At MR25, we welcome like-minded runners from all around the world. Meet our Scottish runner, Stuart, who has been a regular at MacRitchie. In Tokyo, Stuart got to know Arnaud and Leng who brought him to MR25 in Singapore. Since then, his passion for running continued.
When did you first pick up running and what inspire you to do so?
Before embarking on this running journey, I did some windsurfing. Upon watching a triathlon on TV, I was pretty inspired by the triathletes whom were on screen. In Japan, they aired the triathlons event live. It was amazing to witness commoners from all walkers of life pursuing the 3 elements in triathlon and I thought to myself that it was something that perhaps I could try out. Since then, I joined the Namban Rengo Running Club in Tokyo. To me, running was the easiest part of a triathlon. As for cycling and swimming, training was much more complex. Subsequently, when I moved to Singapore, these training sessions followed suit.
How long have you been running? What keeps you motivated?
I started running at the age of 34 and have since been running for about 15 years. I enjoy the competition during runs. Not only the competition against other runners but more importantly, the competition against oneself. It is rewarding to feel that you are become stronger and faster after every training session. Somehow, I feel that the competitive spirit in 5km runs are extremely exciting. This year, I have been focusing on improving my 5km timing at the weekly East Coast Park parkrun. Even though running in colder countries should be easier, I ran my fastest 5km runs last year. In the recent 6 months, I have tweaked my training format drastically and my timing have improved quite significantly. My personal best timing for 5km is 18:29 and I intend to improve on it further. I have never felt that age was an issue when it comes to shaving those seconds of your personal best, training plan was instrumental towards improvement.
Was there an instance when you have faced great difficulty in running journey? How did you overcome this obstacle?
Although I have competed in several marathons (mostly in Japan), thankfully I have only hit the wall once. In that run, I had to walk the last few kilometres of the Tokyo Marathon. A few days later, I found out that I was injured and could not run. I had to go through a few months of physiotherapy and could not run in races for a year. It was the low season of my running journey. Thankfully, I could still swim and cycle during that period. One lesson from that incident: always have an alternative sport to rely on!
Which was your most memorable run?
My most memorable race in Singapore was last year’s Asian Masters. The 5km race was held in the scorching hot sun and I was completely outclassed by runners from India and Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, it was fun being part of the opening ceremony at Kallang Practice track, representing Singapore. Not to mention that it was a rare occasion to be able to run among runners from all around the world.
How is your weekly running schedule like?
I alternate hard workouts with easy workouts. I do 2 interval sessions per week, and parkruns on Saturdays. For the easy workouts, I also do some rowing and strength training in addition to running. On Sundays, I go on long trail runs. Other than running, I swim 2 or 3 times a week with Open SwimStars.
Tell us a fun fact about your running journey that we never knew.
I have completed both the Japan and Korean Full Ironman races. Perhaps more ahead?