3 Best places to run in Singapore -
Travel Guide Ideas. Singapore measures only a little more than 700 square kilometers but hosts a terrific variety of trails for the island's runners. While it's impossible to escape the humidity, certain trails -- MacRitchie and Southern Ridges -- provide a respite from the heat, and on weekends are packed with avid runners putting in the miles. Here's a guide to 10 of the best routes -- both long and short -- catering to varying abilities.
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| 3 Best places to run in Singapore |
1. MacRitchie Reservoir LoopSingapore’s largest water catchment area is also one of its more popular exercise destinations.
The trail that circumvents the reservoir gradually brings you closer to Nature: you start on asphalt, near man-made facilities, before heading off along the reservoir via a wooden boardwalk. The trail eventually leads deep into the jungle, where the boardwalk gives way to a dirt track.
A word of advice: Bring water and eat your pre-run snack before you enter the jungle. The monkeys here are mostly harmless, albeit rather shameless food-snatchers.
Route: www.stepwhere.com/maps/route/MacRitchie-Reservoir-Loop
Distance: 9.7km
Recommended for: Intermediate to advanced runners. The route leads deep into the jungle surrounding the Reservoir, far from amenities and civilization, so you have to be comfortable with the distance.
Amenities: Average. Shower and bathroom facilities, along with lockers and refreshment stalls, are available at the start and end points only. In between, the jungle will have to be your bathroom. There are bathroom and water facilities round the entrance point of the HSBC Treetop Walk.
2. The Southern Ridges Trail
The Southern Ridges Trail spans three parks in Southern Singapore -- Mount Faber Park, Telok Blangah Hill Park and Kent Ridge Park -- before ending in West Coast Park.
This particularly challenging route is literally an uphill battle, but rewards the persevering with lush natural views and the 300-meter-long Henderson Waves, a wavy, rib-like wooden bridge that stands 36 meters above Henderson Road.
Route: www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=21919
Distance: 9km
Recommended for: Kenyans, and advanced runners. The sloping terrain will make the run considerably challenging, especially over the full distance.
Amenities: Good. Bathroom facilities are well spaced out, even in the jungle trail. Car parks are available at all three parks, as well as shower facilities and beverage kiosks.
3. Keppel Bay Keppel Bay is one of Singapore’s bastions of luxury, so its appeal is more aesthetic than athletic.
This three-kilometer run, beginning outside the Harbourfront Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station, takes you across a marina to this offshore island that serves mainly as a yacht harbour.
The view alone, especially at sunset, makes this a run worth your time and effort.
Route: www.run.com/showroute.asp?map=2150356
Distance: 3km
Recommended for: All runners.
Amenities: Poor. There isn’t much in the way of shower or locker facilities, so this route is better suited to those who live or work in the vicinity. Post-run refuelling can be done in the lush confines of waterfront restaurant Privé. Be sure to change out of your running attire, though.
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3 Best places to run in Singapore.