Geylang River - The Gateway into Marina Bay (Highly Recommended)

Geylang River from Dakota MRT

It has been exactly 3 years since I started SG Unfit Runners and we are running into one of the biggest challenge of our blog: Finding an area in the central area which we have not covered yet and is acceptable by all the Unfit Runners who live all over Singapore. We spend sometime huddling over Google Map, enlarging the map, looking out for pathways or possible running routes which we can share with our readers. Working from the Marina Bay area, we spied a small walking track from Marina Bay East up along Geylang River. That route looks like a possible runner's dream with minimal traffic crossings.On top of that, one of the best food market in Singapore, Old Airport Road Market is along the way.



SG Unfit Runners gathered at Dakota MRT and we headed south towards Kallang. The run is a scenic one with a good mix of modern condominiums, old HDB estates and expensive landed property. I have ran along many small rivers and canals in Singapore and many of them exhibit the same problems for runners: The smell of stale water and rotten garbage.

Geylang River is one of the PCN network

One of the cyclist/runner friendly overhead bridge

One of the old HDB buildings along the west bank of the river

Condo, HDB and landed property along the Geylang River

Light pedestrian traffic

The Geylang River does not exhibit the same problem and we even encountered some Singaporean doing some fishing along the way. The path we took is part of the Singapore PCN network and true to our expectations, there are underpasses and sloped overhead bridges which are extremely friendly to both runners and cyclists. There is minimal elevation along the route and there are minimal pedestrian traffic along the way. Other than a few dog walkers, this fantastic route seems to have been forgotten by Singapore Runners. The running traffic started to pick up in earnest as we hit the Kallang stadium area. You can view the Kallang BayEast route here.

Kallang Stadium and Tanjong Rhu in sight

Men's Health Urbanathlon 2015

Obstacle 6: Tipping point

 We encountered the runners challenging the Singapore Urbanathlon when we reached the Kallang River stretch with the runners challenging Obstacle 6. We had a great time waving at the runners and urging them on!

The Geylang River route is one beautiful, smooth and runner friendly route dotted with MRT stations and some of the best eating spots in the east. If you are looking for a morning and evening run and end with a satisfying meal, Geylang River is probably one of the best route to try out.