SEA Games: Soh Rui Yong wins marathon gold

SINGAPORE — A marathon is a race run over 42.195km, but today’s (June 7) SEA Games men’s marathon final proved instead to be a heart-stopping sprint to the finish for Singapore’s Soh Rui Yong in only his second competitive marathon ever.

A favourite for the title, the Games debutant did not disappoint the 200-strong crowd who braved the rain at the Kallang Practice Track today, winning the gold in 2hr 34min 56sec to claim the Republic’s first athletics gold at the Games.

Thailand’s Srisung Boonthung finished second in 2:35:09, while Vietnam’s Hoang Nguyen Thanh was third with a timing of 2:37:10. 

The 12-strong marathon pack was greeted with a light drizzle at the start-line during the 6am flag-off, and the heavens opened up almost midway through the race.

But the crowd — some still dressed in their race attire from the Nila Run for the public, held in conjunction with the Games — were at the track to watch Soh unleash a final kick in the last 300m to speed past Srisung.

The Singaporean sprinted home, raising both arms in victory and letting out a loud roar as he crossed the finish line, much to the delight of the crowd as Singapore Athletics president Tang Weng Fei rushed forward to congratulate Soh.

Soh’s victory at the Games is the second marathon gold won by Team Singapore at the biennial event after Mok Ying Ren’s historic gold in Myanmar in 2013. 

“I was touched to see everyone out here. I was going to go for gold,” said Soh. “Mok Ying Ren set the bar really high, and putting the marathon on the first day of track events because we won it the last time gave me some pressure. But winning a gold medal feels ‘shiok’!”

The gold had almost slipped out of Soh’s reach early in the race, when the runners were directed down the wrong route at the 6km mark, leaving him near the bottom of the pack before he caught up at the halfway point.

With race favourite Eduardo Buenavista of the Philippines fizzling out, it became a three-way tussle between Soh, Srisung and Hoang, who dropped off the pace with 4km left. 

Added Soh: “It was a terrible day because it was pouring and it was super windy. But I knew it would come down to a sprint so I sat on him, and let him run the pace. Today wasn’t the day to run fast. I saw my former coach Steven Quek on the course and he told me to be patient, and he’s been telling me that since I was 16. At the last 300m, I saw him (Srisung) stumble a little. So I ran next to him, gave him a stare and I was off.”

With the SEA Games gold in the bag, Soh now has a bigger target in mind: Qualifying for the 2016 Olympics. He plans to train full-time for at least six months in Flagstaff, Arizona, after he graduates from the University of Oregon at the end of this year.

“I need to clock 2:17:00 to qualify, and will be the first Singaporean to qualify for the marathon at the Olympics if I do it. I give myself a 20 per cent chance (of qualifying), but even if it’s one per cent, I’ll take it,” he said. 

Other marathon results:

Singapore’s Ashley Liew finished eighth in the men’s marathon in 2:44:02, while Rachel See and Neo Jie Shi finished sixth and eighth respectively in 3:18:14 and 3:35:54 in the women’s event. 
The women’s marathon gold was won by Thailand’s Natthaya Thanaronnawat, who clocked 3:03:25, while the silver and bronze went to Mary Joy Tabal of the Philippines (3:04:39) and Hoang Thi Thanh (3:07:14) respectively.