Out through Singapore, and back into it
An eight-hour transit in Singapore on the way out felt long at the time. In hindsight: foreshadowing. Nine days in Sydney around race day on the 30th. Then a trip home through Singapore that took four days.
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Australia & Singapore / 26 Aug – 8 Sep 2026
I ran my first marathon on three weeks of training, then a volcano wouldn’t let me go home.
Sydney was meant to be a race and a week of eating. It became a race, a week of eating, and an unplanned stay in Singapore thanks to an ash cloud over the Sunda Strait.
The marathon is why I went. The volcano is why the trip ran three days long. The days themselves are in the three chapters below.
A race trip, then a food trip, then a waiting room.
The first half is all about the start line: shakeout run, race pack, rest day, alarm at five. The second half is the city, once my legs stopped mattering.
The third half wasn’t supposed to exist. That’s Singapore.
A first major, told straight
Running a major on less training than you meant to? This is what that week looks like, including a finish time that isn’t the one you wanted.
Trip Chapters
Pick where to start
Read in order for the whole thing: the race trip, then the food trip, then the waiting room nobody asked for.
01 / Race week
The build‑up and the race
A shakeout run, a race pack, one disappointing pastry, and forty-two kilometres I hadn’t trained for.
Start Race week
02 / After the race
Sydney, once my legs stopped mattering
Bondi, a library I didn’t expect to like, a zoo with a skyline behind it, and the best meal of the trip.
Start After the race
03 / The Singapore extension
The trip that refused to end
A cancelled flight, two free days that felt like a gift, then two more that felt like a bill.
Start SingaporeLate August: race season, good weather
Late August in Sydney was comfortable for running and for walking around after. The beaches were quiet enough to lie on without fighting for space.
Sydney Fish Market, and it isn’t close
Sea urchin and oysters. DOPA was the best sit-down meal, Saga Bar the best night out. No restaurant dinner beat standing at the market.
Don’t squeeze in one more viewpoint
We meant to end at Observatory Hill but skipped it.
Race entry, and the day after
Entry is the obvious one. Less obvious: if you’re running, book nothing for the day after the race. You won’t want it.
If you are doing a major, do the work
Three weeks and a 10km long run gets you a finish, and a time you’ll be explaining afterwards. Survivable. Not advisable.
The course is hillier than the postcards suggest
Sydney looks flat in harbour photos. It isn’t. The hills were the part I’d planned for least, mostly because I’d planned for nothing.