Late last year, physiotherapist Gordon Lim, 27, represented Singapore in his maiden South East Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines, coming in 7th position in the men’s marathon event in a timing of 2:46:31 hours.

Excited and privileged to be chosen

Said Gordon, “I was definitely very excited to have been selected. I would not say that it was a dream come true but I felt very privileged and at the same time, very lucky to be chosen.”

Gordon’s SEA Games qualifying race had been the Sunshine Coast Marathon 2019, which he had run in 2:37:16 hours, well below his original target of sub three hours.

He also added, “I have never thought that I will represent the country one day. I always felt that it was impossible to do so without a proper plan. In addition, I was not one that would wake up early in the mornings for runs over the weekend, as I valued my sleep a lot more.”

Picked up running during his teenage years

Not bad for someone who had initially picked up running on the gym treadmill.

Said Gordon, “I picked up running back in my teenage years. I played a lot of ball sports and I felt that running helps with increasing my endurance, allowing me to play through a longer period of time without feeling fatigued so easily.”

How Soh Rui Yong became his coach

For his SEA Games marathon training block, Gordon had Singapore’s top marathoner, Soh Rui Yong, as his coach, which began as a chance meeting.

Explained Gordon, “We both run a lot at Bedok Reservoir. We struck up a conversation even before I qualified for the SEA Games and he was very nurturing and had faith in me that I would do well even when I was feeling uncertain about my own abilities. When the SEA Games opportunity was presented, he offered to train me and coach me for the Games during one of our regular runs at the reservoir. It was easy to just agree to that.”

Gordon also added, “I was thankful to have Rui Yong’s guidance, from his knowledge and experience with regards to the sport. This meant that I had to do a couple of interval sessions a week, which I had previously not done so, prior to being under his guidance.”

Realistic about his expectations and goals

Knowing that he was not fast enough to win the race, Gordon had been realistic about his expectations heading into the SEA Games. 

He said “Going in, I knew I did not have a chance of winning. Hence, we stuck to a goal of not getting last. And also, being aware of the South East Asia climate, we were planning to not go so fast at the start and play catch-up with the rest of the field towards the end of the race.” 

He added, “Rui Yong also constantly reminded me to drink up at every water station given the humidity of the South East Asian countries. It all went to plan at the end of the day. I am overall satisfied with my performance. I met my goal that I set prior to the race.”

His Key Takeaways

Now that the race is over and he has had time to reflect on his experiences, Gordon feels that participating in SEA games has taught him a lot about himself and his running.

Said Gordon, “This experience really taught me a lot about myself and pushed me to further heights. Running the SEA Games Marathon is unlike any other competitive runs that I have taken part run before. Given that there were only 12 participants in the race, it was demoralising to see most of the field fade away in the early stages of the race.”

He continued, “However I was glad to have Rui Yong share his experiences with me regarding the competition and I kept to the plan of playing catch-up. Thank goodness everything went according to how we predicted the race to be.”

Photos are courtesy of Gordon Lim.