S'pore Content Creator Outruns The MRT From Chinatown To Telok Ayer Station; Says He Actually "Hates Running With A Passion"

Local content creator Michael Collins (bigchunkks) is no stranger to taking on ambitious challenges, from sailing to Pulau Ubin on a boat he built out of bags of chips to turning just 10 cents into a car in a little over 40 days.

Enter Michael's latest challenge: a series of videos documenting his attempts to race the MRT by getting off at one station, running to the next, and making it back onto the very same train before it left.

After six attempts at various stations, Michael finally pulled it off when he managed to run from Chinatown station to Telok Ayer station, then get back on the same train again. It took him 1 minute 50 seconds — not bad considering he still had about 10 seconds left to spare. 

Speaking to 8days.sg, Michael shares that the idea actually came from a video he stumbled upon a couple of years ago.

“I saw a video of someone successfully racing the train in London, where he got off at one station and sprinted to the next to get back on the same train before it left. It made me wonder whether it would be possible to do that in Singapore too, given how many MRT stations we have nowadays,” he tells us.

Over the course of the challenge, Michael tested several routes he believed were short enough to outrun the train, with most covering an average of 700m. After unsuccessful attempts between stations like Shenton Way and Marina Bay, and Esplanade and Promenade, he finally pulled it off on his sixth attempt, beating the Downtown Line train from Chinatown to Telok Ayer station.

To viewers, it may have seemed like Michael cracked the challenge on his sixth try. But it actually took him 20 days of planning, testing different routes and doing plenty of homework before he finally beat the train.

In his final successful attempt, he even roped in friends to help him tap in at the station, thus shaving off precious seconds to give himself the best chance of pulling it off.

He tells us: “A lot of times in between the days I ran, I would need to spend time researching which stations and routes to run. I wouldn't call them practice runs but there were a couple of runs that I did that I did not end up posting because I had accidentally taken a slower route or hit a red light.”

For someone taking on such a lofty challenge, you’d probably assume Michael is a running enthusiast. But surprisingly, it’s the exact opposite. 

“The funny thing is, I actually hate running with a passion,” he laughs, adding that he doesn’t think he has “ever gone on a leisurely run before in his life”.

When Michael first started the challenge, he admitted he wasn’t really expecting to beat the train. He was 1 minute 30 seconds too slow on his first attempt on the Shenton Way to Marina Bay route, and his original plan was simply to test out a few stations to find the most realistic route before recruiting better runners like national athletes to complete the mission for him.

But his confidence changed when he tried the Chinatown to Telok Ayer route for the first time and missed the train by just two seconds. 

“[That was] the first time where I was like, 'Oh wow, I actually could do this',” he shares.

However, even on the actual day, Michael estimated he only had a 50 per cent chance of success, knowing that shaving off two seconds from a two-minute run would be no easy feat.

When asked if he received any strange looks from other passengers while completing the challenge, Michael says he was usually too focused or moving too quickly to notice. He also made sure to attempt the runs during off-peak periods to avoid bumping into anyone along the way.

However, Michael shares that there were a few occasions where people recognised him during the challenge. Some followers approached him after his runs or while he was scouting routes to let him know they had been following the series and cheering him on, which he says was “always very heartening to hear”.

He adds that the support made the final run even more memorable, as two commuters on the train who had been following the series came up to congratulate him after he finally completed the challenge. “It made me very happy,” he says. 

And of course, there have also been people asking for more, encouraging him to take on the challenge across every MRT line and suggesting new routes for him to try. However, Michael candidly shares that he has “pretty much run most of the routes that he identified as being possible to run”.

“I don’t really want to drag this challenge out and taint the memory of what we have achieved, as I think it was just such a beautiful and surreal three weeks,” he adds.

That said, the Michael vs train challenge might not be over just yet. He shares that he’ll probably start looking out for closely located stations whenever he travels overseas, since beating the train in Singapore has made him curious to see if he can pull off the same challenge in other countries too.