Malacca is usually synonymous with tourist sites like A Famosa, St. Paul’s Church, Jonker Street, and Baba and Nyona Heritage Museum, among others. The gastronomical options are also aplenty, with peranakan food and other local delicacies beckoning you to a feast.

While waiting for those places to open, Ann Pow recommends putting on your running shoes to burn some calories so that you will not feel guilty when you load them up again later!

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Ann Pow Chia Ling, the 24-year old student who ranked third in her age group at IRONMAN Langkawi 70.3 and qualified for this year’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo, New Zealand, shares with us her favourite running routes in her home state, Malacca.

This sterling young lady runs to prepare for her triathlon races, and has completed 12 full distance marathons since she started running 5 years ago. She achieved her Personal Best timing at this year’s Twincity Marathon before COVID-19 stopped everything.

Although she runs on both road and trails, Ann prefers the tarmac as she thinks the latter carries a higher risk of injury. She enjoys hiking, and shares her three favourite running routes around Malacca with ToughASIA.

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Malacca River

• Start running anywhere along the river.
• If you run to and fro, you would be able to cover between 5km to 7km.
• While the route is mainly flat, do be careful when you cross the bridge.
• There is not much shelter around the running routes. At some sections, you will need to cross small roads to continue running on the opposite side.
• Best thing is that you can anytime throughout the day – both day and night.
• Just bring some money to buy drinks and snacks if you want to stop at the shops or vending machines along the way.

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Stadium Tun Fatimah

• If you are running around the perimeter of the park, the route is pretty flat. But if you run inside the park, it will be quite hilly.
• There is no specific opening time for entering the park.
• For safety reasons, do run only during the day. It does get dark at night and you may trip on the tree roots.
• There is a clean toilet there for you to change your clothes after your run

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Bukit Beruang / Bear Hill

• The carpark serves as the start and end points.
• There are 4 check points. The whole route is about 4-5km. At times, there might be a change of route as trees may fall and cut off certain parts of the route.
• Outer terrain is a paved road, but the inner terrain is for trail running and hiking. Not to worry, there are no leeches. There are no toilets available, therefore you will need to drive to the nearby shops or restaurants.
• Recommend that you go out running the trails during the day, and get out before it becomes dark.
• Trail shoes would be recommended. Use hiking poles if you prefer.

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Klebang Beach

• You can start running at any section by the beach, the loop is around 1.6km.
• Cars can be parked at the allocated car park area beside the beach.
• Google map link to Klebang Beach.
• Be careful when crossing the road, make sure to watch out for traffic.
• During the day, there will be food trucks by the beach. Additionally, public toilets are available there.
• Although the beach is open the whole day, running in the morning till evening is recommended before it gets dark.

Malacca has more to offer beyond the heritage sites and peranakan food. Do bring your running gear with you for an added dose of healthy activities while in Malacca.

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