It was not the usual shopping crowd outside Nike’s lifestyle concept store at Orchard Central last Saturday night, look closely and you could see a throng of excited females all geared up for the Nike free trial run. The training run was part of Nike’s initiative to bring female runners together, so as to inspire them to enjoy running in a social setting.

Set in bustling Orchard Road, Nike has clearly made the training run fun and enjoyable for all participants. The Nike training run is in preparation for the Nike She Runs 5K race, which returns to Singapore for the third year to bring female runners together and inspire them to enjoy running through Nike+ and social communities to share and enhance their experiences.

The Run Wild Training Run was well organised and thought out. Besides providing the participants with baggage deposits, the organisers also provided each female runner a light stick, for safety and recognition as the training run was held at night. There was even light refreshments provided prior to the trial run.

While registering, participants were given the option to try out Nike’s new range of running shoes – the Nike 5.0, during the trial run. Most female runners took this chance to try their feet in them. The shoes definitely look impressive and fashionable with their bright blue body and orange laces. One of the runners who tried out the shoes, commented that the shoes are snug fitting and soft.

After registrations, we were broken up into two groups, the first group got to view Nike’s latest products, while the second group started on the training run. Within our group of about 27 participants, we were further split into two smaller groups with three pacers to lead in the run.

Safety reminders were also given, to remind the participants to look out for oncoming cars and human traffic, to tie our shoelaces and to alert our pacers should we not feel well during the trial run. All in all, the focus should be about having fun, as the trial run is non-competitive in nature, there should be no overtaking, as safety comes first.

The pacers led us to run past 313 Somerset, the SCAPE, turning into Devonshire Road, and past the Singtel building twice. A total distance of about 3km was covered, running past the shopping malls and controlling the urge to dash to the shops to begin window-shopping, is a rare occurrence indeed!

At the end of our run, refreshments, drinks and even towels were catered for, while we were led in a series of cool down exercises before proceeding to Nike’s lifestyle concept store. We were given a glimpse of Nike’s new range of running gears, gym trainings or casual apparels suitable for sporty and modern ladies. There was even a Nike Hash Tag contest, where participants were encouraged to post pictures on Instagram with the tag #RunFree.

The training run would not have been fun and enjoyable without the enthusiasm of our bubbly Nike pacers. Being so well taken care of, how can we not feel inspired to give of our very best for the upcoming Nike She Runs 5k race? Truly, it is evident through the success of this event that the Nike She Runs Singapore 2013 connects and inspires Singapore’s female runners to give of our best.

The Nike She Runs 5k 2013 is happening on 11th May, 5p.m at Gardens By The Bay.

Let’s ‘Just do it’ girls!