Come 10 June, national marathoner and SEA (South East Asia) Games Men’s Marathon champion Soh Rui Yong, 25, is looking to lower the national 5,000m record of 14:51.09 minutes at the Portland Track Festival.
Soh Rui Yong is targeting the national 5,000m mark.
Part of Soh’s preparation to defend his SEA Games title
The shorter race will be part of Soh’s preparation to defend his Men’s Marathon title at the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur later this year. He is currently in Flagstaff, Arizona, for a 3.5month long altitude training camp and will be taking part in shorter distance races to develop his speed and stamina.
The Portland Track Festival is one of the top track events in the United States and regularly attracts the top Olympians in the States. The field will be stacked, but Soh is confident that the high level of competition will push him to run a better timing.
Said the runner, “I am entering the final stretch of my preparations for this year’s SEA Games and this 5,000m race is a good milestone. Training here has been great so far and while my training has been geared towards the Marathon, I am confident of a good result this weekend.”
He added “This is a great step towards the ultimate aim of defending my SEA Games Marathon gold medal by refining my speed, which I had used to out-sprint my opposition in the closing stages in the 2015 Men’s Marathon at the SEA Games. With both speed and stamina, I’ll be hard to beat.”
His ultimate goal is to successfully defend his SEA Games Marathon Men’s title.
Would like to thank his employers and sponsors
Soh thanks his employer for allowing him to take no pay leave to train for the Games as well as his sponsors for their support. Said Soh “I’d also like to thank Sport Singapore for allowing me to take no pay leave to fully concentrate and train for the SEA Games Marathon on 19 August as well as my sponsors, ASICS and Yeo’s H-Two-O, for their invaluable support for my apparel and hydration needs. All of this would not have been possible without them.”
Soh will continue to ramp up his training by taking part in the Hamburg Half Marathon on June 25, following the Portland Track Festival.
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