Soh Rui Yong sets new national road mile record with 4:30 finish at Westminster Mile in London
Soh Rui Yong has set a new Singaporean road mile record at the Road Mile at the Sir Roger Bannister Westminster Mile in London, finishing with a time of 4:30. Just days after breaking his own 5km national record, the 33-year-old marathon runner encouraged others to pursue their dreams.
SINGAPORE: Singaporean long-distance runner Soh Rui Yong has set a new national record in the road mile, finishing with a time of 4 minutes 30 seconds at the Road Mile at the Sir Roger Bannister Westminster Mile in London. The record-breaking performance comes just eight days after Soh set a new national record in the 5km road race in Battersea Park, London. In a Monday (23 September) Facebook post, Mr Soh shared his excitement at achieving yet another milestone. He expressed his happiness in "capping the off-season with another national mark." The previous road mile national record of 4 minutes 32.44 seconds was set by 22-year-old Ethan Yan at the 2023 World Road Running Championships. Soh, who is 33 years old, took the opportunity to encourage others to continue pursuing their goals. "Having patiently built a foundation, now the real work begins as I prepare for a winter marathon. "
According to a statement from Singapore Athletics on Facebook, this achievement marks the shortest race distance in which Soh, a double SEA Games Marathon Gold Medallist, has ever held a National Record. Soh now looks forward to the Valencia Half Marathon on 27 October, where he will race alongside fellow Singaporean Shaun Goh. Goh, 27, set a new national record in the men's 10km road race with a time of 31:00 at the Run Prix 10km in Melbourne on 22 September, placing 20th out of 188 runners. His time beat Soh’s previous record by 37 seconds, marking a significant achievement for the young athlete. Singapore Athletics further highlighted that the road mile record appears to be a family affair, as Soh’s sister, Romaine, currently holds the women’s national record for the event with a time of 5:24.19, also set in Riga last year. Reflecting on his record-setting performance, Soh drew inspiration from Sir Roger Bannister, the first man to run a mile in under four minutes. "Sir Roger Bannister has always been an idol of mine, not just because he was the first man to break 4 minutes, but how he did it as a medical student at Oxford University. " "This drew me to give it a go at the Sir Roger Bannister Westminster Mile, racing the traditional distance along the centre of London." Reflecting on the grueling nature of middle-distance running, he remarked, "Miles hurt in a much different way than the marathon. While my legs start to go about 2 hours into a marathon, my arms start to fall into lactic acid paralysis 2 minutes into a mile that I’m racing all out. "
