The usual crew of SG Unfit Runners have been logging in runs on weekend early mornings when the crowd is thin and the breakfast is fragrant. Our lone night crew, Bad Bear, sprained his ankle during one of his in-line skating venture and after resting for 3 months, felt that he had to get back to a healthy lifestyle after being dormant (and getting fat) for so long. Looking for an inspirational run to kickstart his running habit again, he seek me for advice on where is a good place to run.
I suggested Marina Bay and he called me Nuts!
“Nobody runs at Marina Bay in the evening!”
“Who says! There is all those cute female bankers working their rounds every evening!”
He bought the idea of cute female bankers… Of course, I neglected to tell him that there would probably not be a lot of bankers around since it was a Saturday evening. So off we went to our starting point at Marina Barrage.
Marina Barrage was surprisingly bustling with activities, with families strolling around, cyclists taking a break at the water cooler, couples cuddling around the dark corners and techies playing with their flying drones. The car park was of course filled to the brim.
Bad Bear is a virgin runner when it comes to the Marina Bay area and I had to give him clear directions on how to get to the Marina Bay from the Marina Barrage.
“Just run straight. Do not make any turns and you will reach Marina Bay Sands. From there, just run one round the Bay area and you will be fine.”
With such clear instructions, I did not think anyone will get lost. But 20 mins into the run, I received a beep from Bad Bear.
<Bro, where are you? I am done with my run>
<What! You done with the Bay area? I am only halfway through!>
<No, I got lost in Gardens by the Bay and I am back at Barrage. Let’s go for Supper!>
I was literally rolling my eyes at that point of time. How could a person have gotten lost at Marina Bay!
I continued my slow jog and enjoyed the scenery around me.
Marina Bay in the evening was much more crowded, but because most of the pathways around the Bay area are extremely generous, there was no trouble trying to navigate around the tourist crowds around the region. Taking photos in the evening, was also extremely challenging given that I had to come to a complete halt, due to the low light condition, before I could take any decent pictures. The stop-run-stop process was indeed extremely draining for me and I would recommend that anyone who wants to attempt night running photojournalism to have a decent about of stamina before trying to take pictures with a lousy phone camera phone.
I finally made my way to Bad Bear, who was sitting at one of the the benches just outside Satay by the Bay, probably starving by now with all the smell of grill meeting drifting towards him. Apparently, he took a wrong turn into Gardens by the Bay and got lost inside there and never even made it to Marina Bay Sands. I was extremely confused on why he even made a turn when he was given clear instructions not to….
Perhaps he spotted a pretty girl strolling into the Gardens by the Bay and trailed after her… Ho Ho…
Marina Bay during the evening is an extremely place to run. There are lots of activities around, things to see and not to mention the gorgeous night scenery of the Singaporean skyline which our Singapore Tourism Board has been tooting about all over the world.
Visit SG Unfit Runners for more routes for absolutely unfit people. Don’t visit us if you are very fit and do ultramarathons without breaking a sweat! SG Unfit Runners is a finalist at the Singapore Blog Awards.
