Macritchie Revisited

Its been about 10 years since I last ran the MR loop. Used to take a bus from Toa Payoh those days and start running over here at around 7am. The loop took me about 1hr 10mins during that time, typically. It wasn't fast. So when Ryo asked to do some trails (actually, was a little adamant as was still pulling a slightish fever and still on antibiotics) I said 'why not?' but not the brutal 20km of course given my state.

645am. My car reaches MR. I was shocked to so many people over there. I thought there was an event going on but NO....its normal for that as I found out later after the run. The carpark was almost full I think. More asphalt and building at MR park area now compared to then. A much upgraded visitor centre (which did not exist 10yrs ago) and canoe storage area but the path to the trail remains fresh in memory. The trail itself seemed a little wider, but maybe this is just because I've been going to Woodcutters too much! So no problems in getting lost this time, still remember the route well.

We were doing a nice pace, albeit I do feel I'm slowing Ryo down A LOT by his standards. We climbed up Jelutong tower at about the 5-6km point. Excellent view of post-sunrise from the very top. Met another runner there, has a quick nice chat and went of together with him. HG is his name and I have included him into the PreDawn Trail Runners (PTR) Facebook group. Another minimalist runner like myself (on VFFs)!

Completed about 11km in 1hr 20mins....thats with at 12-13mins stop at the tower and a wee break.

with Ryo at Jelutong Tower 

damn laces!