“I had low expectations for myself as I had just booked out of camp on Saturday afternoon” – Mok Ying Ren, SEA Games marathon gold medallist

Dr Mok Ying Ren shares with us a first-hand account of his marathon race at the 2013 Southeast Asian Games. He is the first Singaporean male to win the event at the SEA Games.

Mok Ying Ren celebrates his gold medal win. (Photo 1 by Peh Siong San for SSC)

Myanmar, Monday, December 16, 2013 – I arrived at the athlete’s village at 4:30pm on Sunday, the day before the race. I met up with the ever cheerful coach Ghana Segaran and fellow runner Ashley Liew and we proceeded with a route recce in the Singapore Sports Council van. It was a five-loop course with each loop having rolling hills – something that I really dreaded. However, I was pleased with the temperature – a pretty low 17 degrees sounded pretty much ideal for me though I could have appreciated even colder temperatures.

That evening, I proceeded to have a short massage session with Felicia, a sports masseur with the Singapore medical team. With a hacking cough bothering me for the past few days, I also had to ask for cough syrup as well as muscle relaxants for my bothering back ache probably incurred by carrying heavy field packs during my Medical Officer Cadet Course (MOCC).

I had low expectations for myself for this race as I had just booked out of camp on Saturday afternoon. I had a tough two weeks in camp with military training, something really different from my typical run training. Sleep was also much reduced from my typical 8 to 9 hours daily. Furthermore, I had strained my right hip flexor muscles from a casualty evacuation exercise earlier on in the week.

However, I need to mention that my instructors in camp have been very understanding towards my upcoming race and allowed me to rest when necessary. My sergeant major even gave me a briefing on the weather I should be expecting in Myanmar. For these, I’m deeply touched.

On race day, I had a simple breakfast and then proceeded to the stadium via our team van. We arrived at about 5.15am, one hour before our stipulated start time of 6.15am. I was pleasantly surprised by the presence of my sponsors Pocari Sweat who were there to show their support.

After a couple of easy jog round the track for my warm up, I proceeded to get ready for the race. But about 6am, the organizer announced that the race will be delayed to 6.30am for unknown reasons. To me, that just meant 15min of extra time in the hot sun in the later parts of the race.

After several nervous trips to the toilet, we were finally on the start line. The gun went and nine of us runners – two Singaporeans, two Cambodians, two Indonesians, two Myanmarese and one Filipino started to run the first 300m on the track before heading out of the gate. The low number of participants was due to the fact that several countries such as Malaysia has stepped up their qualifying standards and thus only runners who were competitive for the podium were present at the race.

The race started out slow with eight of us huddling together with no clear leadership. Neko from Cambodia however, had different ideas. He decided to run for timing and he was seen leading by 100m by the first kilometer of the race. The eight of us were contented to see him go, knowing that it would be just a matter of time before he got reeled in.

The pace remained comfortable and slow and I focused on running relaxed at the back of the pack. Into the second round, I decide to make a small move to shake things up a bit and to size up the pack. But my attempt was futile. Everyone was still able to stick to one another.

Into the third lap, things started to change. Neko from Cambodia was eventually reeled back in and it was during this time that Nikolas Albinus Sila from Indonesia made a distinct move to pull ahead of us, securing a 50m lead over a few minutes. Based on my knowledge, Yahuza, the stronger of the two Indonesians, was still running in our pack and thus I decided to let Nikolas go, telling myself that this could be a ploy by the Indonesians to burn out runners who may take the risk to follow Nikolas, leaving Yahuza to secure a podium finish at the end.

My suspicion was supported by the fact that they were speaking continuously in Bahasa Indonesian, appearing to be highly relaxed. By the end of the third lap, Nikolas had a significant 90-second lead and I started to doubt my tactical decision earlier on. I looked around me and my group was left with Eric Panique from Philippines, Yahuza from Indonesia, Thuang Aye from Myannmar. I decided that to finish in the middle of this nine-man field should be good enough for me.

Into the fourth lap, things heated up together with the rising temperatures. Thuang and Yahuza made a move up the hills, leaving me and Eric in their wake. Eric however, also managed to summon enough energy to drop me in the hills. My quads were definitely feeling the burn and my hamstrings were tight from the hills and the concrete surface. I had absolutely no energy to react to their moves and I was crushed.

At this point, to my surprise, I could see Nikolas beginning to fatigue from his prior effort and he was very quickly overtaken by the four of us. I began to tell myself how much it would suck if I am to finish just outside the medal standings.

I finished the fourth lap with one lap to go in the fourth position. Again, on the out direction, the hills took its toll on my legs and I decided to pace myself carefully to avoid cramps. I could see the three of them – Yahuza, Eric and Thuang – creating more space between us. At this point, Yahuza and Thuang were running together about 200m ahead while Eric was alone about 100m ahead.

Just as we neared the U-turn point and entered the more downhill trend on the return journey of this final loop, things started to change again. I could see Yahuza struggling and he was quickly overtaken by Eric and myself over 1km. I was glad to finally see some light and to be able to at least stand on the podium. I kept myself fixated on Eric 100m in front and counted lamp posts between myself and Eric. I tried to convince myself that the distance between us was indeed closing and that I had a chance of catching him. I did not focus on Thuang as I was convinced that he was going to be the winner for sure with his home-ground advantage.

With 3km left to go, I was ecstatic to overtake Eric, and naturally I looked ahead for my next target. To my surprise, Thuang was only now about 100m ahead as compared to just 10min ago when I even had difficulty sighting him.

I kept my focus on him, counting down the lamp posts separating us. I was quite sure I was close to catching him, but whether I could do it before the finish line, it was hard to tell. I was feeling the fatigue but fortunately with the hardest hills behind us, my legs were feeling better. I kept going on and on and finally nearing the last bend before we turned into the gate for our final kilometer, I passed him. I made the move decisively in the hopes that he could not respond.

As I entered the gate, I could not believe the situation I found myself in. After two weeks of the MOCC, I was convinced that just being on the podium for today’s race would have been a miracle, never mind leading the race in this final kilometer.

As I ran past a line of Myanmar students clearly planted there to cheer for us runners, I made a quick look back to see if I had truly shaken off Thuang. With him nowhere in sight, I started to relax and high-fived the line of students as I entered the stadium for the final 100m. The atmosphere in the stadium despite its low attendance was a wonderful experience. The finishing line was a makeshift one made up of lanyards strung together. I was just elated to cross the finishing line for a gold medal.

I could see my parents in the stands together with all my media friends, coach Ghana and officials from Singapore Athletic Association (SAA) who had also painstakingly followed me during the race to provide me with my hydration. I was honored to be handed the national flag and to wave it at the spectators. My media friends were also highly ecstatic and interviews went on for about half an hour. It was indeed a fine moment for distance running in Singapore.

With this final race of the year completed on such a high note, I am indeed excited for what’s to come in the next year.