Bay East Garden parkrun, 5th October 2024
Lynne Cornell sends this report from the far side of the world:
“I wouldn’t normally do a report for a parkrun, but thought I would for Singapore. When we were planning our trip to Singapore at the beginning of the year, I was thrilled to learn there were 3 parkruns, albeit quite a way from where we are staying. Imagine my delight when I discovered a 4th one Bay East Garden had started on 1st June, and it was only 6 stops on the MRT, plus a 1k walk.
Alarm set for 5:30 to allow me time to grab a cuppa, get ready, catch the MRT and walk to the start. parkrun starts at 7:30 here due to heat. Not difficult to find as I did a recce early yesterday morning.
It was still dark as I left the accommodation, but the sun had risen by the time I got there at 7:15. Lovely to talk to runners from the UK, Australia, India and Singaporeans. It seemed very crowded when I got there, bearing in mind this parkrun usually has a lot less than 100 participants. It turned out that the ‘official’ Singapore marathon training was starting at the same time and sharing some of the parkrun route. Very organised – the marathon is actually 1st December.
The parkrunners assembled for the briefing and announcements, then we were off. Not sure how my back was going to be, but it seemed happy so I didn’t run/walk as anticipated, but managed to run it.
An out and back course along the waterfront with the most amazing views, which we had the pleasure of seeing twice due to the route. Fantastic marshals who were very enthusiastic and everyone managed to share the same paths with no bother at all. parkrunners, marathon training, other runners, dog walkers and cyclists!!! It turned out there were only 59 of us doing the Parkrun!!!
Very warm and humid – glad of the water I had taken with me and the air-conditioning on the MRT cooled me off a treat on the journey back. A really memorable experience – shame I’m not here next weekend to try one of the others!!!”