Runners In Singapore & Malaysia Take To Shopping Malls Amid Haze

A post on Threads recently showed a group of runners in Singapore taking their long-distance training indoors at a shopping mall on Saturday, 17 October.

Singaporean runner Elmer Loy shared that they had received permission from the mall's management to run inside the premises before it opened.

"Found a great alternative to do my long runs during this haze period. Ran in the mall early in the morning with approval from the mall management," he wrote.

Loy added that he managed to clock 19km during the session, which also gave him the chance to run alongside other fitness enthusiasts.

"Please don't do this without approval," he reminded fellow runners.

According to The Straits Times, the session, organised by X-Run Singapore, saw participants running laps across the mall's second and third floors between 7am and 9am.

"It beats running on a treadmill," Loy told the publication after his post went viral.

Other participants also reportedly covered distances of up to 21km, equivalent to a half marathon, making the session an alternative to outdoor training amid poor air quality.

In an Instagram post, Atria Shopping Gallery announced that it had partnered with The Active Chimp gym to organise RUN THE MALL: Beat the Haze, Keep the Pace! on 21 and 28 October.

The sessions will run from 7pm to 8pm, giving participants an hour to cover as much distance as they wish inside the mall.

"Beat the haze and keep your stride going indoors!" the organisers said.

Meanwhile, Worst Pace Run Club has teamed up with The Starhill in downtown Kuala Lumpur to host an indoor run on 21 October at 8.15pm.

The club said its RUN Nº012 session would be held inside a shopping mall for the first time.

"The haze can have the streets, we'll take the mall!" it wrote on Instagram.