See meets SEA Games mark, Goh sets new PB
She had been down with flu and fever for the whole of last week, leading up to the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon yesterday.
Despite being not fully fit, Singapore marathoner Rachel See managed to clock a new personal-best timing of 2hr 58min 27sec to beat the South-east Asia (SEA) Games qualifying mark of 3:07:14.
It was also the first time that the 34-year-old mother of two has broken the three-hour barrier in the 42.195km run.
See, a civil servant, is not the only Singaporean to meet the qualifying mark for the women's marathon for the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur this August.
Jasmine Goh, who had clocked 3:04:43 at the Sydney marathon last September, also clocked a new PB of 2:54:51 in Hong Kong yesterday.
In addition, Neo Jie Shi, who competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics and at the 2015 SEA Games, clocked 3:06:27 at the Taipei Standard Chartered Marathon yesterday to also meet the SEA Games qualifying mark.
However, it is likely that the two runners with the faster times, Goh and See, will be nominated for the Games, as each country is allowed only two participants.
If confirmed, Goh, also a mother of two, will make her SEA Games debut in Malaysia later this year, while See will mark her second Games outing.
See made her maiden SEA Games bow at home in 2015, finishing sixth with 3:18:14.
Both See and Goh's timings yesterday were better than Thai marathoner Natthaya Thanaronnawat's gold medal-winning time of 3:03:25.
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