Contributed by Merliza Lim

Singapore, Wednesday, October 20, 2010 — Runners can look forward to a high energy celebration of sports at the Nike City 10K Singapore, which flags off next to the Marina Bay Floating Platform this Sunday, 24th October. Combining music and sports to give runners an unparalleled experience, the Nike City 10K will see four entertainment zones featuring different genres of music such as Dance, Pop, Rock and Hip Hop along the 10km route.

Members of the public can also enjoy a piece of the action by joining the runners for an adrenaline-pumping finale concert at the end of the race. All this action and more will be taking place at the Marina Bay Floating Platform, where award-winning DJ Adrian Wee will spin an array of disco and house music, while Sixx, one of Singapore’s best hip hop bands, will take to the stage with live performances showcasing their fusion of Hip Hop, Funk, Soul and Jazz.

Vijaya Kumar Jayaraj, the Singapore Marketing Manager for Nike, said: “We promise runners a unique experience – a scenic route complete with the best of music entertainment in Singapore. We could not have wished for a more ideal start and finish location, the pride of Singapore that is the Marina Bay Floating Platform, host to international events such as the recent Youth Olympic Games’ Opening and Closing ceremonies.”

The floating platform certainly serves as the perfect end point of a scenic route, which will take runners past iconic sights like the Singapore Flyer and the Formula One pit building, giving them a chance to pound the same track as Formula One superstars Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. Runners will make their way along the Nicoll Highway before making a loop at Kallang Road to embark on a return leg along the Marina Promenade and F1 track that eventually leads back to the floating platform.

The four designated entertainment zones along the route are set to keep runners’ spirits high. Local band Swagger takes centre-stage just 1.5 kilometres into the start with their covers of Top 40s and classic tunes from the 1960s to 1980s in the Pop Zone along Nicoll Highway. Participants will also be greeted by energetic dancers grooving in the Hip Hop Zone, located at the Kallang Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) junction on Nicoll Highway. Runners will end their run on a high by boogying away in true Retro-style with dancers at the Republic Avenue tunnel and they will be welcomed by popular rock acts such as the SHeares Band and Lylee on the final sprint of the race along the F1 track.

Besides the great music and entertainment, participants will also be motivated to do their best for a good cause. The Nike City 10K Singapore is the Lion City’s first ever inter-city rivalry race, which has seen runners in Singapore challenging their neighbours in Kuala Lumpur (KL) for charity.

Singapore and KL are two of 22 cities around the world that are part of the Nike City 10K run this year. In addition to the physical race, Singapore and KL are the only two cities that have been challenging each other in a virtual race, where runners have been clocking mileage for their city since 1st September using a Nike+ SportBand to sync their mileage on Nikeplus.com.sg. The city with the highest mileage recorded on 31st October will receive a US$30,000 donation from Nike to its adopted charity. Singapore runners have chosen the Singapore Children’s Society as their adopted charity while Kuala Lumpur has picked Hope Worldwide Kuala Lumpur.

Currently in the lead, Singapore runners have risen to the Singapore-KL challenge and are in prime position to win the US$30,000 donation for disadvantaged children and youths through the Singapore Children’s Society.

“We wish to thank the 12,000 Singapore runners who have snapped up all the slots for the race and we are encouraged by their effort to beat Kuala Lumpur to the US$30,000 donation for the Singapore Children’s Society,” said Jayaraj.

Alfred Tan, Executive Director of the Singapore Children’s Society, also expressed his appreciation when he said, “We are truly touched by the support from runners of the Nike City 10K. Our aim is to reach out and extend help to disadvantaged children and the Nike City 10K inter-city rivalry challenge is certainly a novel way to raise interest in running and awareness of the charity.’’