SINGAPORE — Pick up running tips this weekend at the OCBC Square, where the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) Training Kick-Off 2017 will take place.

With 17 weeks to race day, the event features a myriad of activities over Aug 5 (Saturday) and 6 for members of the public to experience a comprehensive training programme.

These include running clinics with Ben Pulham, founder of Coached, a holistic online training programme, which is this year’s official training partner of SCSM. The former elite triathlete will dispel common marathon myths and conduct talks on how to improve training based on heart rate.

There will also be running tests for the public, where they will run 3km with a Garmin heart monitor and then have their results evaluated by Pulham, who will advise on how training can be enhanced based on the heart rates.

The public can also join Running Department, the official pacers for SCSM this year, for a 5km run. 

The event will see the exclusive Women’s Squad for SCSM 2017 launched as well, with Cheryl Tay and Under Armour (UA) Celebrity athlete Denise Keller leading a HIIT (high intensity interval training) session and 3km run. Runners will get to test out UA’s new Bandit 3 shoes. 

The event is held in conjunction with GetActive! Singapore, a week-long series of competitions, crowd-sourced activities and sports festivals from July 29 to Aug 9 aimed at uniting Singaporeans through sports to celebrate National Day.

*Admission to the event is free, but interested members of the public need to register at SCSM 2017 Training Kick-off. Those interested in the Women’s Squad event need to register at SCSM Women Squad. For more information, visit www.singaporemarathon.com.