This year’s Marathon Staycation has been… a thing.
This was the first year that the Running Show was staged at Olympic Park. Apparently, I was not the only person who wasn’t particularly thrilled with the change of location (if the tea spilled by several Uber drivers was anything to go by). Yeah. It cost me 2 Ubers to collect my race bib and make it back to the city in time to get to my dinner reservation.
The race itself wasn’t too bad. Considering how there were 10,000+ entrants in the Mini Marathon 2026, I had no objections to the starting times being staggered. It also meant that I could show up to the assembly area much later than the Elite Runners and the Group A starters. Even though I had originally envisioned myself slow jogging for half the route, I ended up power walking for the entire 5km, and getting in a wee sprint when there was enough room to do so. On the upside, I finished in less than an hour. The downside? My legs — and feet specifically — were spamming complaints left and right.
This year was also the year I decided to try and plan my meals out during the staycation with ‘improving my raceday performance’ (if you will). That meant sticking to mostly lean proteins and going easy on the alcohol on Friday. And *trying* to have a healthy-ish breakfast on Saturday morning. I say *trying* because a logistical issue with the hotel’s brekkie grab & go pack meant that I was only able to get a very thiccc croissant and a green tea.
I’m no dietician, but it felt like having carbs (even if they weren’t exactly healthy) and a bit of sugar may have helped me to last as long as I did at that pace.
As for the fine dining itself, this year’s lineup was a mixed bag.
Highlights
Saicho Premium Jasmine Sparkling Tea
As part of the broader plan to lay off the booze in the 18-ish hours leading up to the race, I decided to try a sparkling tea at lunch. Despite my initial reservations, it turned out to be a rather pleasant drop. Sweet, but not “tastes like Benedryl” sweet. A gentle hint of fizz made it even better. It’s definately something that I’m going to consider ordering next time I’m at Sake.
The trio of sorbet/ice cream at Felix
This was one of those dishes where simplicity made everything 100 times better. Just 3 scoops of icy-cold, sweet goodness and a delicate bit of tuile. One of the things that I particularly liked about this option on most dessert menus is that you can choose which flavours you want. On this occasion, I got 2 scoops of strawberry sorbet and 1 of vanilla ice cream.
Things That Warrant a Review
The Westholme steak I had at Rockpool
I love Rockpool’s steaks. Don’t get me wrong. But I may have bitten off a bit more than I could chew for my post-race lunch. The Westholme steak was rich. Like, proper rich. Even at my usual 200-ish gram serving size. I did enjoy the taste; I did not enjoy waddling out of the establishment an hour and a bit later. Lesson: aim for a lower marbling score steak next time.
The chicken karaage at Sake The Rocks
Sake routinely changes up the style of their chicken karaage from time to time. Allow me to be honest when I say that I am not a fan of the current version. Where was the crunch?! The crispy batter?! Let us hope that the next iteration of the chicken karaage goes back to their crispy batter roots.
The breakfast situation on raceday
Even though this isn’t fine dining, the brekkie pack situation deserves a mention.
While it is nice to have a hotel-provided brekkie on the morning of the race, it’s not entirely sensible to count on the hotel to provide the nourishment. I got a call late on Friday night to basically say that because of some kind of issues, they were only going to be able to provide me with a croissant and coffee/tea on Saturday. My sleepy-head could only make out that some kind of logistical issue was the reason for the last-minute change.
