Sunday, 3 May 2015 witnessed the 8th edition of Sabah’s most anticipating annual race of the year, Borneo International Marathon (BIM). This is one of the highlight races on Sabah race calendar and it is usually held in every first week of May on each year. The participation of runners has increased radically between these 8 years of its organisation. This year, it was recorded that 7,800 runners hit the pavement on that very day, of which, 10km runners dominated more than half of the participants.

Sounds surreal? Well, Swiss company X-BIONIC’s slogan is backed with the all-new Effektor™ Power Running. Launching a new element in the high-tech running segment, the Effektor™’s innovative system combines compression and temperature management to pump up performance.

As runners, we’re prone to injuries. This increases more as we vary our terrain. Roads can have uneven pavements, a misplaced twig, and trails are a beast of their own. Take my case for example. Two months ago, I twisted my ankle. I was running my usual evening route and, not noticing the crack on the sidewalk, found myself sprawled on the grass with a bloody knee and cringing in pain while grabbing my left leg. The first thought that went through my head was, “How soon can I run again? What about my training?”

When you run, you don’t want any bulging pockets that will hinder you. And pouches to hold essentials like your phone can hamper your stride, too. So what is a guy to do?

No marathon runner worth his salt can afford to lose his way—whether in real life or on the running circuit—so when organisers of the internationally popular Gold Coast Airport Marathon (GCA) announced a new partnership with Garmin, a global leader in GPS technology, that’s to span the 2015 and 2016 Australian marathon seasons, all interested parties hailed the announcement as a match made in running heaven.

If you think running is hard, try doing it in the dark, out in the trails. Back for the 5th time, the Energizer Night Trail is frequently billed as one of the toughest races in Singapore, and it does a lot to earn that honour. Broken up into three distance groups, the full 18km route has a cumulative elevation gain of over 400m (pretty high for Singapore!), while the 12km and 6km are nothing to sniff at themselves. The race also features a very family friendly 3km obstacle course, with many of the participants in the trail races taking part in the obstacle race earlier in the day with their children.