Soh Rui Yong finishing as the fastest Singaporean in a new PB of 1:12:25.15 at the 2012 Army Half Marathon. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
City Hall, Sunday, September 9, 2012 — Soh Rui Yong was the fastest Singaporean when he ran the 21km Army Half Marathon in a personal best (PB) time of 1 hour 12 minutes 25.15 seconds (gun time).
Rui Yong’s previous PB in the 21km was 1:15:35 set at the 2011 Singapore Marathon. This was his third attempt at the Army Half Marathon. In 2010, he finished fifth and in 2011, he was second.
Ashley Liew was second in 1:15:20.50 while Mok Ying Ren, who was the fastest Singaporean in 2011, was third in 1:16:56.30.
For Ying Ren, it was his first competitive race since the Singapore Marathon in December 2011 and he only started running again in June this year after a long battle with a plantar fasciitis injury.
Ashley and Rui Yong ran the first 8km together but a carpeted kerb took out Ashley at that point. Rui Yong stopped to wait for Ashley but the latter struggled to find his rhythm again. Rui Yong moved ahead and Ashley subsequently tripped a second time on the injured ankle.
Rui Yong ran the final 13km on his own and just missed out on the 1:10 qualifying mark for the world half marathon championships.
“I have to admit that at this point, I was caught in a dilemma. With Ash a key contender for the AHM title I so wanted, I could sprint off and leave him behind in the darkness, now unopposed to claim the gold. Champions are opportunists after all,” wrote Rui Yong on his Facebook wall after the race.
“Could I live with myself after watching my fellow runner suffer such a mishap? What would a title mean if I won it because of someone’s misfortune?
“So I did what I felt was right. I stopped. I turned around. I shouted out to Ash to ask if he was okay. And prepared to jog back and help him up. But Ash is strong. He doesn’t need my help. He got up and caught me in five strides. I turned around and we zoomed off again. But he had lost his rhythm and was not the same runner he was a few moments ago,” Rui Yong added.
Ashley acknowledged Rui Yong’s act of sportsmanship on Rui Yong’s Facebook wall.
“Thank you, Soh Rui Yong, you really displayed great sportsmanship. I am sure many many others agree. I genuinely hope this doesn’t take anything off your win today, you earned it,” wrote Ashley.
“The first fall knocked the wind out of me and stunned me momentarily, but adrenaline got me up quickly to try to regain lost ground,” recalled Ashley.
“I hadn’t really found my rhythm yet but was still feeling ok, until I slipped in the Tanjong Rhu area on a grassy patch. The second fall sprained my right ankle pretty good. I couldn’t feel the pain because of the adrenaline, but was landing uncomfortably. I actually regained my rhythm, perhaps only 5km later,” added Ashley.
Army Half Marathon Results (Top 10)
21km Men’s Closed
1st Soh Rui Yong — 1:12:25.15
2nd Ashley Liew Wei Yen — 1:15:20.50
3rd Mok Ying Ren — 1:16:56.30
4th Tilak Bahadur Magar — 1:17:45.05
5th Colin Tung Zhi Shing — 1:17:46.00
6th Melvin Wong — 1:18:13.25
7th Su Yen Bing — 1:19:01.45
8th Ivan Low Jun Seng — 1:19:30.75
9th Ang Chee Yong — 1:19:58.85
10th Alex Ong Seng Lee — 1:20:33.35
21km Women’s Closed
1st Anne Qi Hui — 1:23:39.30
2nd Mok Ying Rong — 1:31:42.65
3rd Michelle Chay — 1:34:46.90
4th Neo Jie Shi — 1:36:10.45
5th Jasmine Goh Meiling — 1:37:10.45
6th Laine Fu Wenfang — 1:37:13.30
7th Lin Run’er — 1:39:08.05
8th Sumiko Tan — 1:39:30.40
9th Lynly Tan Lingli — 1:40:51.85
10th Vanessa Tang Yiting — 1:41:06.45
21km Men’s Masters
1st James Middleditch — 1:20:14.60
2nd Gavin Bong Chun Jin — 1:25:22.60
3rd Lexxus Tan — 1:26:07.00
4th Ku Seow Wee — 1:26:23.00
5th Jean-Luc Wolfgang Mitchell Van Der Zahn — 1:26:32.05
6th Liam Winston — 1:28:09.80
7th Terrence D’Silva — 1:29:59.85
8th Robson Phan — 1:30:16.30
9th Ralph Ian Gomarsall — 1:30:16.30
10th Benedict Tan — 1:31:04.05
21km Women’s Masters
1st Vivian Tang — 1:26:08.15
2nd Alyssa Matheson — 1:30:27.00
3rd Itsuko Tanaka — 1:33:09.95
4th Sue Corser — 1:33:24.40
5th Stella Lee Yien Ping — 1:35:44.10
6th Cheong Siok Hian — 1:39:44.40
7th Yeo Bee Guat — 1:41:24.95
8th Dunja Marx — 1:42:06.90
9th Grace Lim Bee Chan — 1:43:07.70
10th Yong Lai Chee — 1:43:27.15
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