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Marathoner Neo’s making strides ahead of Rio Games

SINGAPORE — Just four months ago, local marathoner Neo Jie Shi was like any other recreational long-distance runner in Singapore.

Neo Jie Shi, a human resource and administrative assistant manager, is hoping for another personal best at a half marathon in Japan later this month. Photo: Koh Mui Fong

Neo Jie Shi, a human resource and administrative assistant manager, is hoping for another personal best at a half marathon in Japan later this month. Photo: Koh Mui Fong

SINGAPORE — Just four months ago, local marathoner Neo Jie Shi was like any other recreational long-distance runner in Singapore.

She either ran regularly on her own or with the Jurong Safra Running Club, but never found any reason to push herself past her comfort zone.

But all this changed in late January when the 30-year-old received the surprising news that she had qualified for this year’s Olympic Games, after her top-10 finish of 3hrs 15mins and 6secs at last December’s Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (SCMS), an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Gold Label event.

Since then, the human resource and administrative assistant manager has been fast-tracked into the national athletics fold, with Singapore Athletics (SA) selecting veteran distance running coach Steven Quek to help Neo ahead of the biggest race of her life.

And Neo has reaped the benefits of having 48-year-old Quek in her corner.

With the first phase of her training programme focused on speed, she aced her first test by winning the 10km race at March’s Seoul Marathon in a personal best (PB) time of 39mins 50secs. It was her first sub-40 timing in the 10km. Previously, she would clock around 41mins in races.

Reflecting on how Quek has helped her so far, Neo, whose trip to Seoul was funded by sponsor Pocari Sweat, told TODAY: “With Steven around, my training has become a lot more structured. There are target timings to hit, and a certain pace that I have to achieve.

“In the past, if I felt tired after work, I would take it easy in my runs. But with a coach, I push myself harder in training for my workouts, and can only relax when the schedule allows me to. He (Steven) has also been very encouraging, and this has given me the motivation to complete workouts which I never imagined doing before.”

Despite having a busier schedule now, Neo has had no problems juggling her work, training and family life. It helps that her husband, Jackie Ho, is also a running enthusiast who often joins her on her workouts.

“It is all about having good time management,” explained Neo. “I try to plan ahead in my work.

“So if I know I have a tough workout planned and I need to be early for my training, I’ll complete what I need to do and leave the less urgent stuff for another day.

“My employer also allows me to take half-days off in the mornings for physiotherapy and sports massages to aid in my recovery. My husband has also been very supportive, and he’ll join me (for training) if his schedule permits.”

Following the marathon in Seoul, Neo is now in the second phase of her training, which sees her progress to a more endurance-based style of workout. This will culminate in her competing in a half marathon in Japan later this month, where she hopes to record yet another PB.

While Neo’s progress has been encouraging, she does not believe that she can beat the national record time of 2hrs 34mins 41secs set at the 1995 South-east Asian (SEA) Games by Yvonne Danson, the last Singaporean female marathoner to qualify for the Olympics.

“The national record is out of my league,” said Neo. “It’s quite hard, given my personal best is 3hrs 9mins and 57secs and I only have had these few months of training. So for now, I’m just hoping to clock a PB in Rio.”

Lunar theme for Pocari Sweat Run

Runners signing up for the fifth edition of the Pocari Sweat Run on July 23 can expect to be treated to a lunar-themed race.

This is in conjunction with the hydration drink’s parent company Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s “Lunar Dream Capsule Project”, which will see them launch of a Pocari Sweat Capsule to the moon later this year.

Related thematic elements – such as space-themed refuelling stations, and the appearance of a space expert – will be included throughout this year’s Pocari Sweat Run, which will be held at The Float@ Marina Bay.

Race organisers are also hoping that this year’s runners complete a total distance of 80,000km during the event, which features a 5km and 10km category.

This figure, when complemented with the 300,000km covered by participants from the previous four editions of the run, represents the distance the Pocari Sweat Capsule will have to travel to reach the moon.

For more information, and to purchase tickets to the race, visit www.pocarisweatrun.com.

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