Soh Rui Yong in action during the 2016 Chicago Marathon. (Photo courtesy of Soh Rui Yong)

Soh Rui Yong in action during the 2016 Chicago Marathon. He clocked a new PB of 2:24:55. (Photo 1 courtesy of Soh Rui Yong)

Chicago, Sunday, October 9, 2016 — Soh Rui Yong, 25, of Singapore ran the Chicago Marathon in a new personal best time of 2 hours 24 minutes and 55 seconds. The time is the second fastest ever for a Singaporean, missing the national record of 2:24:22 by just 33 seconds.

Rui Yong also qualified for the 2017 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, beating the qualifying time by more than 12 minutes. He is the defending SEA Games gold medallist after he won the marathon on home soil at the 2015 edition with a time of 2:34:56.

Said Rui Yong in a Facebook post, “Well, this is what I can do off a 9-week buildup – 2:24:55, fastest ever time by a Singaporean on a record eligible course. Super windy out there but hung tough for a 1:13:00/1:11:55 negative split. Lots of people I owe thanks to for your support. Special mention goes out to my parents who were in town to support me today. Happy with a strong finish to the toughest year of running I’ve had so far!”

This new PB for Rui Yong comes after a plantar fasciitis injury forced him to call off his quest to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. His previous marathon PB was a 2:26:01 set at the 2014 California International Marathon.

Rui Yong’s last race before Chicago was at the London Marathon, where he clocked 2:37:33.

Soh Rui Yong’s Chicago Marathon Splits
AIMS (the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races) Certified Course
5K – 17:25
10K – 34:51 (17:26)
15K – 52:13 (17:23)
20K – 1:09:23 (17:10)
Half – 1:13:09
25K – 1:26:39 (17:10)
30K – 1:43:28 (16:49)
35K – 2:00:22 (16:54)
40K – 2:17:33 (17:12)
Finish – 2:24:55 (PB) (2nd half – 1:11:46)

Singapore Men’s Marathon Top 5
1st 2:24:22
Murugiah Rameshon
Chiangmai SEA Games
13 December 1995

2nd 2:24:55
Soh Rui Yong
Chicago Marathon
9 October 2016

3rd 2:26:30
Mok Ying Ren
Gold Coast Marathon
7 July 2013

4th 2:32:12
Ashley Liew Wei Yen
New Orleans Rock and Roll Marathon
25 January 2015

5th 2:33:04
Sankarah Balasubramaniam
Macau
1 December 1991