SINGAPORE — Years of sweat and hard pounding on the streets finally paid off for national marathoner Soh Rui Yong on Sunday morning (March 17), as he clocked 2hr 23min 43sec at the Seoul Marathon to break a 24-year-old national record.

The previous mark of 2:24:22 for the men’s marathon was set by Murugiah Rameshon at the 1995 SEA Games in Chiangmai, Thailand.

Breaking the longstanding record was a “shiok” moment for Soh, a two-time SEA Games marathon champion who was aiming to go under 2:24 at the Tokyo Marathon earlier this month. He withdrew from the race after a mix-up saw him placed in the mass start pen instead of the elite and sub-elite group.

“This is something I've wanted to do for a long time, to get under 2hr 24min,” said Soh, 27, whose previous best was 2:24:55 at the 2016 Chicago Marathon.

“It took a few years of work and I finally found the race and opportunity to do it, so I'm definitely happy with that.

“This was the only serious attempt at the record, for the others I was a little unsure of my fitness going in but this time I managed to go in fit and healthy.”

Ahead of the Seoul Marathon, Soh had spent more than five weeks training in Flagstaff, Arizona, in the United States. He was optimistic that he would go under 2hr 24min as his key workouts there were “faster than before”, despite clocking in lower mileage due to an Achilles heel injury, said the marathoner. He works in business development and is a sports ambassador with lifestyle portal The Smart Local.

Racing under sunny and cool conditions in the Korean city, Soh said he was unsure of his times due to initial confusion over the pace markers along the route.

“At the halfway mark, my watch showed that I was at 1:11:35 and I felt comfortable with the pace. My previous fastest was 1:12 in Berlin so it was a good sign that I was 30sec faster,” he said.

“Once I got past that, I didn’t know how fast I was until I ran into the stadium and saw the clock. It’s a sense of fulfilment to be able to execute my plan well on race day. Being the first guy to go under 2:24 is a great achievement.”

With two SEA Games gold medals and a new national marathon record — which has to be ratified by Singapore Athletics — under his belt, Soh has now set his sights on a new milestone: A new record in the men’s 5,000m.

The current 5,000m mark of 14:51.09 is held by Mok Ying Ren, who also won the men’s marathon gold at the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar.

Soh, who also holds the half marathon and 10,000m records, is even considering giving up a shot at a third SEA Games marathon gold to chase his goal.

While he admitted it would be a pity to forgo a chance at a hat trick at the Manila SEA Games in November, Soh said this would depend on the progress of his track training as he is also aiming to qualify for the marathon at next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Soh’s personal best in the 5,000m is 14:55.91, and a new mark could put him in contention for a podium finish at the 2019 SEA Games. At the last edition in Kuala Lumpur two years ago, Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Lai won the gold in 14:55.15, while Prabudass Krishnan (Malaysia) and Agus Prayogo (Indonesia) were second and third in 14:57.43 and 15:01.80, respectively.

“It’s a pity not to run the marathon, but there are a lot of things to do in running and it’ll be cool to achieve something in the 5,000m,” said Soh.

“No decision has been made as of now. I’ll see how my track experiment goes and if I feel like I can do well in another event.”