By Jeanette Wang
ST Art Researcher
jwang@sph.com.sg

 

A COLLECTIVE runner’s high has permeated Singapore, with more races and more participants than ever this year.

This month's Adidas Sundown Marathon, for example, one of over 20 running events this year, has over 10,000 sign-ups, nearly double last year’s 6,088.

Last December’s Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon had 50,000 runners, up from 6,000 in 2002.

But, while united in the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other, runners’ motivation differ, from sheer pleasure to staving off the weight.

Curious, I asked running friends and running friends of running friends for their reasons. Here are 30 of them.

It seems there is no excuse not to hit the road.

1. CJ, 36, works in banking industry
"I started running in 2002 when my son was diagnosed as autistic. It was a way for me to relieve stress. I started doing marathons, which I dedicate to him."

2. Sumiko Tan, 24, PE teacher
"Running enables me to feel the wind in my face, hear my own footsteps and enjoy the serenity of the world around me."

3. Tham Chen Munn, 33, engineer
"Running keeps my health in check – if a 30min run feels uncomfortable, then it's probably muscle strain or I need to lose some weight!"

4. Alan Law, 37, senior graphic designer
"It gives me time to think. Sometimes life can get rather busy. On my long runs I have some time just for me."

5. David Tay, 50, life coach
"It's a form of meditation where I'm in touch with my inner self."

6. Elaine Chan, 21, undergraduate
"I feel invincible when I run."

7. Ho Chor Yin, 37, executive administrator
"Doing marathons is like one's journey in life – there are ups and downs. Some days you finish a race better than others."

8. Jeremy Kang, 24, student
"So that I can drink copious amounts of beer and not end up looking like Moses Lim."

9. Ngoh Seh Suan, 29, insurance agent
"Just because studying the movements of top runners made running a physical science and a graceful art."

10. Dominic Loh, 32, brand manager
"It's spiritual, it's my quiet moment to talk to God and to re-align myself to make each day more meaningful."

11. Teo Ser Luck, 40, senior parliamentary secretary (Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports)
"To get to know myself better."

12. Mok Ying Rong, 15, student
"Because I like the feeling of going fast. I'm always in a hurry to get from one place to another."

13. David Cawley, 29, software engineer
"My friends told me I couldn’t do a marathon so I wanted to prove them wrong."

14. Randall Tan, 35, artiste and former national sprinter
"It gives me the chance to relive my glory days and to prove to myself that I still have what it takes to do it."

15. Pamela Qiu, 25, civil servant
"It's the next most reliable way of getting high, after alcohol. And it's cheaper. Also, so that I can eat chocolate."

16. Yeo Jia Chyang, 33, IT consultant, Special Olympics Singapore volunteer coach
"I run to help others in need."

17. David Lawrence, 36, company director
"It's all about doing enough training to ensure that one day I'll be able to finish a race knowing that I've given everything I possibly could and have found my limit."

18. Clifford Lee, 41, SAF officer
"I have no other choice – running is part of doing Ironman races!"

19. Terence Lew, 30, art director and hearing impaired athlete
"It gives me a new lease of hope and a tinge of achievement when I run with my courage and determination."

20. Eric Koa, 42, senior staff at a sports store who ran his first marathon in 1992
"In 1987 I did a 30km race and got injured and could not walk for more than a week. I got a lashing from my mum. But I was determined to prove her wrong."

21. Derek Leong, 25, doctor
"Usually when I need to make an important decision, I go for a long long run, and by the time I finish the run, I would have made the decision."

22. Wong Ching Yee, 30, brand person
"I love the simplicity of running... It's about the adrenaline rush from feeling alive, two steps at a time."

23. Leong Chee Mun, 45, teacher
"I get to find myself and lose the world for a while."

24. Dierdre Morgan, 18, student
"I relish the pain, the satisfaction and the runners' high derived."

25. Melody Chen, 31, artiste
"It's faster than walking and I suck at swimming."

26. Michael Mendoza, 31, IT executive
"To prove to myself that even if I'm not an athletic person, I can excel at something."

27. Pamela Chia, 24, Singaporean student in Australia
"To live a full and healthy life, to experience breathtaking sights, and to meet my favourite wildlife."

28. Julian Loh, 33, real estate agent
"So that I can eat whatever I want and not feel so guilty about it."

29. Anne MacFadden, 51, homemaker and mother of six children
"It keeps me sane."

30. Chiam Li Li, 36, HR manager
"Because it’s a gift from God."

Why do you run?