Never Give Up

Leo Tan's 2018 Fukuoka Marathon runs into the Malaysian record books.

- Lionel Kong

Marathoner Leo Tan Huong Leong is now officially Malaysia’s fastest man over 42km. The Taiwan-based, Malaysian runner completed the 2018 Fukuoka Marathon with a time of 02:24:04, and with a clean doping test after the race it was officially declared as the new Malaysian Marathon record by the Malaysia Athletics Federation.

This came after two previous attempts at the 2017 and 2018 Tokyo Marathons, where he ran times of 02:28:19 and 02:25:32 respectively. However, these timing were considered unofficial as they were not accompanied by a doping control test, a requirement for Malaysia’s record books. Leo was not eligible to take them as he was not in the elite invited category of marathoners in Tokyo.

He says, “This time, before I ran in Fukuoka, I contacted the secretary of the Fukuoka Marathon and personally applied for doping test, as I felt that I had the opportunity to run a fast time. I didn’t want to miss out on getting an official record again.”

The new record was set at his second run of the Fukuoka Marathon, where his first attempt in 2017 ended in disappointment due to an old injury.

He says, “Despite my poor result in 2017, the experience of competing in this elite-oriented Gold label race was really great. It was also economical since the flight ticket and other expenses aren’t as expensive as Tokyo. The Fukuoka International Marathon attracts not only top professional runners but many elite citizen runners whose pace would be similar to my goal too.