I never did much running after high school—and I wasn’t particularly good at it then, either. I had to walk my annual one-mile run at some point. In college, I couldn’t even run a single kilometer straight.

The first attempt

My motivation to run my first 5km came from my girlfriend in college, who was much fitter than I was. Even though it seemed impossible at the time, I decided to give it a shot. I was using the Nike Running app training plan and attempted a “fartlek” run near Yale-NUS College. I had no proper equipment—no running shoes, no smartwatch to track my heart rate—and the route was quite hilly. I collapsed during that run, and though I didn’t realize it then, that would be my last run in college. I kept feeling too scared to try again.

Getting back into running

After working for a few years with minimal exercise, I stumbled upon zone 2 running content on social media and decided to try it out. I ran slowly on the treadmill (because I didn’t want to faint) and was thrilled that I didn’t feel like I was going to pass out afterward. I kept running consistently for about 1.5 months, but I felt stuck since I wasn’t improving much. I was also getting more interested in metrics—my Galaxy Watch was providing a lot of data, but I discovered I could only get my VO2 max when running outdoors, so I made the switch.

After some research, I found that Garmin offers even more metrics. With a bit of upgrade-itis, I went ahead and got a Forerunner 970. I still wasn’t improving much, so I dug deeper and found Runna’s “Return to Running” plan (I chose this over the “New to Running” plan because it was shorter). I actually completed it—roughly, but I managed to hit a 5k walk-run in 50 minutes during one of the interval sessions without passing out! I finished the plan with a 44:02 5k time.

Training for the race & race day

Around that time, my girlfriend wanted to get back into running and said she needed external motivation, so we signed up for the 5k race during the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) 2025. I started an event-based training plan in Runna again, and this time there were long runs up to 10km which I managed to complete them (1:19:21) without passing out!

I felt very ready for the 5km race. The route turned out to be more hilly than I expected, and I struggled to maintain my pace—I had to slow down significantly during the hills. When I was feeling a bit better, I caught sight of the sunrise and the skyline with birds flying overhead. I felt happier. In the end, I ran a 32:34—my first ever race! This time I almost passed out, but after a small rest and managing to get some water, I was okay.

Race day aftermath

Unfortunately, the post-race management was horrible. We had to queue to get our medal first with no water in sight, then queue again for the water station, and later another queue for one banana. There were quite a few half-marathoners next to me who were extremely exhausted and close to fainting. It was a stark reminder that race organization matters just as much as the running itself.

Progress Summary

Here’s how my running improved throughout this journey:

College: Couldn’t run 1km straight
First 5k attempt: 50 minutes (walk-run intervals)
After Runna “Return to Running” plan: 44:02 for 5k
Training long run: 10km in 1:19:21
Race day: 32:34 for 5k (26% improvement from training!)

Race Results (SCSM 2025)

My official race results from the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2025:

Net time: 32:34 (chip time)
Distance: 5km
Category: Men 20-29 years (Age 24)
Overall ranking: 788 of 5,609 starters (top 14%)
Gender ranking: 604 of 2,658 male starters (top 23%)
Category ranking: 99 of 365 in Men 20-29 (top 27%)

What’s Next

Completing my first 5km race was just the beginning. My next goal is to train for a half marathon by December 2026. Here’s my planned progression:

Improve 5k time: Get below 30 minutes (currently 32:34)
Sub-1 hour 10km: Break the 1-hour barrier for 10km (current best: 1:19:21)
Half marathon training: Build up the distance and endurance
Race day: Complete my first half marathon by December 2026

It’s ambitious, but I’m excited to see where the next year takes me.