He has been training with his father since he was seven years old, but on Aug 20, Stevson Lim, 14, will participate in a race with him for the first time.
"I'm very excited about the experience," said Stevson, who runs 4.8km with his 42-year-old father and sister, 13, thrice a week.
The teen is one of 50 runners from the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and their operationally ready national servicemen (NSmen) fathers, who will be taking part in this year's Safra Singapore Bay Run and Army Half Marathon, to be held on Aug 20.
They will participate in the NS50 Team Run category, introduced this year for NS50 and will receive NS50 commemorative medals when they complete the race.
The run has five main categories: the 21km Army Half Marathon, the Safra 10km race, the NS50 5km team run which involves groups of 10, the Safra 5km fun run, and the Families for Life 800m challenge.
Now into its 25th edition, the run will commemorate 50 years of national service with new initiatives at the event. This was announced at a preview held at Safra Toa Payoh yesterday.
There will be large inflatables which mimic standard obstacle courses for attendees to try out. These include inflatable stepping stones that will be placed along the 5km route. Another inflatable course will feature the ditch, window, dodging panels and tunnel obstacles at the post-run carnival at the Padang.
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Special album
The Ministry of Defence will be releasing an album to mark 50 years of national service.
The cover song, We Will Carry On, was composed by Private Dominic Chin and performed by the music group Camokakis from the Singapore Armed Forces Music and Drama Company.
They presented the item yesterday at a media preview. The track will be released on music platforms Spotify and Apple Music on June 30.
It is one of seven songs in the album.
More details about the album will be disclosed nearer to its release in mid-August.
Prisca Ang
There will also be a tyre-flipping activity for families, where parents will be challenged to flip the heavy tyres of the army's five-tonne truck. Children can try lifting lighter tyres.
Families can don army-themed attire and run in the Families for Life 800m Challenge. Participants will receive event tees featuring the Singapore Armed Forces' pixelated camouflage design, and camouflage cream and jockey caps will be provided to children at the start point.
There will also be dance and music performances.
More starting pens will be put up for crowd regulation and this year's routes will cut down on narrow segments, to ensure smoother movement of runners, and include more stretches along East Coast Park.
The runs will start 30 minutes earlier, as compared to previous years, to give runners more time to enjoy the post-race activities.
More than 27,000 participants have signed up so far.
National marathoner Ashley Liew is among those taking part in the 21km Army Half Marathon. He last participated in the run in 2012.
He said: "I'm looking forward to taking part in the run and seeing my army division again."
