Mok Ying Ren crossing the finish line in a new half marathon record time of 1:07:53 at the Ageo City Half Marathon in Saitama, Japan. (Photo by Brett Larner/Japan Running News. Received via Mok Ying Ren)
Mok Ying Ren, 25, will run the marathon for Singapore at the upcoming 2013 South-east Asian (SEA) Games.
Last weekend, Mok set a new Singapore national half marathon record of 1 hour 7 minutes 53 seconds at the Ageo City Half Marathon on November 17, 2013, in Saitama, Japan. The time broke the old mark of 1:08.18 which he had set in 2011 at the Bareno Run in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Mok’s timing also qualifies him for the 2014 World Half Marathon Championships. The qualifying time for the world championship was 1:10.00.
Mok, who took a month off from his job as a medical doctor to train in Japan, also came close to breaking the national 10,000m record while in Japan. On October 26, Mok stopped the clock at 31:55.55 at the Nittaidai Sports University time trials. The timing, a new personal best (PB) for Mok, was just 36.55 seconds slower than the national record of 31:19.00 that P C Suppiah set 40 years ago.
Mok, who won a SEA Games triathlon gold in 2007, is a favourite for a SEA Games marathon medal because his marathon personal best (PB) time of 2 hours 26 minutes 30 seconds is the fastest time among SEA runners in 2013. Thaung Aye of Myanmar clocked 2:27.12 in January of this year while Eric Panique of the Philippines stopped the clock at 2:30:21 in July 2013.
We catch up with Mok to find out in detail how his races and training in Japan went.
Les Tan: Congrats on the new half marathon record of 1:07:53 at the Ageo City Half Marathon. You finished 300th out of a field of 8,000. What were your impressions of your competitors?
Mok Ying Ren: The depth of competition here is very deep and this is probably the only half marathon in the world that offers such intense competition. The field is largely made up of university runners who are vying for the top spot to qualify for the New York City Half Marathon.
Can you share with us in some detail how the half marathon race went for you?
Mok: The half marathon started off in the stadium with 8000+ competitors. Based on [my training advisor] Jason Lawrence’s experience of finishing in 67 minutes, in 200+ position, I figured there was no need for me to start the front. So I started somewhere in the middle haha. And I think that was about right as when the gun goes the entire field sprinted off. A runner in front of me fell and several of us tried to avoid falling by holding on to one another. It was quite an amazing start.
Otherwise I decided to run and follow a runner from the UK, Hywel, whom I had met three weeks before at the 10,000m Nittaidai Track Meet where he ran about a minute faster than me. I decided to keep sight of him while running at my own pace following the huge group of runners.
I crossed the half way mark in about 32:40 and I felt good thus far. I was focused on avoiding mishaps and to keep an even pace. It was not easy as many of the university runners frequently started too fast and faded off eventually. I had to pace myself based on the kilometer markers.
I was contented to run at about 3:15/km but the atmosphere was really good and thus some of the splits went as fast as 3:10/km and it still felt ok. It started to get a little painful towards the last 5km of the race as the effort of running at such a pace for such an extended period of time took the toll on my body. I was focused on runners in front and kept pace with them.
When I passed the last kilometer mark, the time on my watch showed 1:04.45 and I thought I had a chance to go under 1:08, thus I tried as best as possible to keep pushing as we ran into the stadium for the last 300m. It was a fantastic experience as up to the last 100m, there was someone ahead of me to focus on and to keep motivated.
You clocked a new PB 31:55.55 for the 10,000m. Share with us how that race went for you.
Mok: I was initially hoping to run at 75 seconds a lap which would allow me to run just under 31 minutes 15 seconds to break the national record of 31:19.
Even though the first 5km went according to plan while I ran with several other Japanese runners, the last 5km proved too difficult for me to keep that pace and I had to back off slightly to prevent blowing up totally in the last 2km. I am glad to hold it all together to go under 32 minutes.
Can you give us an idea of what your daily schedule was like for this one-month training stint in Japan.
Mok: I stayed in a small apartment. My training advisor Jason Lawrence had arranged for me to train with several runners who are at the same running standards as me, such as Duathlon Asian Championships runner-up Yuya Fukaura.
I also trained with several university runners such as Chang Shih-Yin from Tokyo university and Kawarai who is working as a messenger in central Tokyo. All of them were a great help towards my training.
I ran twice a day. An easier session of 30min to 60min in the morning, then in the evening, it was either a track session or a tempo run at the nearby Yoyogi Park.
What are the benefits you’ve gotten from training full time?
Mok: Benefits are that I am able to take a afternoon nap of 60min after lunch and that has greatly enhanced my ability to recover between workouts. Also, food here is readily available with good balance of macro nutrients to promote recovery. The cold weather here also allows faster recovery and comfort.
What are your plans for next year? Do you intend to continue working full time or are you able to work part time while training?
Mok: I am enlisting into the medical officer conversion course on December 2, 2013, and will undergo the course of three months. On March 2, 2014, I hope to graduate from the course and serve as a medical officer (MO) in the army. Thereafter, I will be working full time as an MO and will train as per normal.
The Red Crew wish Mok Ying Ren all the best at the 2013 SEA Games! Do drop Mok a note of support in the comments section if you can. We’re sure he’ll appreciate it. Upload photos showing your support of Mok on Instagram using #ourteamsg, or on the Team Singapore campaign’s website: www.ourteamsg.com
[…] Ying Ren took a month of to train in Japan for the SEA Games but in the last two weeks in the lead up to the marathon, he has been undergoing National Service in the Medical Officer Cadet Course (MOCC) and only flew in for the marathon just the day before. […]