Happening on 13 October, the Garmin Run Asia Series will debut in Singapore this weekend, with up to 5,000 runners expected to participate in the 9-country series event
What is the Garmin Run Asia Series?
The Garmin Run Asia Series is a running event series that takes place across various cities in Asia, organised by Garmin in collaboration with local partners.
First beginning in 2022, the series started with three countries: Taiwan, Malaysia, and Thailand; before extending to Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Japan in 2023.
This year the Garmin Run Asia Series arrives in Singapore, as part of three more countries to join the fray including the Philippines and Vietnam.
The Garmin Run Asia Series Singapore leg will feature 10km and 21.1km race distances for runners, while other destinations offer a variety of race distances including 5K, 10K, and half marathons - catering to both casual runners and serious athletes alike.
The series looks to promote health and fitness, and to engage the sporting community while brining participants together with opportunities to connect with other runners as a great way to explore different locations while participating in a popular sport.
Just days away from the Garmin Run Singapore leg, SportPlus.sg spoke with Sheena Sim, Garmin Singapore and Malaysia's Marketing Team Lead on the purpose behind the Garmin Run Asia Series and what participants can expect and look forward to this weekend.
1. What sparked the desire to bring the Garmin Run Asia Series to Singapore?
Sheena: The very first Garmin smartwatch developed was a Forerunner watch, and it was designed by one of our engineers who is a runner and Garmin has continued to pursue innovation to design smartwatches for runners, by runners.
With the introduction of Garmin Run Asia Series since 2022, we've been able to take it a step further beyond Garmin’s products to bring runners in every city together to celebrate the love for running. From new runners to regular runners and competitive runners, Garmin hopes to unite runners across the region.
Singapore has a growing community of runners and also has an excellent infrastructure for running. We want to introduce Garmin Run Asia Series to Singapore to bring runners in Singapore together and offer an event for runners to train for, and to participate across the region.
2. How long has Garmin Run Asia series been around for and many cities does the Garmin Run Asia Series span / comprise?
Sheena: Garmin Run Asia Series started in 2022 in three countries – Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand and we’ve seen great response from these cities. In 2023, for our Forerunner 20 th anniversary, Garmin expanded the series to include Indonesia, Hong Kong and Japan and this year, we’ve also debuted the series in Singapore, Philippines and Vietnam.
3. Which has traditionally been the most popular city of the series?
Sheena: Malaysia has the highest participation rate in the series so far.
4. Outside of the main race categories, share with us something that not all Garmin Run participants are aware of about the Garmin Run Singapore?
Sheena: This year, Garmin also introduced the Garmin Run Asia Series medal to encourage runners to participate in the runs in the entire Garmin Run Asia Series across 2022 to 2027 and they will get a customised 18K gold-plated medal.
There is a line at the front of the Garmin Run Singapore singlet that is intentionally printed upside down. This is not a misprint. We have continued this as a tradition on our race apparel since we started in 2022.
As a runner, sometimes you just need the extra motivation to keep running to cross the finish line. The “upside down” line is a message to runners – when they look down they see a motivational message to cheer them up – just by looking down.
5. What is the focus of the Garmin Run Asia series? Is it community? Performance runners or Garmin products?
Sheena: Garmin Run Asia Series was created to bring runners of all levels together, in one single event in each country, ultimately, uniting runners across the Asia region. In the lead up to each Garmin Run in each country, there will be community runs, training clinics and training camps to offer runners a space to improve their running through incorporating Garmin’s science-based training data using our products.
The end goal is to build a community where beginner runners can make friends, meet fellow runners, and also join a coach-led training program to learn to train more efficiently and effectively. At the same time, Garmin Singapore is also working with various partners like ASICS, Oakley, aminoVITAL to equip runners with the necessary information that they will need in their journey of running and participating in run events.
6. What are the participant numbers we are looking at across the different categories for this year?
Sheena: We are looking at 3,000 21km runners and 2,000 10km runners for this year.
7. What can participants look forward to the most / or should keep an eye out for next weekend at the Garmin Singapore Run?
Sheena: Participants can look forward to a scenic running route along the Singapore skyline, watching competitive runners vie for a podium spot, and various games and activities at the Garmin and partner booths.
8. How has Garmin been able to showcase technological integration into running and fitness at these events?
Sheena: Through our 16-week training run programme created by Coach Feroz and Coach Man Yun, participants have been introduced to the Garmin technology and watch features. Together with our 21 pacers, participants get first-hand guidance on how to train better with a Garmin watch.
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