Sydney Marathon's running community continues to grow as SportPlus.sg kicks off first overseas run club activations for organisers, in partnership with Destination New South Wales
Singapore, 8 April 2024 - The Sydney Marathon presented by ASICS kicked off its first overseas run club activation yesterday, as some 118 runners took to the streets of Singapore as part of the first of three Sydney Marathon : Singapore Chapter run club events.
Having passed stage one of its candidacy to become the seventh Abbott World Marathon Major, the Sydney Marathon is into its second and final stage of assessment this year. The last time a city was added to the World Marathon Majors was in 2013 when Tokyo become the sixth major in the prestigious circuit of the world's top marathons.
Led by head coach Loh Guo Pei of New Balance Run Club Singapore (NBRC), together with NBRC's his captains and pacers, the first Sydney Marathon : Singapore Chapter run club run yesterday comprised 3km loops that made up either a 12km or 15km distance, which runners can choose from across four pace categories.
NBRC's pacers were joined by eight of this year's 'Friends of Sydney Marathon', run leaders and key opinion leaders who function as local ambassadors to Australia's largest marathon.
Five of this year's 'Friends of Sydney Marathon' - Sebastian Cheong, Melissa Foo, John Yeong, Chermaine Zhou and Daniel Fang, are returning key opinion leaders from the 2023 edition of the Sydney Marathon presented by ASICS, while 7 more have been added as the Singapore running community ups its ante in putting its weight behind Sydney's bid to become the seventh World Marathon Major.
Other Friends of Sydney Marathon joining the fold this year are Ivan Kuek (The Social Running Club), Samuel Chua (Running Shoe Connoisseur & Hybrid Athlete ), Cheryl Tay (Triathlete & Content Creator), Paul Martin (Elevate Performance), Muhammad Mulyadi (Elevate Performance), Azaria Heng (Fast and Free Run Club) and Dadima Kimmex (Fast and Free Run Club).
The first Sydney Marathon : Singapore Chapter Run was followed by a partners' workshop focusing on training, as the SportPlus.sg team continues to work closely with Sydney Marathon to enhance the Sydney Marathon-bound runners' experiences in the months leading up to this year's event on 15 September 2024.
A panel of experts which included national athletes Bryce Chong (Triathlete) from The Muscle Lab, Melvin Wong (Runner) from Garmin Singapore, and Arthur Tong (Triathlete) founder and head coach of Elevate Performance Coaching, shared useful insights about how to train for a marathon, specific to a marathon course like Sydney's.
Registered participants also enjoyed a sumptous buffet breakfast by travel partners EU Holidays and Destination New South Wales, learning about the best of Sydney city, cafes, beaches and diverse experiences in the surrounding region with spectacular nature, immersive wildlife, coastal and amazing food and wine that makes New South Wales a great runcation choice, while nutrition partner Simply Active also contributed with hydration from PURE.
To find out more about 5 attractions you must visit while in Sydney, read our feature article here.
Interested participants and runners can look forward to two more of such sessions, with the next event happening in early June led by Fast and Free Run Club focusing on recovery, before the 5-month pre Sydney Marathon series ends in August with the final session led by ASICS Running Club and Superhero Runners - discussing performance.
Friends of Sydney Marathon Excited by Sydney Marathon 2024
Muhammad Mulyadi, a run leader and coach at Elevate Performance Coaching, looked back on the first Sydney Marathon: Singapore Chapter run and reflected: "Today's run was just a fun run, but I guess it was also about getting to know the running community in Singapore, and hopefully having us run together towards the build-up for Sydney Marathon, and also traveling there together."
Mulyadi can look forward to be joined by some performance-focused athletes like Samuel Chua, popularly known as Xtriderunning on his socials, in the run-up to this year's Sydney Marathon.
"The run today was great, and the sharing session was also very informative and comprehensive," shared Samuel. "My favourite part was actually the training talk with Arthur, and I'm a numbers guy so I like to focus on my training zones, and all the nitty gritty stuff of training."
Chermaine Zhou on the other hand, who did the Sydney Marathon half-marathon in 2023, is looking forward to her first ever full-marathon at this year's event. She recalls: "It brings back a lot of happy memories running Sydney last year, so I'm just really looking forward to head back to run my first full marathon."
Meanwhile some were enthused by the overall uplifting energy in the community from the first session.
"Today's run? Everybody was really friendly. There was a big group of people today because we ran with New Balance Run Club. Everybody was really encouraging as well, whenever we crossed different pace groups (run was done in loops), everybody would just cheer for each other and supported each other," said Melissa Foo.
Founder of The Social Running Club and a new addition to this year's 'Friends of Sydney Marathon' Ivan Kuek shared: "I always enjoy running together with friends, and knowing that all these friends are going together with me to Sydney it's not just the marathon itself but also after and before the marathon - where we eat together, explore Sydney together."
Yet to sign up for the Sydney Marathon? You can do so here.