When thinking about a running route, especially in an urbvan habitat, it is necessary to keep in mind that days of the week and times of day can matter a lot for what to expect on particular parts of the route.It’s a very basic fact, so basic you might overlook it when deciding on what route to run.

Runners have preferences for going out early, or only after a gentle espresso-assisted glide into somewhat human for, maybe after work to rid body and of work place tensions, or only at night, engulfed in your private headlight bubble. I am not talking about that here

When running and exploring Singapore you have to be aware that weekend mornings is when Singapore’s mountain bikers, runners and walkers hit the trails. They are many times busier than at any other day/time of the week. When hitting nature area trails (MacRitchie, Bukit Timah, Dairy Farm, Mandai,…) consider avoiding Sat and Sun mornings. Dual use (MTB and walking/running) trails are especially awkward. Afternoons are considerably less crowded.

Weekends are great for some sights, like the gathering of migrant workers at their favorite hang-outs (Philippino’s around Lucky Plaza, Burmese around Peninsula Plaza, Indians in Little India, etc.) and them and permanent residents in the larger parks), but popular parts of town (e.g. Orchard Rd, Sentosa, and plenty others) are going to be busier than otherwise and enforce lots of walking (you don’t want to be a jerk!). Which is no problem, but does mean you’ll be slower and have to adjust ambitions for route length accordingly.

Weekdays have a similar issue, related to time of day. Lunch time e.g. Chinatown is going to be a thriving buzz of CBD office workers, a sight to behold, but again, navigating its restaurant-lined shophouse streets then requires walking. Winding your way through the Sentosa crowds in the core entertainment areas of Sentosa, same deal.

My point is that day and time matter for what you’ll encounter, some urban habitat highlights are nicest when they are quiet, others when they are at their busiest. Also, the way its residents use spaces changes from early morning to late night. Even if you’re not an early riser, off and on hit the streets early morning, because it’s a different city then, with plenty of interesting activity going on in parks, etc. that you can only see then. same thing holds for the night, who hasn’t marvelled at the amazing scene of e.g. Marina Bay, Singapore river, etc. at night. When thinking about what and when to run today, take that into consideration.

And realize how lucky you are: same run, different day, different time, different run. Any day, any time can be this: