Rui Yong with Malaysia's Ahmad Luth Hamizan (left). Luth broke Rui Yong's ASEAN schools 2000m steeplechase record in 2010. (Photo 2 © Soh Rui Yong)
“Ahmad Luth Hamizan,” an official called out. This name rang a bell, and I looked up to match the name to the athlete. Of course, Ahmad Luth. The Malaysian distance runner who broke my ASEAN schools 2000m steeplechase record in 2010. As we walked side by side towards the start line, Ahmad smiled and asked, “You from Singapore?”
“Yes,” I replied, returning the smile, before offering him a handshake and wishing him luck for the race ahead. Proceeding with the long walk towards the start line, I noticed the poor condition of the track. A lack of maintenance had resulted in a decaying surface, with years of wear and tear causing potholes to appear on the track. On top of that, the afternoon temperature was a steaming 34 degrees Celsius, and the humidity in the air was suffocating. The conditions for distance running were undesirable, to say the least, and I sensed that all of us were in for a long painful race ahead.
There were a total of 32 runners on the start list, and we had to squeeze to fit everybody on the start line. Having the opportunity to compete in such a deep field is rare in Singapore, and I was determined to make the most of my chance. After a short briefing by an official, we took our marks, and the start gun blasted into the afternoon sky to get us underway.
Accelerating quickly off the mark, I found some space for myself on the outside of lane 1, and proceeded to settle down into a comfortable pace while runners passed me both on the left and right. Crossing the first 200m in 35.7s, I was out of the top 10, but continued sticking to my own pace, confident that the rest had gone off too fast and I could catch up later on. Sivamani, the reigning South-East Asian Youth 1000m and 2000m steeplechase champion, had gone off to a fiery start and was already 30m to 40m ahead of the chase pack. Spotting Ahmad in the middle of the pack, I made a point to keep an eye on him as the race unfolded.
Following closely behind the chase pack, we covered the next lap in 74.6s. By now, I had gradually passed runners one by one, and was running in third place, still relaxed and in control. Approaching the end of the first kilometre, crossed in 3min 07sec, I moved into second place, wanting to hunt down the race leader. As I eased past and began to pull away from the chase pack, I sensed a big move behind me. Taking a quick glance back, I confirmed my suspicions. Ahmad had moved out of the chase pack and was now shadowing my every move.
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