Mizuno: Wave Run & Wave Rider 9

I had taken a break from running just to rest my feet for the upcoming long run on either Monday or Tuesday. Since there is so much ample time, I decided to go to Singapore for a day trip with some shopping spree in my mind. It was a rainy day and the first thing that I actually did was to go to the SAFRA Town Club located in Carpenter’s Street within the city itself. After registering for the Shears Bridge Run / Army Half Marathon and having a friendly chat with the staffs there, I proceed to Orchard Road to get the Silicon Casing for my MP3 player. It was really difficult to get this casing as the availability of Creative’s accessories were so limited in Singapore. While searching for this item at Lucky Plaza, I went into Royal Sporting House to check out the running shoes on sales. I had in mind to replace my ageing Gel Cumulus with an updated model and I was scouring high and low in the store. Finally, at one corner I saw some Asics shoes being offered at a discounted price but without the Cumulus Model. Instead, the Gel Nimbus was being offered at SGD168 after discount. It is a good buy but then I was in a hurry to get the silicone casing so, I just kept this store checked in the event I had the extra time to return to this store and check out my shoe size. Next I went to the Paragon to look for my stuff and I stumbled upon a Mizuno Store. Outside the store was a board displaying registration for the Mizuno Wave 10K Run scheduled to be held on 23 July 2006 at Kovan Hub. After giving a thought or two, I decided to register for this race as well. After filling up the forms and paying for the registration fees (SGD15), I asked for the goodies bag but they informed to me that they will only me given out after the run. However, upon registration, all participants will be entitled with 30% discounts on all items except baseball related products!! I kept this in mind and rushed to Sim Lim Square in a final bid to look for my silicon casing.





While at Sim Lim square, I spent a large portion of time looking high and low for the casing and at last, just 2 floors before the final level, I found my Silicon Casing displayed in a small accessory store. I was asking the store assistant why it is so difficult to find this item and he mentioned to me that there weren’t many users of the Zen Vision M. Well, I just bought it anyway without giving too much thought about the price that I had paid, SGD23. Realizing that I still had some time, I rushed back to Paragon to check out the Mizuno shoes. The store assistant knew that I was interested in the Mizuno shoes when I entered the store for second time and he was more than happy to entertain me. He asked me several questions on what type of shoes I was looking for and I mentioned to him I need a neutral shoe and preferably lightweight. Then he proceeded to recommend me the Wave Elixir and Wave Rider 9.


Wave Rider 9 Outsole Profile

I was trying on the Elixir and it felt really good. It felt snug and I gave a few nice run in the shop. The price was quite reasonable too where I could obtain this pair at the price of SGD104.30. It is a bargain compared to the Asics but then, the store assistant advised me to give the Wave Rider 9 a try. He mentioned to me that the Wave Rider would be much better compared to the Elixir although it is ‘slightly’ heavier. When I put these pair of shoes on, it gave me the same impression that I was wearing the Gel-Cumulus although the Cumulus was a tad softer but in this shoe, it felt more stable and the ride was quite smooth. I was hooked to it when I did a little run around the shop and my initial impression on this shoe is that it should be able to hold up against the Asics in cushioning department. I looked at the price tag, SGD189 before discount. Hmmmmm…..should I or shouldn’t I? As both shoes are the top cushioning model, I had the difficulty of choosing either one of them but the final deciding factor was on the price where after discount, it costs me only SGD132.30 which is SGD36 much cheaper than the Nimbus.


Wave Rider 9 Side Profile

There were many more things that I had stumbled upon while in Singapore and I had listed them down as the next purchases that I would like to make. Fashion wise, they stocked many shoes that I couldn’t even find it in KL. I will be breaking in this shoe with my next long distance run in hope that I can use it for the Seremban Half and the Singapore Wave Run.


Wave Rider 9 mengancam profile