Soh keeps his eyes on gold

SINGAPORE — In the one and only time so far that he has competed in a marathon, Soh Rui Yong (picture) clocked the second-fastest time achieved by a Singaporean. And the next time he competes in the 42km race, he might end up with a South-east Asian (SEA) Games gold medal around his neck.

Earlier this month, the 23-year-old finished the California International Marathon in 2hr 26min 1sec. The national record is 2:24.22, which was set by Murugiah Rameshon in 1995.

With about six months to the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore, the United States-based marathon runner told TODAY that he not only wants to stand highest on the podium, but believes he can achieve it despite having competed in the marathon only once.

“If I’m comfortable until the 32km mark and run the final 10km in 33 minutes like I did in California, that will give me a very good chance of winning the gold medal,” said Soh yesterday, while he was back in Singapore for a short break.

“If I show up in the best shape possible and get my strategy right, I’m going to be pretty hard to beat and that’s my goal. It’s going to be a tactical race and I don’t think it will be fast. It might be won in 2:25 or 2:30, but no one cares. Everyone cares about the gold medal, not the time. I can’t guarantee I will win, but I’m going for gold and nothing else.”

And his time in California would have won him the gold at last year’s SEA Games in Myanmar, where the winning time by compatriot Mok Ying Ren was 2:28.36.

But Soh, a Sport Singapore scholar who is a business undergraduate at the University of Oregon, will not be competing in more marathons to gain experience. Instead, the national men’s 10,000m record holder (31min 15.95sec) plans to run in shorter races such as the Eugene Half Marathon in May to stay fresh and improve his speed, which he believes will prove crucial in the marathon’s last 10km.

Now coached by Ian Dobson, who represented the US in the men’s 5,000m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Soh covers at least 140km each week and has upped the intensity from four to 11 sessions.

“In Oregon, we were doing intervals and, while running our last lap, I raced them till the last 200m and got to the line first. But my coach shook his head,” said Soh, who wears black socks when racing. “I learnt racing during workouts won’t help me in the long term because I will be exhausted for the rest of the week.”

He is also aiming to go below 2:20 and meet the qualifying time of 2:18 for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

If he does book his Rio ticket, it would be a dream come true for Soh, who finished 50th of 300 runners in his first cross-country race at the 2004 National Schools Cross Country Championships, where he was with The Chinese High School — now known as Hwa Chong Institution.

“Running is a tough and painful sport when you start off,” he said. “It’s one of those things you don’t fall in love with immediately, but it grows on you. It’s like the girl next door.”