Story by Jan Lin.

Sunday, 01 June, 2008 – There were no Ferraris, McLarens or BMWs, but Singapore’s first-ever night race was a huge success. Tucked away in the eastern region of the island, a 42km race track was drawn up not for F1 race cars but for the thousands of running enthusiasts who showed up at the 2008 adidas Sundown Marathon last night.

The highly-anticipated first night marathon event in Singapore comprised of 4 race categories – Ultra Marathon (84km), Full Marathon (42km), Team Challenge (4 x 10.5km) and the Corporate Team Challenge (4 x 10.5km) – and each had subcategories of men and women (and mixed for the team challenges).

All but the Full Marathon races kicked-off at 8:30pm. From beaches, bridges to buildings, the 42km innovative and scenic race route consists of 4 main sections: String of Lights (22km, in red), Heartland Twist (7km, in blue), Waterfront Trail (6km, in green) and Home Run (7km, in yellow).

The official race route taken from the adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 website.


Each section brings with it a different set of challenges. The ‘Heartland Twist’, which is a meander through the heartland areas of Kembangan and Bedok, has been considered the most demanding of the 4 sections as runners have to twist around, under and over unexpected bridges.

The team events required each of the 4 team members to cover only 10.5km of the lights-strung Changi Coast Road. Starting at Changi Village, runners hit the turnaround point near the Changi Airport Terminal 2 before turning back to head for the finish at Changi Village.

At press time, the top 3 men’s and women’s teams results are as follows:

Team Challenge – men
1. REDSXTREME (02:44:58.68)
2. 40 Is The New 21 (02:51:47.60)
3. Gamma (02:57:30.02)

Team Challenge – women
1. UWC/Gaelic Lions (03:15:23.37)
2. Run On (03:46:07.16)
3. Sas Chicks (03:47:36.42)

Corporate Team Challenge – men
1. Hdb Team 1 (03:21:15.94)
2. Team Acx (03:28:29.11)
3. Team Lta 2 (03:29:07.32)

Corporate Team Challenge – women
1. Hdb Ladies (04:15:01.99)
2. Allen & Glenhill 1 (04:36:06.57)
3. PWC’s 4 Cs (04:41:36.34)

All results are preliminary and will be revised 1 week after race day.

Read the full report of the adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 here.