Saturday, February 14, 2015

Valentine's Day Lead Up Run


In the second installment of the Run Gold Coast InfoRun Series, a spirited bunch of marathoners gathered at ECP C4 for a 15km prelude to Ops Kookabura, scheduled to begin operations in April 2015.



The weather was cool and cloudy as the cozy group gathered for an introduction to the key highlights of the Gold Coast Airport Marathon (GCAM) in 4-5 July, and the special Run Gold Coast Package with structured marathon training to fully support their quests for GOLD in the Half and Full Marathon categories.



The optimal weather of 12-15C in-running weather, the scenic and flattish course, the professional yet warm and friendly running culture, coupled with excellent organization and attention to details have made GCAM one of the best marathon race experiences many of us have enjoyed - 80% of our trained runners have obtained Personal Bests and Boston Qualifying timings consistently in the past 5 years of our group participation.


After the quick download to the enthusiastic flock, we took to the bridge at C4 and ran along the Siglap Park Connector passing Kembagan MRT station and traversing through parts of Bedok housing estate.  This brought back memories of the first 2 editions of Sundown Marathon where this formed part of the interesting night race route then.



The group chatted merrily with experienced GCAMers sharing their experiences and even offering some valuable tips and advice to the GCAM wannabes.  A number in the group have been to GCAM 3-7 times and definitely had lots of stories to tell.  The participants were also heartened to hear of the easy and pleasurable course as well as generous cut off timings which essentially leaves almost no one wanting the finisher's medal.



After passing through Bedok Park, we ran into our very own scenic Bedok Reservoir Park and had a nice break taking photos of the reservoir backdrop and posing for some cameo shots at the Valentine Run props.  We had an enjoyable photo-taking session before heading back to ECP C4 at pace.



After post-run refreshments, the runners stayed behind to chat with the Scenic Travel rep about travel arrangements as well as indicate interest to participate.  The entire activity ended by 10am with satisfied legs and excited minds already mapping how they would get more friends and family to join them in their Golden marathon quest in 4-5 July 2015.

Run Kookaburra Run Kookaburra, Gold Our Race Shall Be!

Photo contributions from FatBird Rand