SINGAPORE — Stricken by illness last week, Rachel See was not in the best of physical conditions heading into Sunday’s (Feb 12) Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon.

But the 34-year-old pulled through with a new personal best (PB) time of 2hr 58min 27sec in the full marathon, a result which also saw the mother-of-two qualifying for the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur in August. It was also the first time that See had run a sub-3hr marathon, bettering her previous PB of 3:00.39 clocked at the same event last year.

“I was hoping to qualify through this Hong Kong race, but was down with flu and fever the whole of last week,” she told TODAY after her race.

“So I was really glad I pulled through today. I am happy and excited, both for qualifying and the good timing. I am also happy that my group of training friends and husband did well (in this race).”

See is the second Singaporean athlete to meet the qualifying mark of 3:07.14 – the third-placed timing from the previous SEA Games – set by the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) for the women’s marathon at the SEA Games. She will join fellow runner Jasmine Goh, who is set to make her debut after clocking 3:04.43 at last September’s Sydney Marathon. Goh, 37, also ran a sub-three hour race in the Hong Kong race today with her time of 2:54.51.

The Kuala Lumpur Games will be a second outing for See, who made her debut in Singapore in 2015 alongside Neo Jie Shi. See had finished sixth then in a time of 3:18.14, while Neo was placed eighth (3:35.54).

The civil servant, who has been racing marathons since 2007, is self-coached and juggles training and work with taking care of her two children aged four and seven.

She is hoping to better her time at this year’s Games, as she added: “My 2015 (experience) was good but I was really inexperienced and could have handled the run better.”

Neo, who competed in the women’s marathon at last year’s Rio Olympics, also went below the qualifying mark at the Taipei Standard Chartered Marathon on Sunday morning after clocking 3:06.27.

However, See and Goh are expected to earn the nod from Singapore Athletics (SA) ahead of Neo as the national sports association will only nominate the two fastest athletes in each event for the SEA Games.

Neo, 31, told TODAY that she is unlikely to make another attempt before the qualifying window closes on May 31. But the marathoner was happy to offer her blessings to her fellow runners and friends, as she said: “I am very happy and proud of Rachel for doing a sub-three (timing)!” she said.

“I am happy both Jasmine and her have raised the standard of women’s long-distance running in Singapore, and definitely wish them all the best at the SEA Games!”