Western Slopes, Canterbury Plains

FatBird Weekender @ Mt. Faber, courtesy FatBird DO

More than 50 turned up for the Kingfisher Pre-Ops & Weekender run at the Mt. Faber Region. The weather was cloudy and cool, just nice for a Sunday morning scenic tour of the hilly region of the Western Corridor. Most of the runners were new to the area, and all were so excited at the prospects of exploring new running and ‘pak-tor’ grounds…they were not disappointed.

A tour of the ‘Canterbury Plains’ was the first highlight of the morning, with many soaking in the sights of the rustic colonial estate, with huge dogs, large cars, deep swimming pools, sandy tennis courts, and large pieces of lawn. While we ran at a leisurely, sight-seeing pace, we took time to stop at special ‘FatBird Photo Points’ for group shots. Out from the Canterbury Estates and we gathered at the HortPark area for the next scenic landmark, The Labrador Park Reserve.

It was a scenic loop around the Labrador Park to the ‘Dragon Tooth’ for some prayers for the upcoming Kingfisher Training Program, before proceeding to the entrance of the WWII ‘Tunnels’ for a short briefing and Q&A of Ops Sunbird. A trip from there up the tunnels brought grunts and puffs from all…it was a nice change from the earlier Canterbury Plains. By then, lots had been burnt, and people were feeling a little hungry liao :D

The next spot was around Mt. faber itself. As the runners pass the foot of the mountain, they looked serious and quiet. They were hoping that nobody would ask them to climb Morse Road….Phew, a sigh of relief broke, as we were told that would only be done during Ops Kingfisher itself, not today…LOL. With 3km of hilly terrain to go (nothing much is flat in the Mt. Faber area other than the Canterbury Plains), the weekenders were bracing themselves for a hard finish. The faces turned quite pale as we passed the foot of Mt. Faber at Kampong Bahru. A few heard that that was the steepest ascent to the top of Mt. Faber, part of the famous SAFRA MF 10km time trial route. Being a weekender, we were spared the details of the climb, but still had to take the smaller slope up along Telok Blangah Way. A very slight drizzle started, making it more bearable as we completed the final 1km to the SAFRA ClubHouse.

It was a challenging, but yet enjoyable FatBird Weekender of 16km. The runners liked it so much that they vowed to be back to the area for more of the Western Slopes. Some have asked for visits to the Kent Ridge area and the local ‘mini Lombardi Slopes’…hmm, we will be planning for more scenic FatBird Weekenders in other parts of Singapore, but we shall be back to this wonderful Western 5-Hills training grounds.