Note:
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)
Gold Coast Airport Marathon 2011 Results
Today, Ashley and I left our apartment at Silvershore at 5:15am to take a shuttle service, which was at the intersection of Gold Coast Highway (Brisbane) and Hollywell Road. At about 5:45am, we boarded the bus which brought us straight to the marathon and half-marathon start point.
It took us about 20 mins to reach the marathon start point. We were there as expected. We saw Lindy before meeting Dr Benedict Tan. We took photos together. Lindy Yap told me that she is going for a fun run while Dr Ben Tan told me that he had not trained much and he was aiming somewhere around 3hr 10min, to be realistic.
Picture 1 - (Left to Right) Ashley Liew, Rameshon and Dr Ben Tan, just before the start of the race
Picture 1 - (Left to Right) Ashley Liew, Rameshon and Dr Ben Tan, just before the start of the race
At the start, I saw Ashley Liew, Mok Ying Ren, Lindy, Ramesh and other Singapore runners as well. The charisma of the people was fantastic at the start. Right on the dot, the race started with the men and women marathoners running out together.
Once the runners were off, I took some photo shots and went up to the Australian Fair Building for a drink and to take a light breakfast. The point that the Australian Fair Building was, was found to be the 31km mark of the marathon race and also the start point for the marathon earlier.
First and second position were Kenyans leading the pack. At the 31km mark, the time stood at 1hr 34min for these athletes.
Once the runners were off, I took some photo shots and went up to the Australian Fair Building for a drink and to take a light breakfast. The point that the Australian Fair Building was, was found to be the 31km mark of the marathon race and also the start point for the marathon earlier.
First and second position were Kenyans leading the pack. At the 31km mark, the time stood at 1hr 34min for these athletes.
Once it was 1hr 40min, I decided to come down from the Australian Fair Building to go to the 31km mark to see the race. I saw 2 runners doing about 1hr 34min at the 31km mark. Within myself, I felt that this time could make the runner do a time of sub-2hr 10min, definitely. After seeing some runners running, I saw Mok Ying Ren running. The time that he was doing was between 1hr 45min and 1hr 46min, approximately. Nicholas Manza Kamakya was the clear leader of the race, with another Kenyan running side by side.
Later, I saw Ashley running between the time of 1hr 55min and 1hr 56min. I knew that Ashley would not be able to get his sub-2hr 30min or the second strategy of getting between 2hr 30min and 2hr 34min. However, judging from the time, I realised that he should be taking the third strategy of getting the personal best time, at least.
Later on, I decided to go straight away to the finish point of the race. I was seeing some elite runners running and finishing the race. I took some shots of the race. I could see the first 3 women open runners finishing the race.
Ashley Liew at the 31km mark, on target for a personal best time.
I saw the first runner for the women, Ethiopian Goitetom Haftu Tesema, running in to finish with a splendid time of 2hr 30min 06sec. Then, after some top men runners had passed by, I saw Mok Ying Ren finishing the marathon race in a time of 2hr 27min 05sec, according to my angle of vision from the spectator stand. Then came Australian Roxie Fraser, who did a personal best time of 2hr 41min 14sec.
Ashley Liew at the 31km mark, on target for a personal best time.
I saw the first runner for the women, Ethiopian Goitetom Haftu Tesema, running in to finish with a splendid time of 2hr 30min 06sec. Then, after some top men runners had passed by, I saw Mok Ying Ren finishing the marathon race in a time of 2hr 27min 05sec, according to my angle of vision from the spectator stand. Then came Australian Roxie Fraser, who did a personal best time of 2hr 41min 14sec.
After seeing this, I was thinking whether Ashley did stop in the race. I told him that if his leg pain at the upper thigh persists during the race, I advised that it would not be good to continue if this happens. I was hoping that he could be sensible enough to stop the race and go for the Berlin Marathon or something. I saw the time still running and approaching 2hr 45min, Ashley's personal best time.
Picture 2 - Ashley Liew, coming after the bend, giving his best shot at the last stretch of the run
Then, all of a sudden, I saw Ashley Liew, at the bend, running to finish the race as fast as he could and he was able to dip to sub-2hr 41min 55sec. I felt that this was a good personal best time for him, considering the change in the strategy. It was felt that the last 10km can be very tough as most or nearly all of our glycogen are depleted.
Picture 3 - We can see Ashley finishing the race in 2hr 41min 55sec
After the race, I congratulated Mok for his sub-2hr 30min feat, as he had done 2hr 27min 05sec today. Then, I saw Ashley shaking Mok's hand. Later on, I shook Ashley's hand from the high fence of the Gold Coast Marathon finish, that he had done a god personal best time. Because of this, we found the race to be worth it. Ashley was pleased with the time given the leg problem.
After that, we were walking around. While walking around, we took some memorable shots. We saw Mok Ying Ren and took a photo together. After the photo-taking, we were going around to take more photos of the enthusiastic environment and people.
Later on, since Ashley wanted to eat after the run, we went to a restaurant. After his meal, we went to take the photo of the winners of the race for men's and women's category. In fact, Ashley alerted me that the prize-giving ceremony is at 11:10am.
After that, we were walking around. While walking around, we took some memorable shots. We saw Mok Ying Ren and took a photo together. After the photo-taking, we were going around to take more photos of the enthusiastic environment and people.
Later on, since Ashley wanted to eat after the run, we went to a restaurant. After his meal, we went to take the photo of the winners of the race for men's and women's category. In fact, Ashley alerted me that the prize-giving ceremony is at 11:10am.
I went to the prize-giving area and took the photo shots of the top 3 winners' of the men open and women open marathon category winners. Later on, we took a shuttle to our place and reached our apartment at Brighton Street.
We realised that Dr Ben Tan did a good time of 3hr 13min 43sec for his race. Overall, when I reflect, I find that today was a great day indeed at the Gold Coast Marathon. We enjoyed the organisation of the race and like what Nicholas Manza of Kamakysaid, "This is a country with friendly people." I would personally wish that Australia gets the bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games that they are bidding.
We realised that Dr Ben Tan did a good time of 3hr 13min 43sec for his race. Overall, when I reflect, I find that today was a great day indeed at the Gold Coast Marathon. We enjoyed the organisation of the race and like what Nicholas Manza of Kamakysaid, "This is a country with friendly people." I would personally wish that Australia gets the bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games that they are bidding.
Top 3 Men Open Results
1 2hr 09min 59sec KEN Nicholas Manza Kamakya
2 2hr 10min 11sec KEN Albert Kiplagat
3 2hr 10min 48sec KEN Japhet Kipchirchir Kipkorir
Top 3 Women Open Results
1 2hr 30min 06sec ETH Goitetom Haftu Tesema
2 2hr 41min 14sec AUS Roxie Fraser
3 2hr 43min 02sec JPN Tanaka
By Narayanan
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.
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 do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the 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.
