“Age is absolutely only a quantity – it by no means bothers me in any respect. I’m all the time happy with my age,” asserts Lee Yau Hoon. At 72, she’s the oldest participant within the half marathon 21.1km class at this 12 months’s Normal Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM).
A step up from the 10km run and a stepping stone in the direction of a full marathon, a half marathon race is a testing run in its personal proper. Operating such an extended distance is a feat in itself for somebody half her age, a lot much less for somebody in her early seventies.
“It by no means crossed my thoughts that I might be conquering a distance so far as a half marathon in the future,” Yau Hoon displays. “I used to be a runner again in my secondary college days, however I ended working after that.”
It was solely years later when she picked up the train once more, on the age of 52. She was spurred to take action after a well being check-up. “In 2002, I used to be advised by my physician that I had osteoporosis. I used to be suggested to do excessive influence train equivalent to jogging, and therefore from that 12 months on, I made a decision to jog regularly. I cowl three to 5 km each day, at a sluggish tempo of 10min/km.”
This 12 months, she determined to enroll in the half marathon when her son, Tee Kuan Hong, inspired her to affix him within the race. “I used to be initially reluctant and was considering of simply participating within the 10 km run, however Kuan Hong advised me that he shall be pacing me all through the race. This helped to spice up my confidence, and it additionally fulfils my dream of taking part in an official half marathon run!!”
She doesn’t anticipate slowing down anytime quickly, and she or he’s gunning for a private greatest at this 12 months’s race. “With SCSM as the largest mass run after the pandemic, I’m positively excited for the working expertise within the coronary heart of Singapore alongside many different like-minded runners, as we purpose to run a very good race!”
Right here, Yau Hoon shares extra about how she went from jogging to working a half marathon, her motivation behind working, in addition to recommendation for different runners who hope to observe in her footsteps.
Supply: Her World
