MacRitchie Trail Run

There was a huge crowd at MacRitchie Reservoir this morning. Fairfield Methodist Secondary was holding its Cross-Country Run or Sports Day there; there were also lots of young teens in casual wear "strolling" along the MacRitchie trail routes. I have no idea what these teens were doing at the reservoir on an early Saturday morning. They didn't seem as if they wanted to be there, but there weren't any teachers around to hound them either. Strange.

Anyway, Run.run.runaway, Choonwei and I met up at the carpark nearer to Lornie Road at 7 am, where Run3 initially had some difficulty trying to park. There were just too many cars! Coincidentally, we also met Cheow12 and Violet in the carpark. Cheow12 was meeting up with some of his ITE students for a run in preparation for their run in Mt Kinabalu. Wow!

At 7:15 am, Run3, Choonwei and I began to run from the waiting area outside the reservoir toilets towards the 10-km trail route around the reservoir (click here for a map of the route from National Parks), and then we went onto the trail itself. We kept up a good pace past by the Ranger Station, past the landslide section, and past the Singapore Island Country Club golf course. But I had worn my normal running shoes (and not trail shoes), which meant that I could feel the rocks impact on my soles as I ran over them. Ouch.

Along the way, I met some friends who were running in the opposite direction. They were Commando, Guna and Bselby. I haven't seen these three for ages, and we only managed a quick smile and a nod between us as we ran past each other. About 1 hr 15 mins later, Run3, Choonwei and I finished the 10-km trail route and returned to the waiting area outside the toilets.

At this point, Run3 said she didn't want to aggravate her cough, so she wasn't going to do a second loop. But she offered to walk and accompany Choonwei and me to the start of the 10-km trail route. On our way there, we bumped into Commando again as he ran past us.

And so, Choonwei and I began our second loop of the 10-km circuit, while Run3 went back to take a rest at the waiting area.

I found the second loop much more difficult than the first. To a large extent, it was because my soles were now hurting badly when my feet landed on the small and jagged rocks. The uneven terrain was also causing some discomfort to my knees. By the time I was 6 km into the trail, I had to start alternating between quick walking and slow jogging.

During our second loop, we met Slowandsteady and Commando (running past us for the third time!). I'm very impressed with Commando. He not only has the ability to chomp up miles, but he is also able to do so quickly.

The second loop took me 1 hr 30 min. In total, I think I covered 20.5 km today. When I got back to the waiting area, Run3 told me that in spite of her cough, she had gone to run an additional 5 km on her own while Choonwei and I were on the trail. Ah well, I guess Run3's as addicted to running as I am :)

Later, Choonwei, Run3 and I headed to Casuarina Road for dumpling noodles and some much-needed thirst-quenching drinks. It was a satisfying morning.