If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)
By Rameshon
Bsc (Hons) Degree in Physical Education, Loughborough University (1992-1994)
Masters in Education (University of Western Australia, 2005-2008)
M. Ramachandran - Secret of success for running and his story
I realised that in the earlier interview of M. Ramachandran, the answers given were short, sharp and simple. When I discussed this with Rama, he decided to give more details as to how he had groomed himself to be an elite runner who brought 8 golds and 2 silver medals to Malaysia in the SEA GAMES. Here, he gives some sound advice that will be helpful for the young developing athletes. I hope you enjoy reading. Over time, I am in fact thinking of writing a detailed story on his background and the stories that had made him the greatest long distance runner in South East Asia. Having seen him run in the past, I have never seen him losing races but only winning. Let us look at the training secrets that made him be the number one in Malaysia in the past.
Are you married and do you have children?
I am married to my wife S.Chitra. My children names are Vikneshwaran (9 years old) and Kirrthana (5 years old). I decided to quit competitive running in 1999 and a year later I was married to Chitra.
How is your wife's support in running?
Chitra gives me good support to run and compete. At present, she is supportive of me in coaching as I have a new passion for developing the young ones to excel in this sport.
Can you tell us about the past when you were young and on how you were developed to an elite runner?
Many are surprised of me as I am an asthmatic patient and suffered terribly between age 6 and 10. When I was 10 to 12 years old, I was more of a footballer in school and playing football, earlier on, gave me the confidence to involve in athletics. I also realized that I had good speed. Later on, I started training for 400 metres and eventually stopped playing football. Mr Shahrom Suhaimi, my school teacher identified me as a potential runner and advised me to ride a bicycle to school, which was 10km away, so as to improve my endurance. Later on, I started training for 800 meters. At 15, I represented my school in the inter-district championship in 800 metres and 1500 metres races. However, I only managed to win silver medals and not gold. At the age of 16, I finally succeeded in getting a gold medal in district and state level.
How was your parental support in running in the past?
My father by the name of Murusamy was a great and constant support for me. He did not miss any of my running events in Singapore while he was working in Singapore since I was a 7 year old. My father was very supportive of my running to the point that he ensured that he collects each and every article or news in paper and records every of my event. My mother, S.Muniammal, would always bless me before any event by giving me a 10 cent coin. Upon receiving the blessed 10 cent coin from my mother, immediately and straightaway, I do not feel worried about the outcome of the race. The first race that my mother watched was the 1993 Singapore SEA GAMES with my whole family and relatives. In fact, my mother's sitting photo was splashed in all major newspapers when I won both the SEA Games gold medal in 5000m and 10000m event. My continuous motivation to do well in sports is because of God.
What do you do now as you are not racing competitively?
I still take part in road races and track events and it is only at the interbank level. However, I still keep myself fit by running between 10 and 15 km daily. At the same time, I coach Malacca long distance runners for the Malaysian Sukma Games. The events I coach are 800m, 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and 10000m athletes. I am right now developing a runner by the name of J.Karthik, aged 21, who is currently ranked among the top runners in the country for 3000M steeplechase event. Another national athlete who is at present one of the top three in the country for the events 5000M and 10000M is T.Narendran who is also 21 years old.
As for coaching, I didn’t undergo formal training. My experiences were my formal training since I had myself experimented with each and every tactic. I learned this by training through the years in Panchor Oil Palm estate. Throughout my personal training, I had been vigilantly keeping records of my timings, exercises, training and so on to ensure success using my first-hand experience. I design training programs according to each individual's taste, strengths and weaknesses. The one advantage I have with the athlete is my successes of the past and the athletes know that my words have something in it to believe.
Have you trained in altitude?
Unlike some long distance runners, I have never trained in high altitude since I do not believe that training under high altitudes would bring dramatic changes.
Who was your coach and did you do any form of self-training to improve in running?
Earlier on, I used to coach myself most of the time since I trained alone. But once I joined centralized training in Kuala Lumpur I was coached by my personal coach by the name of Jeganathan. He was coaching me since 1987 until I had to quit competitive running. I felt at home with Mr R Jeganathan who took a special interest in my progress and my coach was even willing to use his own expenses to watch my performance overseas.
I used to record my progress daily and in detail. As for my coach, he plans a training schedule for me. Anyway, I will give feedback to my coach about the next training program in order to ensure that the schedule suits me and the coach will alter the program to suit my needs.
Were you doing strengthening training when you were doing well in running?
I was doing strengthening training usually twice a week. I do circuit training and hill running for strength training. I did not do any form of gym work out even while running in national and international games.
Who was your biggest opponent in the past?
My biggest opponent in a race is non-other than my own self. Before any event, I see my present time as the greatest challenge to beat. I do not care who I have to fight with or from which country the opponent was from. For me, my own opponent and target to beat was my own timing in order to become the greatest long distance runner in Malaysia. I believe in beating myself as a challenge. Even though the person who is about to get second is so far behind, my intention is still to race faster to beat my own self.
What advice would you give to young athletes in order to become champions?
For young athletes, my advice is simple. Don’t search for excuses when you fail. Find the reason how you could have succeeded. I was an asthma patient, but I excelled in long distance. I got my inspiration from Swami Vivekananda's words, “Arise…Awake…Stop Not Till Your Mission is Achieved”. If young athletes persevere until their mission is achieved, success will take place. Furthermore, never under any circumstances miss any of your training. In all these years, I have hardly missed any training myself. Even when I travel overseas, I program my training in such a way that I could train somewhere on the way during stops.
I feel that athletes must be more focused on training and be disciplined and independent, whether being watched by coach or not. Even overseas, one should be empowered to train alone and not to miss their own target. One should be ready for any type of meet or challenges if the time comes..any time should be the watchword of young athletes.
What work are you doing as a career? How was your company supportive in this endeavour?
I worked as an officer in MAYBANK. My employer gave me full support since the day I joined Maybank in 1987 until now. Without their support, it would have been impossible for me to concentrate on the training because they give me time off during off session and gave me full pay leave during competition time. I do not have to go to work until 1993 and I just concentrated on SEA GAMES. I have my deep gratitude and appreciation for the generosity of Maybank in granting me leave from training. Even now, after quitting sports, Maybank still supports me by giving me leave to coach athletes. This, I feel, is one way Maybank could show their dedicating and contribution my passion which is running. However, I still feel that it is difficult to juggle coaching with a job. As such, I prefer to work in the bank and do coaching on a part-time basis only.
Which race was your toughest race to date?
My toughest race was the 1993 World Athletic Championships because I had to run with many world class runner.
Who were your toughest competitors in the past?
1. The toughest competitor was runners from Indonesia and Myanmar while I was competing in the SEA GAMES.
2. In the ASIAN Level athletes from Qatar and Saudi Arabia were the toughest competitors.
3. In the Commonwealth and World Meet, athletes from Ethiopia and Kenya were the greatest competitors
Why did you finally stop running?
I finally decided to stop running completely because I wanted to give way to the young athletes to take part in long distance event. However, the sad thing now in our country we are not able to bring out runners who excel in 5000m and 10000m yet.
Note:
By Narayanan
Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes to do marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners to do sub-4 hours for marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’ by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).
He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.
