nike we run sg 10K soh rui yong

Soh Rui Yong, 21, crossing the finishing line as the fastest runner on the day. He clocked 33:01.20. (Photo 1 © Joseph Lee/Red Sports)

 

Waterfront Promenade @ Marina Bay, Sunday, October 21, 2012 — Soh Rui Yong, 21, topped the field with a time of 33 minutes 1.20 seconds at the Nike We Run SG 10K.

The National University of Singapore undergraduate recently returned from the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships where he represented Singapore and set a personal best (PB) of 1:12:12 in Bulgaria on October 6th.

The month before, he had finished as the fastest Singaporean at the 2012 Army Half Marathon where he ran a 1:12:25.

The We Run SG 10K was Rui Yong’s sixth race in the last nine weeks, capping a busy period of racing where he had to juggle both training and studies.

With closest challengers Mok Ying Ren and Jason Lawrence ruled out by sickness, Rui Yong led from start to finish, but found himself facing a minor challenge on the course — bicycles.

“I was racing the lead bicycle and his crew mate joined in at the 6km mark,” said Rui Yong.

“At about 7km the second bike was in front of me and almost turned into my path. I didn’t realise I was so close behind and had to tap him on the shoulder and ask for some room for myself. Apart from that, it was quite a smooth race. The route was great and scenic, we went by the city area, the roads were wide, very suitable for a mass run!”

“It would have been much more exciting had Mok (Ying Ren) and Jason (Lawrence) not been sick and been able to run,” added Rui Yong.

Chua Chin Yang finished second to Rui Yong in the under-25 category, clocking 35:25.52, while Darren Toh was third in 36:08.22.

Rui Yong’s time of 33:01.20 was faster than the Men’s Open winning time of 36:04.26 that was set by Kamal Thapa Magar.

Yvonne Lin won the women’s U-25 category in a time of 40:09.74 while Suzy Walsham was the fastest in the Open category, clocking 35:35.53.

“I really enjoyed the route. I felt really good throughout the whole run,” said Suzy, whose 10K PB is 34:10, set in Bali in 2008. “I was very happy to come third overall and beat quite a lot of the guys! I don’t think the guys were too happy about it!

“I’ve actually done a lot!” said Suzy, when asked how many races she has done this year. “I’ve been really lucky this year. In previous years, I’ve had lots of injuries and it’s impacted how many races I can do.

“I’ve been focusing internationally on vertical races so I’m currently the number one ranked runner in the world in vertical races.

“So I’ve got two more (vertical) races left. Swissotel here, and the world cup final in Colombia. That’s in December, the week after the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore. I’ve also got two more 10K races to do,” added Suzy.

Results (Top 3)
Men (Under 25)
1st Soh Rui Yong — 33:01.20
2nd Chua Chin Yang — 35:25.52
3rd Darren Toh — 36:08.22

Women (Under 25)
1st Yvonne Lin — 40:09.74
2nd Renuka Satianathan — 40:57.43
3rd Viengdalat Somphet — 42:59.31

Men (Open)
1st Kamal Thapa Magar — 36:04.26
2nd Ishwor Gurung — 36:04.72
3rd Tony Seakins — 36:51.69

Women (Open)
1st Suzy Walsham — 35:35.53
2nd Anne Qi Hui — 36:28.77
3rd Vivian Tang — 37:32.52

Nike We Run SG 10K results
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