I see someone asking: “Why nowadays so many uncles and young chaps running around EC Punggol Waterway or Marina Bay without shirt? So warm meh? Show off abs is it?”
Bro, let me drop the truth bomb as a guy who runs 5k to 10k shirtless three times a week.
It’s not just because SG weather 34°C with 90% humidity makes your Uniqlo AIRism stick to your nei nei like wet tissue paper. That one is just the standard excuse we tell our mothers and girlfriends when they ask why we packing our tops into our running belts.
The real truth? We are secretly G, bro.
Think about it. You train so hard at BFT, F45, or doing your NS push-up regime. You cut carbs, skip the bubble tea, drink protein shake until your farts smell like sulfur, all to get that defined chest and v-taper. You think we do all that just to cover it up with a size L Dri-FIT shirt from 2018 Standard Chartered Marathon? Cannot be, right?
When we take off the shirt and hit the PCN (Park Connector Network), every passing glance is validation. When another shirtless runner jogs past from the opposite direction, we don’t just do that small nod for “respect”. We are doing the eye contact check.
We want other guys to stare at our sweaty bodies.
When the sweat is dripping down the abs, glistening under the hot afternoon sun or the HDB streetlights, and another fit bro slows down his pace just a little bit to check out the lat spread… wah, the endorphin rush is better than runner’s high, I tell you. It’s like an unspoken male-to-male bro-code of low-key thirst.
So next time you see a group of shirtless guys running past Bedok Reservoir looking like they just stepped out of a gym advert, don’t need to ask why they no money buy shirt.
We know exactly what we are doing. Stay hydrated, fellas.