SINGAPORE – National marathoner Soh Rui Yong is on the comeback trail after overcoming his long battle with a foot injury that had hampered his efforts to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics, and he has made no secret of his targets.

They are: taking down the long-standing men’s marathon national record, defending his marathon title at the 2017 South-east Asia (SEA) Games, qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and finishing in the top half or top 20 of the elite field there.

And the 25-year-old, who suffered plantar fasciitis last November, showed that he is back to his best yesterday by clocking the fastest-ever time clocked by a Singaporean in the men’s marathon since Murugiah Rameshon’s 1995 feat of 2hrs 24mins 22secs which remains the national record today.

At the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday (Oct 9), Soh set a new personal best of 2hrs 24mins 55secs, finishing just 33 seconds off Rameshon’s national mark. Soh’s previous PB was 2:26.01 set in his marathon debut at the 2014 California International Marathon.

The time has also put Soh on the threshold of 2017 SEA Games qualification, as it is under the Games’ qualifying time for the event of 2:37.10.

Soh achieved his time while overcoming two challenges. He had overslept and arrived at the competition venue just 30 minutes before the start of the event.

He also had flashbacks during the race to his last competitive outing at the London Marathon in April which saw him struggling with cramps and white vision before eventually finishing in 2:37.33, well short of the Olympic cut time of 2:19:00.

According to Soh, he ran a strategic race in windy conditions on Sunday, and he said that he reckons it is “only a matter of time” before he sets a new national standard in the men’s marathon.

“I think it’ll be a natural progression. I knocked 66 seconds off my old time in this marathon. Leading up to it, I was self-coached, had a nine-week training cycle, and was just coming off from an injury,” he told TODAY. “So with a proper training cycle next time, the national record is within my grasp.

“It is only a matter of time before it falls.”

But it looks like Soh, who will return to Singapore next week where he will begin work at national sports governing body Sport Singapore, will need to shave more seconds off his new PB if he is to defend his SEA GAmes gold medal. This is because Indonesian runner Agus Prayogo - who took gold and silver in the 10km and 5km races at the 2015 SEA Games - has emerged has a strong contender for the regional marathon crown in Kuala Lumpur next year after clocking 2:21.07 in July’s Gold Coast Marathon.

“I am not interested in going to the SEA Games unless I’m in shape to win gold again,” said Soh. “My friend, Agus, has run 2:21, and I’m looking forward to racing against him. I respect him a lot as a man, an athlete, and a father, and it’ll be exciting for us to race each other.”

To do that, Soh – who will first have to navigate the realities of balancing work life at SportSG with his training and competition plans – wants to put in a “track season” ahead of the showdown.

“My training philosophy is that if I keep doing the same things, I will get stale. So I want to do track season (racing shorter distances in 5km and 10km) from January to May, which was what made me dangerous at the SEA Games last year,” he said.

“But also, I’m not just doing sports for myself. I don’t want my legacy to just sit with me. I’ve traveled the world to train (including to Iten, Kenya which is billed as the “home of champions”) and it has made a world of difference for me. I have seen how other athletes do their thing, so I can’t wait to coach and let other Singaporeans learn from my sharing too.”