Suggestions for Improvement - Army Half-Marathon 2011

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)

Army Half - Marathon 2011- Give runners their voice

As predicted the races in Singapore are run such that some mistakes are done. The good thing that we should do, whether we are high up or low down is to change things for the good. Some race organisers are so arrogant to the point that they tell runners that the runners got the choice of running or not running their races if the latter are not happy. They say it indirectly that it is the committee's decision and not theirs etc. What an easy way to escape!

In the half -marathon race in 2008, The Army Half-marathon, at the age of 43, I came in first in the veteran section. My team manager told me that they have registered such that I will be getting $1000 if I came in first for the veteran. This was not so. I was placed under Men Open instead, where most winners were foreigners. 2 PDF came in first in the team, which was my team at that time, and they rewarded me with some cash incentive. However, a huge part of it was lost just because I ran under the army unit. The army should learn to reward more if a person has done well and not give less. It is time to learn about Skinner's Conditioning from Psychology.

In the past, during my peak years in running, I avoided running Army organised races as they tend not to take the distance markers seriously. The distance instead of 21.1 ends up 19plus km etc. At that time, I used to go for accurate and valid races. In order not to waste my effort, I used to go to AIMS certified races in Malaysia. Else, I would still prefer going overseas for races.

In Singapore, the only race that has a good name so far is the Nike Real Run race. There has been no complaint. The Mizuno Wave run that I ran a few years back was the worst. There was practically no finish point. Everything was chaos. Races organisers were not interested in our comments. It was like, even if you complained, next year we will have a lot of runners coming down. Recently, some have complained on Tri-Factor races. So, my suggestions to all these organisers is to look and understudy successful races that are done properly before they organise a race. I hope that races are run by passionate runners and not someone who does not have running background. 


I can remember running a 10km race at Loughborough University, which was organised by a former top runner. It was the best race organised ever in my life and it has already left a great impression in me, even now.

I myself have organised the Swift Northern Route Challenge around the early 2000s and found that not one complaint came from runners of the race. They were praising me for doing well. Runners told me to organise the race once in two months. One of them who told me this is Mr Patrick Zendher, former Coach of the Year winner. 

My advice to runners is to use common sense and avoid races that has poor distance markers and are wrongly done. Nowadays races are far too expensive also. Runners are not getting the money's worth. Why is it not advisable to run a poorly organised race? It is because one will not improve if this goes on. You cannot realise your potential in running. You may be bragging around that your time is now 5min faster but what had happened was that the distance was short. I have a personal best of 1hr 07min done in Johor Half - Marathon which I find it short. 

Such is the state of a number of  runners interviewed who ran in the Army Half-Marathon 2011, around 8 of them from a unit, told me that they improved suddenly by 5min. This was like a miracle for them, where they told that nearly all of them did 5min faster for Army Half-Marathon 2011 race. They also concluded that the distance ran and timing done looks ridiculous. 

Recently, a runner showed me a gadget from the handphone which accurately measures the distance of the race. It is out there now. As a researcher myself during my undergrad years, the study shows that Polar is good for timing. For distance marking, using a pedometer etc are not advisable. I used to warn an athlete who ran with a pedometer and later he realised that the pedometer was wrong. GPRS is the answer. One way is to manually measure the distance. I would like to volunteer for this and it can be done within 4-6hrs, that's all. 

In the past, I used to take my own time-trial because I find that to be accurate as compared to the race organisers measurement. It is the race distance markers that they always forget and I feel that it is the one that is important if one wants to improve. Money doesn't matter, distance ran accurately matters a lot if one wants to progress in running. It is a waste of time to run races with inaccurate as you will not know the pace that you are running and you will not know the total distance. 

Over time, one of the reason, I have stopped running Army Half-marathons nowadays is because of inaccurate distance. Some years ago the distance was measured accurately, now they have reverted. 

I hope that in future the organisers of running races are passionate about doing their work. They could bring the race prizes up to $3000 rather than the same old $1000. The race registration fee should be lower. London and Berlin Marathon races are expensive but the way the races are organised for marathoners are beyond comprehension. The distance markers are very clear and you have balloons in several sections. I hope that we can learn something from here.

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.