Macquarie clinch Bloomberg Square Mile Relay title for a seventh consecutive time

Macquarie was crowned the “fastest firm in the city” following their first-place finish in the seventh running of the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay Singapore, as 148 teams took to the city’s financial district to battle it out for top spot in the annual event.

Each team consisted of 10 members who were tasked with running the one-mile course in the fastest possible time before passing on the baton to the next colleague. The team to complete its 10 cumulative one-mile laps in the fastest time was Macquarie with the firm crossing the line in 53 minutes and 16 seconds, just ahead of Standard Chartered Bank in second place, and Credit Agricole CIB in third.

The winning team of runners from Macquarie celebrating their glorious victory

Macquarie team captain, Cameron Brooks said: “The Bloomberg Square Mile Relay is very competitive each year, and we were not certain if we would be able to keep our title for the seventh consecutive year. In fact, it felt like we might not have been able to make first place halfway through the race, but the team persevered and we made it. We’re all very happy, of course, and Macquarie will also be donating an additional USD$20,000 to the relay’s ‘The Extra Mile’ initiative.”

The fastest runner on the day was Ashley Miles, from Macquarie, who ran his one-mile lap in a time of 4 minutes and 52 seconds, and the Fastest Mixed Team award was won by GIC Pte Ltd in a time of 1 hour 2 minutes and 10 seconds.

A new award category for the 2019 series was the Fastest All-Female Team – introduced to continue the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay’s commitment to increasing female participation across the series – which was won by Macquarie. Their team captain, Olivia Shepherd, said: “It’s amazing that the organisers are committed to encouraging female runners to be a part of the relay. We actually entered two teams last year with a total of four female runners. This year, we sent three teams with a total of 12 female runners, proving that this new award category is definitely effective.”

Runners taking off from the start line at flag off

Through the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay’s ‘The Extra Mile’ initiative, the series aims to address unique social challenges in each city where the relay race takes place, with projects delivering lasting positive social impact long after the teams cross the finish line. Ahead of participating, all 1470 Singapore runners were asked to select one of three causes to run for, put forward by The Extra Mile Partner SportCares, with each respective lap time counting towards their chosen cause. The cause with the quickest average time was Access & Inclusion, receiving 25% of each team’s race entry fee, amounting to S$45,572. SportCares will now use this donation to deliver a year-long programme to address the winning cause.

148 teams competed in the Singapore leg of the global race series, which takes place annually in 12 cities world-wide, including Beijing and Mumbai that hosted their inaugural races this year. Headline sponsor Bloomberg returned for its seventh year of sponsorship in Singapore, joined by Pure Fitness as Fitness Partner, Conrad Centennial Hotel as Hotel & Catering Partner, and Peroni as Beer Supplier.

James Hassett, Managing Director of race organiser Square Mile Sport, said: “Thank you to all our sponsors and partners for helping make the Singapore race such a success. The Bloomberg Square Mile Relay is an unparalleled sporting event that offers the city’s leading institutions an opportunity to come together for a night of a night of camaraderie, competition, teamwork, and networking in support of a special cause. It was exciting to welcome Beijing and Mumbai to the global series of races this year, but Singapore’s business community always displays a level of enthusiasm, competitive spirit and teamwork unlike any other city and we always look forward to returning every year.”