Nathan City Race 2014

I went for the Nathan City Race last weekend (23 Mar 2014) because I think it was pretty fun. So for those who does not know what is this race about, here is a brief outline of the race:

• The race has a few distance
• Mini (~5km)
• Short (~15km)
• Mid (~25km)
• Long (~45km)
• Participants can join a individual or as a team (6 max)
• There is no route for the race, only checkpoints
• Participants will be given map on the day to plan their route
• The checkpoints to go to is written on the bib
• Participants can choose to go to any checkpoint in any order

Other information, you can check out their website. 

Before Race

I thought this race seems fun, since it's like Amazing Race.  It wasn't a really cheap race though, it cost SGD48.00 per pax for mid distance, but I decided to go ahead and try this race since I have't had this kind of race before. So I gathered a team of 6 and we signed up for the race.

My impression for the race went bad when I went for the race pack collection. 

Reasons:

1. The collection venue is located at some warehouse near MacPherson, which is super out of the way for me since I don't stay anywhere nearby, but I was still fine with it.
2. There was no goodie bag given at the collection; all they had was the event tee and bib for the participants. This is the first time I joined a race that doesn't give any freebies.
3. Because we joined as a team, I collected the shirt and bib for my team, that is 6 people by the way. So they handed 6 shirts and 6 bibs just like that. That was quite bulky so I asked for a carrier, and I got rejected. My first thoughts were "What? you have a shop here and you tell me you don't even have a plastic bag?" But that's fine, because I had brought a bag along, just that it was fully filled when I put them all in the bag. 

During Race

Our race starts only at 0830hr at Marina Barrage. We decided to take public transport since there is a chance that there will not be enough parking lot. Shuttle bus was provided near the Financial Centre, so we took the shuttle bus. It's either I's lucky or their bus service is good. There's a bus waiting when we reached there so we just board it and it drove off right after we board. Because of the efficiency of the bus service, we reached at the Barrage about 0730hr, so we have a lot of time to chill. 

The information sheet says we need to check in order to collect the map so I went to the information counter to asked where do I have to go. Guess what, the lady at the counter ignore me and continue talking to her friends. I was very pissed off then, so I asked in a very hostile manner the second time, only this time she replied me. This made my impression of the race worse.

The check in time for the mid distance team is 0800hr so we took a group photo first while waiting.

Left to Right: Thom, TT, Flying Panda, CT, LP and TF

So our team is made up of 3 couples. The first couple is the Thom and TT, then the second pair is me(Flying Panda) and CT, and last pair is LP and TF. TT look like she forgot to wear a bottom.

The check in is 30 minutes before the flag off so we were given the time to plan our route. The checkpoint for mid distance were 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

As we can go to the checkpoint in any sequence, our sequence will be checkpoint 5, 8, 6, 4 then 7.

First Checkpoint: Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

First thing first, to get out of Marina Barrage, there is only one way, so all the teams went the same way as us. We cut through Gardens by the Bay all the way till Marina Financial Centre.

Along the way, the girls were so aggressive that they destroyed the road. 

Going to Buddha Tooth Relic Temple is quite straight forward, we just used Pinnacle@Duxton as a landmark and we headed right to it. I totally forgot to take a picture while we were at the first checkpoint. We just had a quick drink and we headed off to the next checkpoint

Second Checkpoint: Labrador Park

This checkpoint is quite far away. It took us quite a while to reach there since we are walking. Before the race starts, we have all agreed that this race is going to be a relax one, with lots of walking and eating, since some of us here didn't train for it and it is ~25km.

Heading down Neil Road and Kampong Bahru Road, we reached Vivocity and we went by the walkway along Keppel Bay

With Superstar Virgo

I think we made the right choice by going via the walkway because we get to see lots of yachts and nice scenery. On top of that, it was quite windy. I saw some groups continued along Telok Blangah Road, and that is the longer route.

This time at the checkpoint, I remembered to take a photo!

Checkpoint 8: Labrador Park

Wondering why my team is only left with 5 people? One of them decided to take off without us to be our path finder. 

By the time we were here, it's about 1100hr. All of us were hungry, so we planned a lunch stop somewhere along the route. After decided the route, we started walking again.

Third Checkpoint: Shaw House

This checkpoint is expected since Shaw is one of the sponsors for this race. 

So we cut through the HDBs and went 79 Telok Blangah Drive Food Centre for lunch because we heard there are nice food there.

79 Telok Blangah Drive Food Centre

Tiong Bahru Shark Meat Lor Mee

The words "shark meat" attracted me because I don't see this sold anywhere else. So I decided to order this.

The lor mee is pretty decent. The meat is battered and fried till crispy. It does taste different from the usual fish. Shark meat taste very good and I like the texture. On top of the shark meat, there are quite a variety of ingredients inside. To get this for just SGD3.00 is very worth it. I would definitely like to have it again some day.

After a full lunch, our speed became more of strolling rather than walking. We were surprised that given our speed, we could still catch up with other groups, so we just contribute it to the fact that we took a lot of shortcuts cutting through all the HDBs while other teams did not. 

Checkpoint 6: Shaw House

Finally, a checkpoint with air conditioning. We stayed at this place for quite a while to chill before moving on.

Forth Checkpoint: Sri Thendayuthapani Temple

The remaining checkpoints are relatively close. I know the route to the temple quite well because I just went there for a friend's wedding dinner the day before. It is still fresh in the memory, so no map required. Some of them were talking about getting Gong Cha so we made the wish come through as we stop by 313@Somerset to get Gong Cha

Gong Cha

Again, we forgot to take picture at the checkpoint because all of us are so excited to move to our last checkpoint and we can head back to the finishing line.

Fifth Checkpoint: Masjid Sultan Mosque

Walking pass Fort Canning Road, it's Bugis and everyone knows how to get there without the map.

Checkpoint 7: Masjid Sultan Mosque

It was a great satisfaction when we reached here. All we have to do now is to go back to the finishing line at Marina Barrage and all will be over. I am still fine here, but some of them had abrasion here and there or blisters already, so it is a torture for them to complete the race.

Finishing Line: Marina Barrage
We got lost a little bit while heading back to Marina Barrage but we manage to find our way through still.

We thought that after crossing this bridge we can get below it and enter Gardens by the Bay, but apparently not. We could only get below if we go on the other side of the bridge. So we just went down to the basement and take the underpass to Gardens by the Bay.

It was the last stretch and we just endure it through,

Finishing Line

After a gruesome 7+ hour, we reached back to the finishing line. It was going 1600hr at that time. All of the team members were tired.

Post Race

What's after the race actually made my impression for the race slightly better.

Free flow drinks, sandwiches and ice cream!

They actually have Edringer beer, sandwiches and ice cream for post race to fill our stomach. So I thought it wasn't so bad after all.

Last group photo at the stage

So it is mandatory to take a finishing shot with our medals on the stage. We did it!

I calculated the distance that we covered after the race, we actually completed ~26km. That's not too bad since it is supposedly to be a 25km race. I believe many others actually did way longer than us and I feel sorry for them.

Overall, the initial impression wasn't that good, but my impression did change for the better especially at the end. They bribed me with their food. The sandwich is pretty decent, I like it. All the free flow beer and isotonic drinks makes it better. They are still chilled. Even at the checkpoints, the drinks were still cold even though we reach there quite late. I feel they did put in effort for their logistics, so I feel the worth of what I paid. I might consider joining next time again.

For more and better view of pictures, visit Flying Panda Facebook Page.