colin tung 3000m steeplechase singapore track and field open

Colin Tung, running under the banner of Wings Athletics Club, on his way to gold and a new PB in the 3000m Steeplechase. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)

 

Bishan Stadium, Sunday, August 26, 2012 — Colin Tung, 24, won the 3000m Steeplechase in a new personal best (PB) time of 10 minutes 3.40 seconds at the 74th Singapore Open Track and Field Championships.

Colin’s previous PB in the 3000m Steeplechase was 10:05.35, set in June 2012 at the Singapore Athletic Association (SAA) Track and Field Series 5 Meet.

An hour later, Colin, inspired by Alberto Salazar’s autobiography, lined up for the start of the 5000m. Colin finished fourth in a time of 16:37.40, breaking by almost 18 seconds his previous PB of 16:55.10 set at the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Games in January 2012.

Su Yen Bing finished second in a time of 10:54.15 in the two-man field.

The national record for the 3000m Steeplechase is 9:11.24, and was set by Mathevan Maran back on October 19th, 1991.

“Basically, going into the S’pore Open, my aim was to obtain the ASEAN University Games (AUG) 3000m steeplechase qualifying mark of 10:03.27,” said Colin, who is in his final year of study at the Nanyang Technological University.

“I’m definitely happy with obtaining a personal best with the 10:03.40 but also a little disappointed having come so close to getting under the AUG qualifying mark. I didn’t know I was that close or I’d have pushed harder that last lap.

“In addition to getting the AUG qualifying mark, I was actually also aiming for a sub-10 timing and the season-leading mark in the event by Karthic,” added Colin.

Karthic Ragupathy, 16, ran 9:57.95 at the SAA Track and Field Series 3 meet in March 2012, the first local youth athlete in 25 years to run the event in less than 10 minutes.

“So, when I heard Mr Steven Quek’s voice booming out ’75!’ to me in the stands, I just tried to speed up as much as I possibly could without disrupting my approach to the barriers, with the assumption that 75sec was what I needed on that last lap for a sub-10 time,” said Colin.

“Training had been going well and I had incorporated some hurdles training in the last three weeks to work on my barrier-jumping technique.

“The first three laps went on pace and I was jumping pretty smoothly. But, on the fourth lap, I started having some difficulty and my jumping became more laboured,” added Colin.

In the 5000m race, Colin finished fourth behind winner Soh Rui Yong (15:39.80), Jason Lawrence (15:42.86), and Hoang Le Van (16:26.57) of Vietnam.

Said Colin about the 5000m race: “Also, very happy with my 5000m PB. I knew my previous PB was probably not an accurate reflection of where I was and am in terms of my fitness. So, going into the race, my aim was really to better that PB and try to go out on 80sec/lap pace and see how long I could hold it, even having run the 3000m steeplechase earlier.”

“I clicked off the first 200m in 39sec, slightly ahead of pace, then the next 400m in 77sec, again, ahead of pace. After going through the next five laps on or ahead of pace, and still feeling in control, the possibility of adding another PB to the day became more tangible in my mind.

“Despite feeling moments of waning, having friends cheering on in the stands really helped to channel my focus and pick up the tempo again and that really helped me to my new PB of 16:37.40. This performance has given me excitement and enthusiasm for how much faster I can go when fresh and will definitely provide added impetus while doing those weekly track intervals,” added Colin.

Reading Alberto Salazar’s autobiography, 14 Minutes, while on his way to Bishan Stadium made Colin decide to run the 5000m after finishing the 3000m steeplechase.

“Remember you asked me whether I was doing the 5000m after I had just finished the 3000m steeplechase? I think what made me decide eventually to proceed to do it was a mixture of a desire to exercise my faith and reading Alberto Salazar’s autobiography 14 Minutes while I was travelling to Bishan stadium,” said Colin.

“One must have a willingness to suffer in distance running and reading Salazar’s stories was inspiring towards that count. I think, also, having Steve Prefontaine’s example in the back of my mind, about how running is an art and can be used as a tool to influence and inspire people, I wanted to do something that was perhaps unusual, at least, in Singapore,” added Colin.