Days In The Sun

The competitive fire may have beentempered, but Chua Khai Lengis still in love with running.

You don’t see her name at marathons, but that’s fine with Chua Khai Leng. The 27-year-old middle distance runner has proven her speed. Her ‘C’ Division schools’ record in the 3000m distance, set back in 2005, remains unbroken to this day.

Khai Leng is now a Research Assistant in Sports Psychology at the National Institute of Education in Nanyang Technological University, but her love for movement and fitness remains undimmed. She reveals that she is also a swimming coach for children, helping them build water confidence and few things are as rewarding as watching kids build a new skill.

She says, “I started in Track and Field when I was just ten years old, in Primary Four, after my P.E. teacher Mdm Chan spotted me running at the school's sports day. She came up to me and encouraged me to take it up as my CCA. I agreed to it without giving much thought as it was really just for fun, but I have been running ever since. I took part in track events ranging from 800m to 3000m when I was in Primary Six to Secondary Two, before I started to focused more in the 800m distance and training hard with my coach, G. Elangovan.”

Despite the high intensity periods where she would train six times a week to be in top form for inter-school race meets, running has become part of her lifestyle and she feels uneasy not putting on her shoes to run regularly now. Having friends that are mostly interested in the same things helps her too.

“My running buddies keep me motivated,” Khai Leng says. "Supportive friends are important, and our run time is to catch up with one another, balancing our exercise intensity and at the same time managing our social life.”