Celebrating and Supporting Each Other, Even While We’re Apart

With this achievement, the SMOO Challenge has officially set a new record for ‘Longest Distance Covered Online by Runners in 20 Days’ in the Singapore Book of Records, making SMU’s 20th Anniversary a meaningful and memorable one.

As part of the University’s 20th anniversary celebrations, the SMU community came together for its first-ever virtual race, the inaugural SMOO Challenge, in September 2020.

It started with a simple idea: together with the support of the community, we wanted to boost spirits, promote mental and physical wellness, and contribute to a meaningful cause by raising funds to support bursaries for students and achieving 20,000km (akin to going halfway around the world) in 20 days.

Support was resounding, with 1,218 participants — students, alumni, staff, faculty, friends and family members of SMU, and even members of the public — from 16 countries and 90 teams, contributing towards this initiative. We accomplished a total of 57,664km in 20 days, nearly tripling our goal! This achievement even resulted in SMU setting a new Singapore Record in the Singapore Book of Records for the “Longest Distance Covered Online by a Group of Runners Over 20 Days”.

Along with a generous 1-for-1 matching grant from the Tote Board, the full amount raised from this milestone event will go to the SMU Bursary Fund, which aims to empower students facing financial challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. This initiative was a resounding success because of the collective support of our fundraising, social media ambassadors and alumni fitness ambassadors, as well as the SMU Challenge Student Committee members. The inaugural bursaries will be awarded in AY2021.