March 2, 2021
Coached Race: Our Response To The Pandemic
The second edition of the Coached Race was held on 27 February. Here’s how it went down.
The global pandemic has undoubtedly changed life as we know it. The lack of races has been a bummer for our athletes, and we can feel that vibe within the team. key
To help keep our athletes motivated, focused and consistent, we decided to host our own small race for Coached athletes last October.
That race was a huge success, so we scheduled a few more for 2021. The latest Coached Race happened over the weekend.
This edition offered three distances – 10km, half marathon, 30km – and our athletes could run in-person in Singapore or virtually. The in-person race had limited slots to align with government regulations and were snapped up within 3-hours of launch.
The remainder of our athletes ran virtually from Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, India, UK, and Japan.
The post-race celebration happened on our weekly Community Call via Zoom. During the call, we shared the results and awarded the prizes via a lucky draw kindly sponsored by our friends at Hydragun, Under Armour, Oakley and The Foot Practice.
Here’s how the race went …
The Results
Post-race, we asked our athletes to answer a short survey to share their results and experience. I’ve plucked out some of the non-personal results, and here they are.
The majority of our runners chose to run the half marathon, with a respectable number in the 10km and a small group of keen runners taking on the challenge of the 30km.
With no races on the horizon, 28 per cent of our athletes were treating our race as an A-Race, a race they wanted to perform at their best and achieve a PB.
The majority, though, did not have it as a primary focus and were just trying to run their best off a short (or no) taper.
Cut Race Times, Not Corners.
Racing at your potential and enjoying training is easy when you’re following the right programme.
Despite the lack of focus and taper for most, we were wrapped to see that over 50 per cent of our team ran a personal best time. Our runners achieved PB’s across all distances, with the majority coming from the half marathon, where we had the largest number of runners participating.
When you coach a large number of athletes, as we do at Coached, race results are usually a mixed bag. Most runners perform well and are happy, but there are invariably some who struggle and don’t get the results they’re seeking. In those instances, it’s always a learning experience (for the athlete and us), and we work to improve the situation for the next race.
In this case, on a scale of 1 = gutted to 5 = stoked, most of our runners were satisfied with their performance.
Feelings do not dictate outcomes, but it’s undoubtedly better to feel good rather than bad. On a scale of 1 = terrible to 5 = fantastic, most of our runners felt good throughout the race.
What’s Next?
Until traditional races return, or the government change their rules, we’ll continue to host these races for our athletes. Our next one is scheduled for June and we plan to offer a half marathon and marathon.
If you’re keen to train and race with us, sign up for a 14-day free trial and see if we’re a good fit for you.
The Race Experience: In Pictures
Thanks to everyone who participated. All pictures courtesy of PrisChew.com.
Ben Pulham