An Interview With Rameshon On Ashley Liew's Win

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 Marcel Sng

Picture 1 - Divya, Vijayraj, Ashley Liew, Saranniya and me (Marcel Sng)

 

An Interview With Coach Rameshon - Story of Teamwork

Many have read of Ashley Liew. You may have seen him running in the Standard Chartered Marathon itself. As we have already read my interview with Ashley, I was thinking that it would be a good idea to have an interview with his coach as well.

He is none other than Murugiah Rameshon, whose Marathon record set 17 years ago, 13 December 1995 at the Chiang Mai SEA games still stands to this day. 

This article will be about how Ashley Liew and Coach Rameshon on how the worked together up till the Standard Chartered Marathon 2012.

An Interview with Coach Rameshon

How did you first start training Ashley?

I first met him when I started training the Singapore Management University(SMU) team back in  Dec '08. SMU wanted me to bring the team from 7-8 position to Top 4 for the Intervarsity Track and Field Championships. While bringing the team to the top 4, I was focused on individual events as well.

At that time, Ashley was doing somewhere around, as I can remember, 39minute plus for 10k in the Inter-varsity track and field race, and he was also doing triathlon and ironman as well. I realised that this guy was a multi-talented personality. Above all, he showed great respect  during all training sessions which made me to treasure him more. I realised that he will do wonders in the long run. A raw diamond, indeed!

When I was training Singapore Management University, I felt that he had a good running style, fluid, but I saw the room for improvement. I knew then that It would take at least 3 years to improve his running style. In the long run, he was proving himself to be a force to be reckon with. I was excited about this challenge to bring the best in him. With the type of champion values that he had, most importantly, humility, I felt that to be a champion is somewhere in the near future.

Recently, it has been found that in most races, especially, the 10km runs, he ran and finished with a good running style.

I feel that he has this running style and running technique has got something to do with his early youth involvement in sports which has given good coordination. Previously he did - canoeing, tennis, cycling and swimming. 

How did you turn Ashley's 2011 SCMS's defeat to victory this year?

We were flexible in our strategy. Ashley wanted to go for a 2hr.34min, which I had set. However, this time around we decided that it would be a good thing to hold back from the start. (From his 8km new personal best time of 26min 34sec, from his past personal best time of 26min 57sec, I felt that his chance of winning is 95% and I was confident in saying this. There were other indicators to show that he has a great chance of winning. I assured him a day before that he is in top form for the race) We finally decided to go for a win rather than doing a very good time. We actually came up with that strategy, in fact, a day before the race. Hence, I realised that the strategy I have discussed with him for nearly all the races are very different from this year's strategy.

What happened during the race?

The first part was to take it easy. Then, later on, at the 9km mark, I saw Ashley deciding to stay with the Elite women, which I felt that he was making a fast break at that point, which was, in fact, the best strategy to break away from all local competitors. Even I would have done that in that situation. The good news was that the group he was running in a group of more than 20 runners in it. Some male runners plus many top female runners were in it. I saw Mok Ying Ren, 3 times winner of Stanchart Marathon for 2009, 2010 and 2011, about 3 min to 4min away from Ashley at that point. 

When I saw that situation, somehow I felt that Ashley had won the race there itself. This came to my mind at that time, and I did not know why it came. Maybe the strategy that he did was a very convincing one, making me think that the race was Ashley's as he had grasped the opportunity at the right time.

The group that Ashley followed had many quality elite female world top marathon runners in it. Even if this group of 20 people break up, I realised that he will still have some runners in front to pursue, unlike what was going on with other local top runners. They had one or two people to run with. Although it was advantageous for our local competitors and Ashley, it seemed more advantageous for Ashley.

At the 29km mark, Ashley's gap away from Mok was huge but as I coach, I felt like sending a telepathic message to Ashley to tell him that the most important part of the race was the last 10km. My heart was for Ashley to win because of his effort during training. He looked stronger at the 29km mark when he passed me.

Over time, the time came when Ashley was finally coming to the last 80metres of the race, and he did 2hr 45min for the marathon race. I knew that Ashley was going to be finally a champion for the race. Ashley did 2hr 45min 08sec. I was glad for Ashley as I felt that all the faith, hard work and teamwork had paid off, eventually. 

Picture 2 (left to right) Ashley Liew and Coach Rameshon

What are your future plans for Ashley?

For the near term, we are sure of taking part in the Gold Coast Marathon 2013 somewhere in July. Gold Coast Marathon 2013 is at the top of our agenda and we are going to keep working as a team. We will be going together to the Gold Coast. I am hoping that he will be able to do a sub- 2hr 30min and one day do a sub- 2hr 20min. 

After that, the next goal for Ashley is to go to the Olympics. My firm belief is that Ashley WILL go to the Olympics if he continues to train and have consistency. Now, why I say this. If I can qualify for the Olympics with my SEA Games 2hr 24min 22sec performance, I believe that Ashley can too. I have unshakeable believe that he can do it.

Any advice for aspiring sportsmen?

Young people should start to play sports when they are young, for example, as low as 6 to perfect skills needed to excel in sports like coordination, quickness and agility

If people want to wait for someone to help and wait, I believe that what can be achieved in 20-20 years can be achieved in 1 to 3 years time, if they are given the proper guidance. Ashley improvements are given below. 

2010 - 2hr 52min Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon

2011 - 2hr 45min Hong Kong Marathon 2011 (Feb)

2011 - 2hr 41min Gold Coast Marathon 2011 (July)

2012 - 2hr 38min Hong Kong Marathon 2012 (Feb)

2012 - 2hr 35min Gold Coast Marathon 2012 (July)

2012 Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon  - 2hr 45min 08sec (Champion)

If anybody needs any help, you can call me, my number is 91004369. Call me when you are ready for the marathon challenge

In closing, I would like to thank the Singapore Sports Council and the Singapore Athletics Association for their valued support in providing Ashley Liew elite status for the Stanchart 2012 as a carded athlete.

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.