SINGAPORE — If Renuka Satianathan goes on to win a medal in the women’s 10,000m race at next year’s SEA Games, the Singaporean will have compatriot and former national middle-distance runner K Jayamani to thank.

Satianathan, who competed for the Republic at the 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia, had taken a break after that to focus on her studies in Australia, where she graduated with a master’s degree in applied linguistics, and later, her full-time job as a General Paper teacher at Innova Junior College.

But a chance meeting with Jayamani, who still holds the national 1,500m and 3,000m records set in 1982, convinced the 27-year-old to give the SEA Games another shot.

“I bumped into Jayamani a couple of months back while I was training at the Ministry of Education’s Co-Curricular branch and she asked me why don’t I have another shot at the SEA Games,” said Satianathan, who finished fifth at the 2011 SEA Games in 38min 50.61sec.

“I am already 27 this year, so I thought why not, now when I am fit and ready before I get too old.”

This Sunday, Satianathan will compete in the Singapore Elite Closed Category (half-marathon) of the Great Eastern Women’s Run, which will give her a better idea of her current form.

Her personal best in the 10,000m is 37:15.87, but this was set at the 2011 Queensland Open and she knows she still has a lot of work to do to earn a nomination from the Singapore Athletic Association to the Singapore National Olympic Council to represent Singapore at the 2015 SEA Games, which the Republic will host from June 5 to 16.

The qualifying benchmark is the bronze medal result of the previous SEA Games, which is 37:41.96, set by Laos’ Lodkeo Inthakoummane at the 2013 Games in Myanmar.

“As I settled down in my work, I started running more again. This year, I have seen an improvement in my times. And when you run times that suggest it’s possible to go to the SEA Games, you have to believe,” said Satianathan.

To help achieve her goal of competing at next year’s Games, Satianathan — who was the first female Singaporean middle-distance runner to race at the SEA Games since Vivian Tang and Pamela Chia in 2003 — has also upped her training time and teamed up with former national athletics coach G Elangovan to devise a structured programme.

“I am consistently going under 40 minutes this year and there is still time to improve till the SEA Games,” she said. “I run six days a week now and it is convenient because my workplace has a running track. My students send words of encouragement and all the support makes me very motivated.”