Yong Yuen Cheng - 217km Death Valley Run

Mr Yong Yuen Cheng - 217km Death Valley Challenge, California

An Interview With Yong Yuen Cheng

Why did you take part in this challenge?
To show to my students that an ordinary person is capable of achieving extraordinary things.



To be the first South-east Asians (and of course Singaporeans) to complete the Badwater Ultramarathon.


To tie the challenge with fund-raising efforts for Mountbatten Constituency and National Junior College.

Did you get the permission to run this race?
Organisers told me that we lack the experience, hence we did our own one with permission and own support.

What gave you confidence in doing this run?
A few months after completing the 168 km Run Round Singapore in 2005.

In April 2006, we made a decision to run the exact Badwater Ultramarathon route on our own in 2007 and named our event 217 km Death Valley Challenge 2007. There was a lot of preparation involved and we finally succeeded.

How much did you raise for charity?
We raised $200000 for Mountbatten CSC and $40,000 for NJC

Can you tell us in summary some of the training done for this?
For the distance: an average of 24 hours of endurance training per week (highest weekly mileage recorded was 48 hours)



For the mountains: staircase climbing, hill training, slope running at MacRitchie, running on Sheares Bridge and Bukit Timah Hill.
We did long runs.

Canoeing training with my students.

Stationary bike cycling at home.

Approx 5 hours each day, I trained in aerobically.

How was your build up for this?
The build up is as follows. I took part in several event.

MR25 Ultramarathon (Dec 2004)

Run Round Singapore (Oct 2005)

Marathon Challenge (Jan 2006)

Gobi March (Jun 2006)

Death Valley Recce (Jul 2006)

Round Singapore Canoeing Challenge (Aug 2006)

MR25 Ultramarathon (Dec 2006)

Vertical Marathon Challenge (Jan 2007)