Story and pictures by Leslie Tan

Suzy Walsham

How do you know you’re an elite runner at an event with 8,000 runners? There’s nobody near you. Suzy Walsham runs down the stretch alone towards the finish line. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)

The Padang, Sunday, October 21, 2007 – Australian Suzy Walsham, the defending champion of the Women 10k, came in second in a personal best time of 34 minutes 19.25 seconds this morning at the Padang.

The Singapore-based Australian was part of a front-running pack of runners that included four Kenyan runners who flew in specially for this race. Said Suzy: “The pack stayed together for the first 2km but after that Leah Malot (the eventual winner) and I pulled away from the group. I stayed with Leah until the 6km mark before she pulled away. I had to slow down and run my own pace after that!”

Suzy, whose specialty is actually the 1,500m (personal best: 4:07.75), hit the 5km mark in 17:05 and finished the second half of the race in 17:15. “Leah Malot, the winner, had a negative split of 10 seconds actually, ” said Suzy. When asked what her favourite running route in Singapore was, Suzy said: “Bedok Reservoir. It has distance markers that are very useful for training purposes. I can gauge how fast I’m going.”

Vivian Tang was Singapore’s fastest finisher with a time of 38:31.10 while the winner in the Women Under-19 category was Phua Hui Qin from ITE Tampines who didn't expect to win as "this is my first time running in a race that includes elite runners."

Lea Malot

35-year-old, mother-of-two Leah Malot of Kenya breaks the tape in 33 minutes 46.30 seconds to capture the first prize of $5,000. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)

SCGS

A couple of Singapore Chinese Girls’ School runners starting the 10km race. 411 SCGS girls, alumni and staff ran the race. (Photo 3 © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Cheong Tsui Ying

Cheong Tsui Ying, who said she had just returned to running after an injury, finished in a time of 42:50. (Photo 4 © Les Tan/Red Sports)