Mok Ying Ren reclaims local marathon crown with 2:54:17 finish in SEA Games warmup

By Romaine Soh/Red Sports

Mok Ying Ren celebrates his marathon finish. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Padang, Sunday, December 1, 2013 — Mok Ying Ren, 25, reclaimed his title as the fastest Singaporean marathon runner at the 2013 Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore. He had finished third in 2012.

Mok’s winning time of 2 hours 54 minutes 17 seconds is 9 minutes slower than last year’s winning time of 2:45:06 clocked by Ashley Liew and a far cry from his personal best (PB) of 2:26:30 set earlier this year at the Gold Coast Marathon.

There was some confusion when Alex Ong, who had run with Mok in the lead pack and finished about 30 seconds behind, was not declared the runner-up. Soon Suan Boon, who was part of the lead pack and finished third, was declared the runner-up on the day. Derek Li, who was seen finishing behind fourth-placed Ning Wenlong and ahead of Andy Neo, also found himself undocumented. Gordon Lim, 19, was declared third with a time of 2:58:07.51.

When asked if the two runners had lodged an appeal, the organisers, Spectrum Worldwide, issued a statement saying: “Two runners have submitted appeals regarding the results for the Local category of the 42.195km Marathon that took place this morning at the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2013. Officials are currently investigating both appeals and the outcome will be released once a resolution has been reached. Further details will be made available once all investigations have been completed.”

As for Mok, a fast time was not on his mind because he is going to run the marathon for Singapore in two weeks at the South-East Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar.

“Since I just came back from a training stint in Japan, this race was primarily for acclimatisation, as Singapore’s weather is similar to that of Myanmar’s,” explained Mok.

“I was going at my normal long run pace, around 4:20 per kilometer. (Ang) Chee Yong, Alex (Ong), Gordon (Lim), Derek (Li) and (Soon) Suan Boon were running with me for the first 16km, after which I took off with Alex and Suan Boon.”

For winning the local category, Mok earned S$10,000 but the medical doctor gave away $2,500 to the SportCares Foundation to help underprivileged kids through sports. The foundation is a recommendation of Vision 2030.

The last hurdle left for Mok before the SEA Games – conquering his first few weeks of National Service (NS).

“Since I’m enlisting tomorrow, it’s going to be tough, particularly since it’s a stay-in camp, so my training will be sightly affected,” said Mok of his Medical Officer Cadet Course (MOCC).

“I guess I can do my tapering then!” said Mok with a laugh.

Mok will book out on December 15, fly out the same day, and run the marathon on Monday, December 16. He then returns immediately to resume his NS training.

For Soon Suan Boon, he completed his seventh marathon in a time of 2:57:56. He holds a marathon PB of 2:49:37, set at the same event two years ago.

“I was going for a 4 minute/km pace, but the weather wasn’t optimum, with a lot of headwind most of the way. I was leading the pack for the first 13-14km, consisting of Mok, Alex, Chee Yong, Derek, Gordon and Ramesh. Afterwards, Alex and I were drafting behind Mok and Derek,” said Suan Boon, 27, a Physical Education (PE) and Geography teacher, who clocked 140 to 150km a week while training for the marathon.

When asked when he would next race, he laughed and said, “Give me three months to recover first!”

Having suffered from plantar fasciitis before because of marathon running, he added: “I only do a marathon once a year. It is important to rest well to avoid any injuries!”

Full Marathon Singapore Men (Top 12)
1st Mok Ying Ren – 02:54:17.90
2nd Alex Ong Seng Lee – 02:54:56.28
3rd Soon Suan Boon – 02:57:53.31
4th Gordon Lim – 02:58:07.51
5th Ning Wenlong – 03:02:29.55
6th Derek Li – 3:06:20.12
7th Andy Neo – 03:09:36.76
8th Colin Chua – 03:10:22.81
9th Rukhaizat Rapsan – 03:10:37.36
10th Colin Tung – 03:10:48.72
11th Ho Ghim Khoon – 03:10:58.27
12th M Rameshon – 03:11:08.63

*N.B. The organisers have reinstated Alex Ong and Derek Li in the standings. They are now official 2nd and 6th respectively.

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