Month: October 2020

It was only after completing National Service (NS) that Arthur Ong began to enjoy working out. “At that point, I wanted to start exercising more so I could keep fit. To keep myself motivated, I switched things up so I went to try high intensity interval training, Muay Thai, yoga, and I also hit the gym and went running,” said the 42-year-old senior financial consultant.

This was a great effort for someone who dreaded physical education classes in school, dragged his feet to the National Physical Fitness Award (NAPFA) test and didn’t have to take any co-curricular activities.

“I guess the main motivation for a change in lifestyle is pretty much due to vanity. Haha! I realised I was getting rounder when I started working,” he admitted.

After trying out all of those activities, he found that his interest was sustained the most with running. “I enjoy running – both short and long distances – but it got to a point where I felt I was just running randomly without having any clear goal in mind, such as completing a half-marathon or doing 10km without stopping,” he recalled.

Then 2014 was the year when Arthur decided he wanted to improve his runs, so he became more proactive in his running and went to join running groups to train with. His efforts paid off, with a friend commenting that he is fitter now compared to his army days.

For the past few years, Arthur has completed some half-marathons around the region and completed marathons in Taiwan and Japan. “I want to keep running for a long time, so I choose chooses that I like to do and this ensures the fun or interesting factor stays fresh, so I don’t get burnt out. I always plan my holidays around my races and do a run-cation!” he added.

He likes to be able to learn from different coaches and groups, thus he joins different running groups with different focus as a way of including variation in his training – that he feels will help to improve his fitness.

After experiencing different running clubs, he concluded that he prefers small to medium sized groups, which is why he wanted to join the Outdo Yourself programme by 100PLUS Singapore. 

“It’s a cosy group, thus training will be more targeted and also, since 100PLUS is my favourite sports hydration, I thought I should support this initiative of theirs!”

Photos by Tim Yap

Three years ago, Renee Tee wanted to do something about her unhealthy lifestyle so she decided to make a change and signed up for a gym membership, where she attended high intensity interval training (HIIT) classes. The 48-year-old compliance advisor made friends from the gym and slowly, under their influence, picked up running again.

“I used to be in netball, badminton and cheerleading in school both at a competitive and recreational level, and training would include static exercises as well as runs for stamina training. I remember I dreaded doing the runs back then and some things never change, because I still have a phobia of running long distances,” she laughed.

Regardless, Renee is proud to claim that running is now a significant part of her life. “When my career and family took over my life, I became less active. But I’ve since changed that and now I run at least three times a week. My runs are my designated alone time which is important to me, in order to have a healthy mind. I don’t feel right when I don’t run for a few days,” she said. 

In just a short span of three years, Renee has participated in local races like the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) and overseas races like the 21km Standard Chartered Taipei Marathon 2019 and 10km Samosir Lake Toba Ultra (10km) 2018.

Fun fact – she actually took part in the10 km SCSM in 2007 and only ran in it because as a staff of Standard Chartered, they were encouraged to take part.

Now that running is part of her lifestyle, Renee is still intimidated by long distances – anything more than 5km to her is considered long – but she aims to progressively run longer and longer distances.

What drew her to the Outdo Yourself programme by 100PLUS Singapore is the opportunity to learn the proper techniques of running. “I wish to improve my speed and I want to see how I can outdo myself, with the guidance and training that I will be receiving.”

Photos by Tim Yap