Race Media

Off to a Running Start!
Over 1200 people took to the trails at the inaugural MSIG Singapore Action Asia 50  - International runners clean up as Singapore becomes a racing hotspot

Singapore, 25 July 2015 – Saturday, the first ever MSIG Singapore Action Asia 50 ultra marathon saw more than 1200 runners from around the world compete on one of Singapore’s most beautiful race routes covering 10km, 21km and 50km distances.  The race covered nature trails including the Green Corridor, Bhukit Timah, MacRitchie Reservoir Park with Rifle Range trail and even the new bridge on the Durian Loop.

Proving that age is just a number, more than one in 10 runners were in the over-50 age category, including Singaporean, Mr Chan Meng Hui, an 85 year-old runner who has completed 100 marathons over the last 30 years all across the globe. The most senior participant in the MSIG Singapore Action Asia 50, Mr Chan ran the 10km leg in 2:21:06.

The oldest runner at the MSIG Singapore Action Asia 50, Mr Chan Meng Hui, 85, from Singapore completed the 10km and commented: “I started running at age 56 as I wanted to look after my health.  I’ve seen a lot of seniors end up in wheelchairs and I didn’t want to end up that way. I was born and raised around the MacRitchie area, so I regularly run around the reservoir to keep fit.”

Guest-of-Honour and Tampines GRC Member of Singapore Parliament, Mr Baey Yam Keng flagged off the 10km race at 7am and joined runners in the same leg.
 
Left to right: MP Baey Yam Keng, Jit Bahadur Gaha; Gunung Sajam; Raj Manoj; Kumar Phakami; Michael Gourlay, CEO MSIG

The MSIG Singapore Action Asia 50 drew participants from all over the world, including elite runners such as Salameh Al Aqra (Jordan), Muteti Lukas (Kenya), Nora Senn (Switzerland) and Yu Fan (China), Teng Wei Fu (Taiwan), alongside Singapore’s very own ultra marathon runners Lexxus Tan, Thaddeus Lawrence, and Paviter Singh.

Overall winners for the event:

Race category	Winner (Men)	Time	Winner (Women)	Time	Prize
50km	Jackson Chirchir, Kenya	3:55:44	Rebecca Nakuwa,  Kenya	4:50:39	$1,750
21km	Stephen Mung’athen Nkubitu, Kenya	1:15:24	Esther Wamnui Karimi,  Kenya	1:30:40	$1,250
10km	Jit Bahadur Gaha, Nepal	0:42:16	Gladys Koech, Kenya	0:50:12	$300

Full race times can be viewed:

50K

https://www.racematix.com/site/#results:rac/MSIG-Singapore-Action-Asia-50km-2015:0:0:A:0:0:0

21K

https://www.racematix.com/site/#results:rac/MSIG-Singapore-Action-Asia-21km-2015:0:0:A:0:0:0

10K

https://www.racematix.com/site/#results:rac/MSIG-Singapore-Action-Asia-10km-2015:0:0:A:0:0:0

 
Jackson Chirchir, winner of the men’s 50k, stands victorious after completing his first 50km marathon Jackson Chirchir, Kenya, winner of the men’s 50km, commented, “I’ve raced all over the world, and three times in Singapore, but this is the first 50km I’ve ever run. It’s very hard – not easy at all. I found the first 5-20km and the last 10km the toughest to get through.”

Rebecca Nakuwa, Kenya, winner of the women’s 50km, commented, “The race was hard and complicated because I didn’t know the route very well, but I enjoyed it very much, it was in nature and there was some shade. This is my first time running 50km. I usually run 10km, 21km so it feels good to complete the 50km in a good time and be the fastest in my category. I wish to come back to Singapore again to compete.”

The fastest Singapore born national male was Rio Elijah Chua (4 hrs 47 min 49 sec) with 2nd fastest Singaporean born male in the 50km Alex Ang, finishing in 5 hours 2 minutes and 17 seconds, and the fastest Singaporean born woman in the 50km was Jasmine Goh, finishing in 5 hours 24 minutes and 12 seconds and second Singapore born female was Seivland Poh in 5 hrs 53 minutes 40 seconds.

“The race was good, I enjoyed the route very much especially when there aren’t many trails in Singapore. MSIG Singapore Action Asia 50 stood out for me as am environmentally friendly race and with really friendly runners. The toughest part was having to deal with the heat. The route was challenging enough, but the heat made it even more difficult", said Singaporean Alex Ang after his 50km accomplishment.

Jasmine Goh, Singaporean, fastest Singaporean woman in 50km (5 hours 24 minutes and 12 seconds) put every bit of energy into the race. “It meant a lot to me to be the fastest Singaporean in this race. I was looking around at the other participants from all over the world and I told myself I must do well as I am competing on home ground – I want to do Singapore proud. It was tough. Not so much for the terrain but for the heat. The terrain is flat so it activates a different set of muscles and it’s good for speed making it advantageous for those who train on a flat ground than on hills. However, the field was tougher than I thought and the heat was very demoralising. I applaud the foreign competitors who had to get used to the heat in Singapore, it was not easy. Running on home ground, people and friends said hi when they ran past me and even clapped to spur me on which was a great energy booster. When you are running in a foreign country the experience is different and you don’t get the same support. It is great that MSIG and Action Asia Events organised a race in Singapore and I hope they keep this race in Singapore for next year as well.”

Jasmine Goh the fastest Singaporean in the 50km coming across the finish at the MSIG Singapore Action Asia 50.

Among 50km runners, Hong Kong female runner Anita Fung and Melisssa Yeung took over the 1st and 2nd place in female 50+ age category making Hong Kong proud. “We absolutely loved the whole route. Never expected running in Singapore could bring us such great joy. We hope that the MSIG Singapore Action Asia race can be an annual event so that more Hong Kong runners could come over and enjoy the unique Singapore experience which is much different from those shopping only trips.”

Paviter Singh, Singaporean ultra-runner, completed the race in 5 hours 48 minutes and 48 seconds. “It was both physically and mentally challenging, especially along the Green Corridor. It was probably harder than other races in Singapore because it mixes up flat and trail routes. I’d love to do it again; there was a really nice vibe as it brought together the trail running community,” said Singh.

Stephen Mung’athen Nkubitu, Winner of men’s 21km, Kenyan, living in Malaysia, finished the race in 1 hour 15 minutes and 34 seconds. “It was very hard, there was a good mix of road and trail, mostly trail and it was quite narrow compared to what I'm used to on roads. But the climate was good for running" said Kenyan Nkubitu.

Esther Wambui Karimi, professional athlete from Kenya completed the race in 1 hour 30 minutes and 40 seconds.  “I’m used to running on hills; it’s actually more challenging for me to run flat routes!” said the Kenyan smiling holding her trophy and cash prize.

Jit Bahadur Gaha, Winner of men’s 10km, Nepalese, living in Singapore and working for the Singapore Gurkha Contingent completed the race in 42 minutes and 16 seconds. “I’m very happy. This is the first time I’ve ever taken part in a race, but I train cross-country every morning and go to the gym almost everyday so wanted to give the MSIG race a try. I came with five other guys so it was good to compete with them as extremely fun as always nice getting pushed by your friends,” said Nepalese Gaha.

Lexxus Tan was second in the men’s 10km and finished the race in 42 minutes and 30 seconds. “This is my training ground so I’m familiar with it. The weather this morning was good, which made it the perfect condition to run. There were a lot of competitive runners, which added to the challenge and so happy the first edition was a great success" said Tan.

MP Mr Baey Yam Keng completed the 10km route after doing the flag-off to start the 10km category of the MSIG Singapore Action Asia 50 with over 400 runners entered. “It’s been a good experience for me as this is my first time running on a course that’s off-road. I usually train at Tampines Eco Green 1 – 2 times a week. Hopefully with the increasing number of nature trail options, more Singaporeans will be encouraged to get out there and lead an active lifestyle,” said MP Mr Baey Yam Keng.

Gladys Koech of Kenya won the Womens 10km in 50 minutes 12 seconds with a very strong performance. Simone Steinecker, 2nd place of women’s 10km, Austrian, living in Singapore, working as a petroleum engineer, trains with the F1 running club 4-5 times a week. She completed the race in 54 minutes and 20 seconds. “Overall it was a really good setting for the race, and it’s very clean. The climate is something I had to get used to as very different from Austria” said Steinecker.

Michael Maddess, Director of Action Asia Events commented: “The Singapore edition of the MSIG Action Asia 50 series took off to a really great start with so many international runners coming mixing it up with the local Singaporeans to promote health and the environment. We’re extremely grateful to NParks for allowing us to use some of Singapore’s most beautiful green areas, and ensuring that repairs on the Kg Chantek Bridge were completed in time for the race together with other government departments for supporting this trail running event.  This really helped us to give our runners a great race route. We hope all runners in the MSIG Singapore Action Asia 50 will pass the eco friendly measures we pushed to their friends in reducing plastic, recycling bottles and keeping Singapore green.”

To help preserve the historical route, the MSIG Singapore Action Asia 50 operated a strict No Cup Policy as event organisers encouraged participants to bring their own refillable hydration packs and to try minimise waste. The organisers also clamped down with race regulations where runners would be disqualified if they are found to have thrown rubbish on the track. These measures helped to save over 6,000 paper cups and thousands of plastic bottles that could end up in the landfill sites as with encouraging all participants to use recycle bags at race pack pickup saving 1200 bags going to the landfill.

The event could not happen without the generous support of MSIG our presenting sponsor and the supporting partners Salomon, RunSociety, ActionX Store, Suunto, Tailwind Nutrition Asia, Under Armour, YourSingapore, Kiehl's, Nathan Sports, OL&N, and the Action Asia Foundation.

The next race in the series goes to Hong Kong followed by Taiwan which can be viewed on the Action Asia Events website for more details.

ENDS

About MSIG Insurance Singapore
MSIG Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (“MSIG Singapore”), a member of the MS&AD Insurance Group, is one of Singapore’s leading general insurers. With a local presence of over 100 years, MSIG Singapore offers an extensive range of insurance solutions for personal and commercial risk protection, enabling the security and safety of individuals and businesses. Wholly owned by MSIG Holdings (Asia) Pte. Ltd., MSIG Singapore holds an A+/Stable financial rating by Standard & Poor’s.
msig.com.sg  

About Action Asia Events
Action Asia Events is the operational arm of the premier adventure racing series in Asia, Action Asia Challenge with responsibilities to plan and manage the Action Asia Challenge series of races together with other international trail running events in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Nepal, Laos and Malaysia. These responsibilities range from selection of the course venue, dates and race format to raising the funds essential to run the race as well as liaising with the Hong Kong registered charitable section of the Challenge, Action Asia Foundation, to determine fund raising activities associated with the Challenge.