East Coast Park parkrun

Singapore, 11-Nov-2023

Getting there: the meeting point for the start/finish of East Coast Park parkrun is a gazebo about 2.4 km by foot almost directly south of Dakota MRT station on Singapore’s Circle Line, and the simplest route is straight down Broadrick Road and under the pedestrian underpass behind the residential apartment complexes on Meyer Road.

That is however unless you (as we did) complacently and determinedly omit to negotiate a crossing of the Geylang River at the first opportunity (immediately outside the MRT station) and take the ‘scenic’ route along the northern bank to the place where it goes under Mountbatten Road, adding about 600 metres to your journey.

The Parkrun website actually contains some sage words: Tourists may find it easiest to take a taxi.

Consequently, we approached the assembly point with some relief to observe that we hadn’t missed the advertised 0730 start or indeed the pre-run briefing, which included the usual welcomes for first-timers and tourists, thanks to the vollies and a reminder that the finish tokens aren’t souvenirs. Unusually though was the trek to the start, which is about 300 metres displaced from the finish.

 The run itself then, explicitly not a race, is a pancake flat out-and-back with a tear-drop turna round along East Coast Park and all the way along views of the masses of shipping clustered in the Singapore Strait.

Strava records that humidity was 87%, which (according to Strava) is about the same as London was experiencing a few days earlier when it was so humid that drops of water were actually falling from the sky. However, a parallel run report puts the humidity at 98%. Either way it was sweaty as. Anyway - a great course, run by super-friendly vollies. And importantly, it’s a third point (of four required) towards membership of the all-important Parkrun Compass Club.

Resources

Header photo from the Strava account of James Payne