Dr Ben Tan - 3rd in Men Open, 2008 Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon Champion

Dr Benedict Tan - 3 Times Sportsman of the Year (Sailing) award winner.

Pic 1 -  2008, a memorable year that we came in first, second and third in the Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon. Dr Ben Tan (left hand side), with determination did 2hr 56mins.

Today, I was just thinking of writing something about Dr Ben Tan, a great aports personality of Singapore. However, some people might ask me who he is. I would say that he is the Medical Director of the Singapore Sports Medicine Centre (SSMC). He is concurrently the Head and Senior Consultant Sports. He is now the President of Singapore Sailing Federation.

Picture 2 - Dr Ben Tan, as a competitive sailor in the past

In the year 1989, 1991 and 1993, Dr Ben Tan won gold medal for Singapore in  the SEA Games in Sailing. In the year 1994, he won the first gold for Singapore in Sailing in Asian Games in Hiroshima, Japan. He was the Sportman of the Year award winner for the year 1991, 1994 and 1995.

Having said that, I would like to say few things on how I know him as a person. In the process, I would like to also introduce and recommend to each and every runner to invest on the book called 'Run for your Life' which he has written, which gives insights into being a complete runner.

In the year 2008, I met Dr Ben Tan during a dinner in Germany, after running our Berlin Marathon run. Our friends Daniel Ling, Grace, Anne Date, Dr Benny Goh plus Dr Ben Tan and his one or two friends were there during the dinner. Dr Ben, while speaking about other things, suddenly went straight to the topic on doing sub 3hrs. His Berlin international Marathon (Sept, 2008)time was 3hrs 01min. Towards the end of the race, he told me that, all the way, for the final 10km, he kept repeating to himself 'no pain' 'no pain' 'no pain' to do a sub 3hrs, which he unfortunately missed it on that very day.

Listening to that, I invited him for our once a week workout with Daniel Ling and I. He came down for all 5 workouts, except for one, which he did it himself when he was in overseas. The rest of the training sessions were done by him, running individually by himself or running with his friends. During the training, I realised that he was hitting the necessary time needed to attain the sub 3hrs. His easy runs timing, however, started to become slower and I had to assure him to believe in the workouts that I was giving on the year 2008 and he was steadfast in the training.

Not only was he believing in the training program, he was also ready to humble himself to follow the training program and give it a try. During the sessions, Dr Ben, kept asking me inquisitive questions on the types of workouts and training. I also realised that he is well informed on running and a very knowledgeable person in marathon running. I shared with him my experience on easy runs, moderate runs and intensity runs. I also realised that he was also sharing his experience with me. It worked both ways.

He was very bold in getting a fast time in the year 2008, in the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, that I was able to see his determination. He was also a focused person. During the workouts, he was on time. He spoke less about himself and he did not mention to me about any of his attainments in the SEA Games or Asian Games. He was also a person who evaluates his training program basing from the number of e-mails I had with him. He always reflected on his training program and always did his best to keep improving on his timing. In short, he had this 'always can improve' kind of attitude that made my planning for him to do a sub 3hrs for the Standard Chartered Marathon 2008, easier. He was also a very good team worker. On that year, the year 2008, was a solid year for us as we were able to come in 1, 2 and 3 for the Standard Chartered Marathon race in Singapore.

Picture 3 - If you want to improve running progressively, gradually and systematically, I would recommend this great book- Run for your Life.

Having said that, I would like to say something in the blog on the essense of book that he has written. Even now, as a president of the Singapore Sailing Federation, he is still doing workouts with us and running. Such is his passion towards running! He has engaged 20 experts in running to share with us on running. In one of the chapter, I have given my inputs on race strategy. which allows a person to improve ones timing in running, whether it is a 2.4km, 5km,10km, half -marathon or the marathon. In another chapter, I have also given input on the training program itself.

As the Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon 2010 is approaching, I would like to recommend to people to buy this book, which is a complete marathon guide. I shall elaborate this in part 2 more on the different chapters that this book covers.