Mr Taxi Driver: Eh, how come got so many people one? Zoo got promotion is it?
Abang Long: No uncle, it's the Safari Zoo Run.
Mr Taxi Driver: A Safa-what?
Abang Long: It's Safari Zoo Run uncle.
Mr Taxi Driver: Ohh, how many kilometres?
Abang Long: Around 6.2km.
Mr Taxi Driver: Woah, like that Uncle will be pancit (means exhausted in direct malay translation)
Abang Long: d[-____-'']b
Woah, luckily he didn't ask me what is the run for. Or else he will be more shocked.
So what's the purpose of Safari Zoo Run you may ask. The purpose is because of this animal below.
The animal on your left is Ah Meng. Ah Meng, Singapore Zoo’s most famous and well-loved orang utan, passed away last two years due to old age. She was 48 years old.
Born in Sumatra, Indonesia around 1960, Ah Meng came to the Zoo at the approximate age of seven in 1971 when she was confiscated from the Chinese family who had kept her as an illegal pet. In 1982, the Zoo introduced ‘Breakfast with an Orang Utan’ programme and Ah Meng was the star. She shot to fame instantly and became a celebrity both at home an overseas. By 1986, she had featured in almost 30 travel films and had appeared in more than 270 articles in newspapers and travel magazines.
A devoted mother, Ah Meng leaves behind two sons Hsing Hsing, Satria, and two daughters, Medan and Sayang and six grandchildren. As a tribute to Ah Meng, the next newborn orang utan to be born at the Zoo will be named Ah Meng Junior.
So Safari Zoo Run is a run to mark the death anniversary of Singapore’s most beloved Sumatran orang-utan, Ah Meng!
Last year 4,000 enthusiastic walkers, joggers and runners of all ages took part in the Safari Zoo Run, the first-ever run at the Night Safari and Singapore Zoo to remember Singapore Zoo’s icon, Ah Meng.It was a non-competitive run that took runners on a 3.2km route inside the Night Safari and a 3km portion through the Singapore Zoo.
Singapore Zoo and Night Safari are located on 68 hectares of lush greenery overlooking the Upper Seletar Reservoir, and participants will be soaking in the beauty of nature during their jogs.
This run not only offers families and individuals the opportunity to enjoy the wonders of the parks in a different way, it also aid in wildlife conservation as part of the proceeds will be donated to the care of endangered animals in the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari.
So anything different this year?
Abang Long didn't attend the running event last year because Abang Long didn't know that such run exist. Call me Katak Dibawah Tempurung but Mr Taxi Driver didn't know about this event too even though it's in its second year already.
But from what Abang Long have read and research, I can assure you that this time round, there are more runners participating in the Safari Zoo Run.
Abang Long going to do an 'After Action Review' about this event on an outsiders point of view.
Firstly, Abang Long didn't run in the event because I didn't managed to book in time. Marffin and her sister managed to book it on time, so I'm giving her my support in this event and do what I love to do. Taking photographs.
1) Toilet
The position of the toilet is totally unacceptable. Knowing that there are more than 4000 runners in the event. The event organizers place the portable toilets at the very beginning of the race route.
Hello! Why would anyone want to pee when the run had just started. The location of these toilets make runners think that there was only one toilet for both genders, which was part of the zoo. Runners didn't know that portable toilets were available to them. It's not visible!
Portable Toilet Not Visible!
2) The Host
I love the host. He's very comical and funny. Initially, upon hearing only his voice, I thought he was the host of 'Gotcha'. He's very lively and supportive. He keep pushing the kids to run faster till the end. He's very attentive to the runners needs like a parent who lost her child, a runner who lost her mp3 player. I don't mind the committee hiring him again for next year's run. He's good!
3) Running Route
Okay, Abang Long didn't participate in the event but from observation and feedback from others, I've something to point out.
Imagine that the running route is the number '8' The starting point is in the middle of '8' So can you imagine if the first wave of runners had run the bottom part of '8' and when they are reaching back to the middle part of '8', they realise that the other runners are still waiting for their turn to run. Here's how Abang Long will describe it. "Cock-up will soon be bound to happen"
Initially the organizers wait for five minutes before they will allow the next wave of runners to run. But when they know that the earlier waves are coming back to the starting line, they decide to minimize the waiting time to two minutes. Okay. Good effort in thinking on the spot but the problem arise soon after.
The earlier waves of runners have only a small track to run towards the Zoo. That cofused some of the runners when ushers frantically ushering them to the small track. Cones do help but they should place some signboards or the host visualising with the runners what to expect in the run.
When the later waves of runners came back to the middle part of the route, most of the earlier runners have ended their race and collecting their goody bags. This create confusion too.
1) Should they continue running towards the Zoo?
2) Should they stop running and pretend to have finished the race and join the queue?
It was so messy!
And for your info, Abang Long caught some guys who pretend to be calling on their phone when they should be running towards the Zoo to complete the race. And guess what? They join in the queue to collect their goody bags.
Okay, I know it's a fun race. You can run, jog or walk but what are you portraying to the kids beside you? Yeah you Mr Father! What moral values are you teaching to the kids beside you by doing that?
To confirm that Abang Long is telling the truth, look below under Update #2
4) Crowd Control
Definitely lacking. There are people who are controlling the crowd but I guess it's too little. People are cheating. People are confuse about what to do next when they ended their race. The Zoo personnel aren't the one who should be doing that. They have their own work to do.
Apart from the four points above, I believe it's a good event, which can be improved further with 2 years of experience. Hope the next one will be a better one.
Since Abang Long didn't run in the event, I was busy taking photographs. It felt like as if I was one of the official photographers for the event. As I was shooting some random photos. Some couples, groups of people, kids stop infront of me and smile! Since I love taking photographs, that inpromptu experience made me love taking photographs even more. A couple ask me to reshoot their photographs again when they didn't show their tag number. The next question one of the lady ask.
Lady: Is the photo will be shown in the website?
Abang Long: (A litle bit lost) Huh? What website?
Lady: The Zoo Website.
Abang Long: (Smile, I was thinking what to say since I just took photos for fun) Nope, it'll be in my own personal website.
At that moment, it really made me feel like an official photographer. =D
Lady: So what's your website?
So I just gave that lady this website. Lady, if you are the one, I'll be posting the photos in my next few blog entries. Thank you for making my day!
Update #2
After Abang Long posted a blog post, I have a habit of posting the link to my twitter account. As I wanted to know if somebody had tweeted about the Safari Zoo Run, I checked it under the Twitter Search.
Abang Long blogged earlier about people cheating in this event by pretending that they have completed the race. Guess what I've found? Look below.
CAUGHT!
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