In addition to the On-Ground Race participants of POCARI SWEAT Run Virtual Race ran an accumulated distance of almost 350,000km, raising $2,000 for Silver Ribbon
PHOTO: OTSUKA PHARMACEUTICALS (SINGAPORE) PTE LTD
10 January 2021, Singapore - Jeevaneesh Soundararajah and Goh Chui Ling broke the Men and Women’s national best timings over 2.4km respectively in the POCARI SWEAT On-Ground Race held at the Home of Athletics over the weekend (8-9 Jan).
The winning time (6:52.96) set by Jeevaneesh in the men’s race was 0.21 seconds faster than the previous best (6:53.18) set last September by national long-distance runner and fellow competitor, Soh Rui Yong, who holds four national records.
Thiruben Thana Rajan set the early pace, but retired from the race on the third lap. Subas Gurung, Singapore’s Gurkha Contingent 2.4km record holder, then inherited the lead for the fourth and fifth laps, with Jeevaneesh and Soh hot on his heels. It was only at the start of the final lap that Jeevaneesh made the winning overtake on Subas.
Subas finished in second (6:54.530), while Soh came in third (6:55.498), meaning that the top three finishers beat the challenge of running 2.4km in less than seven minutes. The final runner was Ethan Yan who clocked 7:09.093.
PHOTO: OTSUKA PHARMACEUTICALS (SINGAPORE) PTE LTD
Goh Clinches Women's Title
In the women’s race, national middle distance runner Goh took the race lead on the opening lap and maintained a comfortable margin throughout the entire 2.4km. She claimed the victory with a timing of 7 min 58.50 secs over Vanessa Lee (8:14.18), who held the previous best timing (7:59.69), while Joyceleen Yap took third place clocking 8:48.72.
“It was a privilege to be able to race during such times, and I’m really happy to have gotten my third national record in Singapore,” Goh told SportPlus.SG.
PHOTO: GOH CHUI LING INSTAGRAM
Regarding the unique 2.4km challenge in this year’s POCARI SWEAT Run, Joshua Lee, POCARI SWEAT business manager (nutraceuticals), said: “The pandemic forced us to rethink how to engage runners with our partners as many mass running events have been put on hold.
“We worked on the insight that 2.4km is a distance all Singaporeans are familiar with as both males and females would have gone through it as part of their fitness tests in school or National Service. Tapping into this familiarity, we hope to encourage the community to come together, get healthier through running and achieve their personal best.”
PHOTO: POCARI SWEAT FACEBOOK
In addition to the On-Ground Race, the participants of the POCARI SWEAT Run Virtual Race ran an accumulated distance of almost 350,000km, raising a total of $2,000 for Silver Ribbon (Singapore).
This hybrid race format was organised by POCARI SWEAT and their partners Otsuka Pharmaceuticals (Singapore), Singapore Athletics and Silver Ribbon (Singapore), with the aim to promote the importance of mental and physical health wellness.
With an eye to the future, Lee added: “Hopefully with relaxed safe management measures in 2022, we will be able to expand the scale of POCARI SWEAT Run 2022 and have more like-minded partners come alongside so that more runners can come sweat together, motivate each other to get healthier and achieve their fitness goals.”