The GreenRace Forest 60

As runners, we’ve tried quite a few races and have done our own fair share of marathon distances, but we have never attempted a trail run. So when the GreenRace Forest60 came along, we decided to give this one a go.

So on the day of the event, we went to the race site near King Albert’s Park, taking a cab because at 5 am there were no MRT trains or buses functioning.

This is the second time this event has returned to Singapore, and it is now held in the newly opened Chestnut Nature Park Trails. With an emphasis on going green, the whole race was planned and organised in the same way. We were encouraged to bring our own bottles to run with and fill up in the respective hydration points.

Reaching the event site, we noted that there wasn’t a very large crowd as compared to bigger races like The Sundown Marathon and The Straits Times Run. The crowd consisted mainly of middle-aged people who were all relatively fit and there were barely any teenagers, so I would say the event was popular with seasoned trail runners.  Before the event started, they gave us headlights and gear, stuff that made me feel like I was about to go on an adventure.

Running the route was rather hard. For the inexperienced, it was quite a challenge with the uneven terrain and occasional obstacle. The other runners seemed to be getting through it better than us though, so perhaps it’s time for us to put in more trail running sessions. There were enough hydration points (one after every 5km). Although there were quite a few ushers at the beginning, I felt that there was not enough signage to indicate how many kilometres we had left to run. There were also a couple of bottlenecks due to the narrow routes.

The mood of the event was rather merry. People were congratulating each other for completing the run, with food, drinks, and there was a massage station for post-race cooldowns.

If I were to run this route again, I would come back with better trail shoes as I have come to realise that not all outsole rubber compounds are the same, and grip is of paramount importance! Also, I think it’s time for me to step up on my hill training routine!

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