I recently had the chance to join a community run organised by sports gear firm Under Armour, Armour@TheBay: Charged Run, which is held once a month in conjunction with Singapore’s Car Free Sunday – that government initiative which aims to encourage locals to go for a “car-lite” Sunday in the Central Business District and enjoy healthy sporting activities in town. Thus I dutifully woke up before the sun rose and joined the Under Armour team and other fitness enthusiasts at Collyer Quay at 7am. Organising such community runs is the up-and-coming brand’s way of reaching out to the fitness and wellness set in Singapore.
Warm-up time with the Yellow Fellows. Photo © Under Armour
The inaugural Charged Run was held in February this year. Since then, the run has been taking place on the last Sunday of each month, and I ran the fourth. The distance is a easy fun run of 5 km. Prior to starting the run, Under Armour Singapore staff and the “Yellow Fellows”, a group of Under Armour athletes and charity runners raising awareness for the Singapore Cancer Society, would lead you on a warm up session. One familiar face I spotted among the Yellow Fellows was local actor Randall Tan.
It feels great to run down a road usually full of traffic. Photo © Under Armour
The race pacers go at different speeds; even an amateur runner like me found a relatively comfortable pace to follow. There’s a sweeper so no one gets left behind. It usually starts and ends at Income@Raffles (Collyer Quay). While the route may vary each session, ours involved going past Esplanade Drive and Raffles Avenue, before going up the Helix Bridge, then running down the home stretch past Marina Bay Sands and the Fullerton Bay Hotel to arrive back at Income@Raffles. The only difficult bottlenecks are the stairs that lead up to the Helix Bridge, and the final flight of stairs that leads up to the narrow Change Alley corridor before the end point. To motivate yourself, just call it as a “Stairway to Heaven” like the organisers do.
Cooling down.
Once you get back, there are isotonic drinks, energy drinks, water and bananas waiting for you. And after everyone gets back, the Yellow Fellows will once again lead everyone in a cool-down session. Each run usually comes with a promotion or surprise for participants. For us, it was a contest for one participant to win a pair of shoes and also a souvenir keychain that we could pick up from the Under Armour’s boutique.
One mean slingshot for your races.
We also learned about the new Under Armour Slingshot Running Shoes, which uses in its construction the same yarn from the brand’s famous Tech Te and also NASA-born Dyneema. The latter is the world’s strongest fibre which is so light it floats and is stronger than steel, and also helps suck the heat from your body.
If you’re not already part of a running club and are too busy to exercise on weekdays, consider joining the Armour@TheBay: Charged Run. For those who prefer to be “weekday warriors”, do try Armour@TheBay (of which Charged Run is an extension), a regular complimentary fitness programme held every Tuesday evening at Fullerton Bay. This year, the brand is working with Virgin Active gym and online wellness collective Urban Remedy for the programme.
The next Armour@TheBay happens on 14 June. Follow Under Armour’s Facebook page for more updates on activities and new launches.
