Soh far so good: Soh Rui Yong smashes national marathon record

National marathoner Soh Rui Yong has done it again. 

The 30-year-old clocked 2:22:59 at the Valencia Marathon last Sunday (Dec 5), beating his previous record of 2:23:44 at the Seoul International Marathon in 2019. 

With this new timing under his belt, Soh is the first Singaporean in history to meet Singapore Athletics' nomination standard timing of 2:23:42 for the 19th Asian Games, which will take place next year in Hangzhou, China.

Celebrating his achievement, Soh wrote in a Facebook post: "I trained hard then I raced hard. You can do it too!" 

“Love you Maraton Valencia! The crazy winds made the race super tough, but the crowd support was amazing and willed us through," he added. 

Learning of the good news, congratulationary messages poured in.

Soh has also made the qualifying time for next year's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, which are slated to be held in Vietnam. Previously, he had clinched gold medals in the 2015 and 2017 SEA game marathon events. 

In September, Soh became Singapore's fastest 2.4km runner with a timing of 6:53, and even challenged the public to a sub-7 minute run.

claudiatan@asiaone.com