Melvin Lee (centre) running in the Benoi and International Road area at the tail end of the 218km route. With him are pacers Sim Phei Sunn (left) and Steven Yip (right) who ran 60km and 100km respectively. (Photo 1 courtesy of Sim Phei Sunn)
Sunday, March 28, 2010 – Nine endurance runners started a 218km run on a Saturday morning. About 35 hours later, five men had crossed the finish line of the Run Round Singapore ultra-marathon. One of the five was 28-year-old Melvin Lee.
Melvin, an engineer, completed in a time of 33 hours, 10 minutes and 35 seconds.
The Run Round Singapore was organised by the Nanyang Technological University to mark its 55th anniversary and it also raised $218,000 for its bursary fund.
“As an alumnus, I felt that this is a good way to channel my passion for running together with giving back to NTU. At the same time, it was a chance to challenge both my mental and physical limits,” Melvin told Red Sports.
Melvin had to pass through 68 stations around the island before finishing up at NTU at Jalan Bahar. The distance is equivalent to five full marathons. The run started on Saturday, March 27th, at 8.30am and the first runner back was Hwa Chong Institution teacher Yong Yuen Cheng who took 31hr, 28min and 51sec.
It was around the Jalan Boon Lay area that Melvin felt like quitting.
“With 15-25km left to go … that stretch was mentally very tough. I kept seeing NTU in the distance but was constantly having to ‘detour’ away,” said Melvin, whose longest distance run before this event was 100km in The North Face 2009.
Keeping him company as a pacer was his girlfriend, Chen Zhilei, who was inspired by the determination and spirit of the nine runners who took up the challenge. Pacing Melvin for 60km gave her some insights about her man.
“What struck me about Melvin during the run was his ability to plan the whole race. He was able to stay focused on what he needed to do even when he was very tired,” said Zhilei.
Melvin started training for this run in October 2009. His previous event before the ultra-marathon was the Ironman Malaysia at the end of February, 2010.
When asked if he would run the ultra-marathon again, he said: “We’ll see when the time comes!”
“A car never looked more inviting …” Melvin Lee takes a break along the 218km route. (Photo 2 courtesy of Sim Phei Sunn)
Melvin Lee (left) with his support car in the background. (Photo 3 courtesy of Sim Phei Sunn)
Melvin Lee with his girlfriend Chen Zhilei at the Mountbatten Road pit-stop where runners get an ice-bath, get weighed and their blood pressure taken. They also get a physio massage and a chance to eat. The pit-stops were also meant for the support crew to change drivers and running escorts. There were five pit-stops, one at every 42km. (Photo 4 courtesy of Sim Phei Sunn)
Kudos to Melvin Lee and the rest of the core runners. What they have done is something extraordinary and worth to commendable. =)
However, I just disappointed that no similar reports till now have done on other core runners except the first to finish . Surely, the event was a nine men effort and not alone one, and the rest of their effort, hardship and perseverance is worth to mention and shouldn’t be reported in a fair manner?
@Alex Chan: If anyone has a story on the other core runners, we’ll post it.
Send it along to redcrew@redsports.sg.
The stories on this site mostly come from volunteers and reader contributions.
You send it, we post it. 😉
Hi Les,
Haha. Sigh. Too bad i was not participating in the RRS as one of the supporters. Else, i might send an article as well despite of my poor english. lol.
Anyway, tks for listening out. Cheers!!
Hey no problem, Alex. Thanks for your comment. 😉