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