More than 10, 000 local runners along with a million other people from more than 30 countries around the globe participated in the world’s largest 1-day running event, the Nike+ Human Race 10K on Oct 24.

It’s only the second year that Nike has held this event and Singapore was once again the only country in Southeast Asia to be a part of this historic race. It’s no surprise, actually, considering that Singapore was the first to fill its registration slots in a record 6 days.

This year’s run offered a unique race experience as the participants took off onto the track where, only recently, the top Formula 1 drivers were racing, with the tire marks still visible.

The runners were flagged off by a panda mascot from the World Wide Fund for Nature, Nike’s global adopted charity, while Estranged from Malaysia pumped up the atmosphere with their rock act. Adding to the excitement was Thaitanium from Thailand, Taken By Cars from Philippines and Singapore’s very own The Fire Fight and Composition B.

These enthusiastic joggers spilled out in an endless stream of red Nike t-shirts and it took more than 20 minutes for everyone to start their race.
Just 30 minutes into the race, the crowd went wild after seeing the flashing lights of the race marshals’ bikes accompanying the race leader, Jauhari Johan, from Indonesia.

He crossed the finish line in just over 31 minutes, which was about 2 minutes faster than what he clocked last year. When asked about his overall race experience, he said, “I’m very happy and proud that I won and this will give me a good confidence boost before the upcoming SEA games later this year.”

The flag-off time for this year’s race at 7.20 am, as compared to the previous year’s 4.30 pm, seemed to have garnered mixed opinions among the runners. The winner himself said that he preferred the race to be in the morning as that was when the body is fresh, while avid runner, Lee Ying Hao, 19, said that it’s better to run in the evening when the weather is cooler.

Despite differences in opinions, 10, 000 people from all walks of life still ran the Nike+ Human Race 10k. October 24 can now be counted as the day Nike united the world.