As the sun sets on the horizon, the NUS Bizad Charity Run 2019 finally came to a conclusion on 12th January 2019.

NUS Bizad Charity Run is an annual charity running event organised by the people at NUS Business School Alumni Association and NUS Bizad Club. Every year, they raise a huge amount of money for a particular charity organisation. This year, a total of $210,000 is going towards NUS Business School Alumni Association (NUSBSA) Bursary Fund and NUS Business Student Support Fund while the rest of the $40,000 was raised for Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore (CPAS) to support their programmes and services for those suffering from cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities.

Their main purpose of this event is to promote the spirit of giving back towards the community by assembling students, staffs, the alumnus of NUS Business School and including the members of the public.

Getting to the Event

The event is located at NUS Business School (Mochtar Riady Building) and as a Singaporean settling in the east, it was quite the distance travelling towards NUS. However, with my trusty Google Maps (and enduring the one and a half hours journey), it was a breeze getting there. I alighted at Haw Par Villa MRT station, walked towards the opposite bus stop, waited for either of these buses (10/30/51/143/188/200/200A) and took five stops while finally walking towards the destination.

Alternatively, there was the school shuttle bus service provided for the public directly from Kent Ridge MRT. It was probably a better option for me but let's just say that it was my first time travelling to NUS.

10KM Run

When the opportunity was presented to me, I immediately signed up for the 10KM competitive/casual run.

This year's route was back to the original as runners were challenged by the famous hilly slopes of NUS. It ended up being a challenging experience for me as I was both not prepared for the run and also did not expect the hills to be that steep.

NUS Bizad Carnival

When I arrived at NUS Business School (Mochtar Riady Building), it was only 3:30 p.m., but there were already quite a number of participants either exploring the area or already warming up for the race. A mini carnival (by Carnival World) was being set up on both the outside and inside of the atrium where there were food and drink booths, game booths, live performances and even a photo booth available for everyone to enjoy. On top of that, free Gong Cha was being given out for free!

Since the 10KM competitive/casual run was scheduled to flag off at 4:30 p.m., I made my way to the baggage drop area located on the second floor of the atrium. To prevent confusion, the baggage drop area was divided into three different rooms, according to the range of our race bibs. Before the race began, we were told to scan a QR code to enter the lucky draw segment at the end of the event. (Spoiler alert: I didn't win anything)

Presenting the cheques to the beneficiaries was Guest-of-Honour, Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance, Mr Lawrence Wong.

Flag Off

Both the starting and finishing line was located beside the atrium. As the clock finally struck 4:30 p.m., everyone gathered along the starting line for final preparations and photo taking before officially being flagged off by the Chairman of BCR 2019, Vice President of NUS BSA and an Alumnus of the NUS Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme, Mr Steven Yeo.

I was honestly feeling nervous as I see hundreds of well-prepared runners being pumped up for the race while I was there busy wiping off my sweaty palms.

After the air horn sounded, the race finally began. I told myself to "try my best" and see how long I can survive during the race.

During the race, I noticed immediately that the roads were not closed off to the ongoing traffic, unlike many running events in Singapore. There were student volunteers and marshals helping us by pointing out the correct direction, controlling traffic by stopping the cars to allow us to run pass and even encouraging us all the way. However, I still think that it could be dangerous for both the runners and student volunteers as there is still a risk of accidents.

Event Overview

• The race was well organised.
• The student volunteers and marshals were encouraging.
• The race route was challenging with the uphills.
• This was the very first year that BCR ever had a 10km Finisher's Shirt when you complete the run but there was no finisher medal (or maybe I didn't collect the medal at all).