SPRINT DYNAMICS FEATURED FORMER MALAYSIAN RUNNER
THANGAVELU
Malaysia's 800m and 1500m SEA GAMES Gold Medalist Who Could Help Lift Singapore Athletics From Its Present State of Condition.
I met Thangavelu in several Malaysian state races and we had been competing with each other in the 1990s. After so long, a few weeks ago, when I went down to CCAB to meet Wilson Kipketer at CCAB, I saw Thangavelu and began chatting with him on days where we used to fight with each other as competitors. He could remember vividly the races we ran and the tough fight we had and was happy to find that after all we are still friends. He told me that Sprint Dynamics has taken him to develop as a coach to train the middle and long distance runners of Singapore. This I believe is a great step forward for Singapore athletics and it is hoped that National Bodies such as the Singapore Sports Council could assist Sprint Dynamics to nurture runners of the future. Coach Tan Wei Leong told that he has about 20 coaches to help bring up athletics in Singapore. Let us look at Thangavelu, and learn something from the simple interview that I had with him.
Can you give me your personal best times?
400m - 49.24sec
800m - 1.49.99sec
1500m-3.50.44sec
3000st-9.08.12sec
5km - 14.42.0sec
10km - 30.06.0sec
half marathon - 1hr 06.48sec.
What are you doing for your career?
At present I'm working as a store manager in aircraft spare parts company and am learning from Coach Tan Wei Leong on Singapore athletics. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Coach Tan and SD for currently helping me to help Singapore middle and long distance runners to excel. I will do my best to raise the standard of Singapore athletics with my athletics achievements and training experience. I believe that I can develop runners who in the long run get medals in the SEA GAMES. I always believe that those who have found the way can lead others to reach the destination.
Can you tell us about your marriage, children and family and worklife balance?
I am married to M.Shanthi and I have a daughter and son by the name of Dhashmini (sec3) and son Dhashman (sec2), respectively. Usually, I spend my family time during weekends. I concentrate on my work and assisting Coach Tan during weekdays.
How many SEA GAMES have you competed?
I have competed in three Sea Games (1989, 1991 and 1993).
How many gold, silver and bronze did you win in the SEA Games?
Gold in 1500m (1991) and 800m (1993).
Silver in 1500m (1989).
Bronze in 800m (1991) and 3000SC (1993)
How was your parents responding towards your passion, which is running?
I had great parents who were fully supportive of my running achievements.
Why did you move up from 800m, 1500m and 3000st runner to a long distance runner running 5km, 10km and half-marathon?
It is very hard to sustain the interest in middle distance in the long run, especially in Malaysia and Singapore. Many Singapore and Malaysian athletes who were middle distance runners, to my knowledge, have given up running. I find the longer the distance, I was able to travel to many parts of the world. It is more fun to train for 5km, 10km and the half-marathon. Also, I always keep winning something from these races.
What do you think of M. Ramachandran, Batumalai Rajkumar and Muthiah who were your competitors?
Ramachandran is our Malaysian Long Distance hero, Batumalai Rajkumar is one of the best middle distance runner that Malaysia had ever produced. Muthiah was also a gold medalist for 2 SEA GAMES for 1500m. These are all great personalities for the present generation of Malaysian athletes to follow.
Right now, we have a budding star by the name of Karthik, who we hope will get for Malaysia the 5000m and 10000m gold or the 3000m steeplechase gold. The Malaysian middle and long distance runners, even women, is predicted to do well in the coming SEA GAMES.
What is your advice on training and racing in cold and hot weather?
Races should be organised in the cooler times so that runners can get faster times. When a person attain a fast time, in future, the time will get even faster. Likewise, training should be done at a time which is cooler. We, the top Malaysian runners, in the past and now, do our training in cooler times to keep improving our times. In the Youth Olympics Games' races for middle and long distance, the competitions were organised during cooler times, most of the time at night. In recent races, the middle and long distances events were organised at night in Malaysia. Perhaps, the NSA or any running organisation of Singapore should take note of this and makes changes to the recurring mistakes done by the past NSA management and, I believe, that this will enable Singapore athletics to improve and grow. If the middle and long distance races are organised at 9am and 10am or between 3pm and 4pm in the hot sun, Singapore running standard will ever remain the same throughout. That is why I believe Singapore athletics did not improve until now when compared to Malaysia. Hence, when it comes to races and training, it is advisable, to conduct the activity between 7am and 7:30am or between 6pm and 7pm. This will also prevent dehydration in anyone. I saw YOG runners getting heat exhaustion when they ran in Singapore.
What are the values needed to be successful in running?
Sportsmanship values like fair play, loyalty to coaches, hardwork, perseverance, determination, loyalty, integrity and having long term goals. Coaches must infuse these values in children when they are young.
What is your advice for children who want to take up running?
Enjoy running.
Thangavelu contact number is 94884190 if you need assistance in advice in long distance running. He is also found in the facebook as Ramu Annavelu.
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