driest and hottest weather in 10 years. So by 9AM, the sun was already scorching hot.

But I guess it would be okay if there was enough cold water in the water station, right? The runners, which include kids as well, can cool themselves down… But amazingly, the water stations didn’t have any water left. NONE.

I’m not sure if they ran out of water, or they just didn’t provide water to begin with. But by the time we passed the 1st and 2nd water stations, they didn’t have any water left. They didn’t even have any at the finish line. Thankfully, we were prepared. We knew the weather had been very hot and humid lately, so Ari carried our large water bottle. He was going to bring 2 bottles, but I thought we should just bring one, and refill it in the water stations. Well, we should’ve brought two…

Our bottle of water managed to last till the end, but I could see there were soooo many families without water. Their kids were crying, their t-shirts were wet all over from sweat…You see, the 5K portion of Coney Island Run was advertised as a family event. They had a discount for the parent-and-child package, so there were many families with their little kids joining the run. And these were the slower bunch… Which made it more likely that when they reached the water station, there were no more water left.

I sure hope all those kids were okay, and no one got any type of severe dehydration.

Other than that, the run was fun. Coney Island itself was interesting. The length of the island was only 2.5km… and that’s all for the trail run. The rest of the run was on the PCN or on the road. The path on the island was wide, so we had no problem with traffic jams. The whole island was filled with pine trees. Along the path, the organizer put fun fact/trivia signs about the island, which was great.

But keep in mind, there were many monkeys hanging around, so you better not bring any food while passing through the island. One of the girls in front of us was carrying a plastic bag with milk and banana, and she was literally blocked by a few monkeys during her run. Finally, intimidated by the monkeys, she ended up throwing the plastic bag on the floor and ran away… The monkeys immediately ate the banana and drank the milk straight out of the carton. It was a bit scary and funny at the same time.

As for Aina, she had a good time. Even though she was hot and a bit annoyed that there was no cold water available, she ran with Naia, her best friend. So the 5K under the hot & humid weather was much more bearable… They held hands, played around and giggled almost the whole time… They didn’t actually run. I think, for the first 1.5 km, they sprinted for 100m, then walked for another 200m… Then sprint again for another 100m. The cycles went on until they were hot and thirsty. After that, they just walked the whole way until the finish line.

After the race, we went to Whisk and Paddle to reward ourselves with ice cream and waffles. Perfect breakfast for replenishing ourselves after whatever we did today. Whew.

The whole gang and their finisher medals 🙂

And for me? I’m happy that we got so many good running pictures in this event. I guess the super hot and bright sun helped. It drained us, but it also made excellent pictures. And I finally had another running picture with Ari, after that Green Corridor Run. Thanks to Nyoman, who was taking pictures during this race for the Run, Don’t f/Stop Facebook Group.