My visit to Singapore in December 2004 was simply amazing. I’m not that big on cities… my preference would be to take a trip into the wilderness but it must be said that my experience in Singapore was certainly not a let down. In fact I brought back home lots of wonderful memories and met lots of great people from all walks of life both from Singapore and abroad.

Being the owner of a travel business and specialising in selling packages for running events… the sport I love most… does mean that I am fortunate enough to be invited to run Marathons around the globe. Thanks to the staff of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), in Sydney, I was able to make it to the annual Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon event held on the 5th December in 2004. Due to the short notice and lack of training, I decided not to run the Marathon much to my disappointment, so instead opted to run the 10km event. You may well think that I am a bit of a whimp for choosing to run the shorter distance, but I have always been very respectful of the Marathon distance and having done little training for this one, I opted for the easier option. There is also a Half Marathon and 10km team event to choose from, all of which are held on the same day as the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. For the little people under 13 years there is the 700m South East CDC Kids Dash… most tempting! All the events are organised by the Singapore Sports Council in conjunction with the Singapore Amateur Athletics Association

So how hot and humid was it on the day of the race I hear you ask? Yes the humidity was certainly higher than I am used to in Sydney but to be honest I did not find the heat overpowering. It rains on and off in December and certainly this does not reduce humidity but it does keep the temperatures down.

Irrespective of the weather I had an absolute blast running along the streets of this “uniquely gorgeous” city with plenty of shade along the way, an abundance of drink stations and lots of locals cheering the runners on. I could not believe how easy I ran this 10km event and before I new it I found myself running down the finishing chute with a huge crowd standing on either side. The noise was roaring and the music was pumping… I would have been happy to run it again… damn, if only I had trained for the Marathon. I completed the event in a very comfortable time of 48mins… thank you Singapore for the HUGE finisher’s medal.

After the run I was fortunate enough to have been given a VIP pass to the stand located next to the finish line. From up here I was able to capture the excitement and camaraderie of this great day. Matt Harris from Australia was one of the announcers at this event and he certainly knew how to get the crowds going. The scene reminded me so much of the finishing chute at Forster Ironman… the place was BUZZING with energy and so much excitement surrounded me… for any of you who have been to Foster Ironman, as a spectator or competitor, I am pretty sure you know what I am talking about.

There are some great, very reasonably priced 3, 4 and 5 star hotels in Singapore, conveniently located within walking distance of the Marathon start/finish line and the many sights and attractions this wonderful city has to offer. During my free time I found myself walking quite extensively around Singapore (mostly underground), where colourful and well presented retail stores line up next to each other. These stores had this amazing power of drawing, even the least interested shopper (like myself) into their shops. All the staff that I met were extremely helpful and polite (without being intrusive) and at the end of the day I had an impressive collection of bargains under my arm.

The city centre is of course not the only place to shop… I ventured into groovy Little India (by metro)… I loved meandering through its quaint lively streets and ended up buying good quality and very affordable men’s business shirts and silk ties (not for me). China Town is also a great place to go walkabouts… I visited this place late one afternoon on foot from the city centre and hung around into the evening. The streets were lit up with colourful lights… the atmosphere was so lively it made me want to hang around until my legs dropped off.

Singapore also boasts plenty of outdoor café’s and restaurants. Very welcoming indeed at the end of a long, hard days shopping. I can still taste the first, thirst-quenching mouthful of Tiger Beer.

Other Singapore attractions include the Night Safari Park at the Zoo; a cruise on Singapore’s famous Duck Boat, a motorised vehicle travelling both on land and water that simply stops for nothing (at least it didn’t when I was on it); the Moonlight Hippo Tour, presents a magical night adventure along Singapore’s famous Orchard Road on an open topped bus where you get a great view of the vibrant street Christmas lights.

If you really want to get away for a day or two and unwind you can head to Sentosa Island only 15 mins from the bustling city. This is a great place to soak up the sun and visit the remarkable Underwater World. There is also the option to take a short boat trip to the luxurious Indonesian resort of Bintan Island or take a bus trip up to the historical town of Malacca in Malaysia. There is so much to see and do when visiting Singapore that you will want to stay longer than originally planned!

I will DEFINITELY go back to Singapore, not just to see more of the place but because I have now told myself that I must run the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. I love challenges… to date I have run one of the toughest Marathons in the world – the Great Wall Marathon (including 3800 torturous uneven steps); one of the coldest in the world – the Polar Circle Marathon (down to sub 10 degrees celcius); one of the highest – the Great Tibetan Marathon (with an altitude of over 3500m) and when I run the Singapore Marathon it will certainly be classified as one of the most humid races in the world… a challenge that I will most certainly conquer in the very near future. Singapore, be prepared… I will be back.