GE women's run set for return

The Great Eastern Women's Run will return in November after last year's edition was cancelled owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, organisers announced yesterday.

The event, which drew close to 13,000 participants in 2019, will be held in a virtual format.

There will be five different categories this year: 5km, 10km, 21.1km, 2km for mothers and daughters aged five to 12, as well as a new 113km category to commemorate the company's 113th anniversary.

For the 113km run, participants can choose to form a team of two to four to complete the distance collectively or individually.

Distances for all categories will be clocked using mobile app MOVE by Liv3ly from Nov 14 to Dec 15.

Manager Sherleen Ng had taken part in two previous editions of the Great Eastern Women's Run and is looking forward to participating in the 2km category with her five-year-old daughter for the first time.

The 35-year-old said: "I've seen mummies and their daughters participate in the races in past editions and always looked forward to doing a race with my daughter, so we can't wait for this year's race."

She enjoys the convenience and flexibility of virtual runs having taking part in several, adding: "We get to run at our own pace and our preferred routes, plus you can also rope in family members to join in."

First-time participant Shobanah S. Muthiah is excited to take part in the 5km category after plans to run in last year's event were scuppered by the pandemic.

The 26-year-old, who has been exercising more since the circuit breaker period last year, has been looking for running events that she can take part in with her friends.

The guest service agent said: "This will be my first running event and first virtual run. As I work in hospitality and in shifts, we can even 'run' with friends by clocking miles together if we can't meet physically together due to different working hours."

In a move towards sustainability, all single-use plastic items in race packs and entitlements will be eliminated.

Finisher medals for participants are recyclable, as well as the race bag which is made from natural pulp fibre.

The Great Eastern Women's Run will also be working with two charity organisations - Breast Cancer Foundation and Daughters Of Tomorrow - and using the race as a platform to raise awareness and funds towards supporting underprivileged women in society.

Members of the public can support these causes via the Great Eastern Cares fundraising pages set up by Great Eastern staff and financial representatives.

"As always, women's causes remain close to our heart. We are pleased to give back to the community through Great Eastern Cares," said Colin Chan, the managing director of Group Marketing Great Eastern.

"We recognise how Covid-19 has taken a toll on the less fortunate in our community and we are grateful for the opportunity to work with both charities to better support women's needs in our society."

Registration for the run began yesterday and interested participants can visit www.greateasternwomensrun.com