Singapore runners Vanessa Lee, Shaun Goh celebrate National Day with 10,000m national records
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- On National Day, Vanessa Lee and Shaun Goh break the women's and men's 10,000m national records at the Queensland 10,000m Championships.
- Lee clocked 36:15.67, beating Yvonne Danson's 1995 record, while Goh ran 31:02.40, surpassing Soh Rui Yong's 2023 mark and meeting SEA Games qualification.
- Both athletes aim to compete strongly at the Thailand SEA Games, building on past experiences and their recent record-breaking performances in Australia.
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SINGAPORE – National Day is usually a time for Singapore distance runners Vanessa Lee and Shaun Goh to enjoy the festivities with family and friends, though in 2025 they spent it more than 5,000km from home.
On Aug 9, they celebrated the nation’s 60th birthday differently at the Queensland 10,000m Championships in Brisbane, Australia, where they both broke the women and men’s 10,000m national records.
Lee’s 36min 15.67sec was the winning time at the University of Queensland, bettering one of Singapore’s oldest records – Yvonne Danson’s 36:27.39 set en route to the bronze at the 1995 Chiang Mai SEA Games.
Goh crossed the finishing line fifth in 31:02.40, rewriting the men’s 10,000m national mark that had earned Soh Rui Yong (31:10.70) silver at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia.
In the process, he also earned a provisional spot for the Thailand SEA Games in December by bettering the 31:25.55 bronze medal-winning time from Phnom Penh.
Lee, 27, said: “It didn’t really dawn on us (what we achieved on National Day) until a while later. We were all so caught up in celebrating getting a double national record.
“But after the race, we go on Instagram... we see people’s stories and stuff, quite a few of our friends are running together in the red outfits, some of them are going out to watch fireworks, family and friends are gathering, playing mahjong.
“I do feel a bit sad to miss out on all this because a lot of my family and friends actually do have plans to meet up, and I told them I couldn’t go because I was overseas. But we came here to do what we had to do.”
Singapore runners Vanessa Lee (left) and Shaun Goh after breaking the women's and men's 10,000m national records in Queensland on Aug 9.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF VANESSA LEE
The 10,000m mark is another of Danson’s long-standing records to have fallen in recent years.
Now 66, she held the 5,000m record of 17:35.30 for 27 years before it was lowered by Goh Chui Ling (17:33.73) at Munich’s Munchner Abendsportfest in June 2024.
Just over a week later, Lee bettered it with her 17:26.62 at the Malaysia Open Athletics Championships, before rewriting it in March at the Box Hill Run in Melbourne with a 17:06.69 effort.
Danson, who won marathon bronze at the 1994 Commonwealth Games while representing England, still holds the Singapore half-marathon (1hr 16min 29sec) and marathon (2:34:41) records from 1996 and 1995 respectively.
In addition to the 5,000m and 10,000m marks, Lee, a sales executive, also holds the national records for the mile, 3,000m steeplechase, 5km road and 10km road.
Australia has been a happy hunting ground for Lee and Goh, who set national 5km road race records at the Gold Coast Marathon in July. Lee clocked 16:57 to better Chui Ling’s previous mark of 17:08, while Goh’s 14:49 eclipsed Soh’s time of 15:08.
The stakes were high for Goh in Brisbane as it was his final opportunity to meet the 10,000m SEA Games qualifying mark.
He said: “It feels really meaningful because it’s my first track NR, so previously my NRs were on the road and they were not official Olympic events. The others are important but this one feels very real and more legitimate to me now.”
Having made the provisional 762-athlete contingent for the SEA Games, both runners are eager for their second outing at the biennial event.
Lee said: “Every SEA Games is very different – not the same people will be at the SEA Games every year. The conditions are always different, maybe the events the people are participating in are different as well.
“You never know what you’re going to get there. But all you can ever do is try your best to show up, prepare well for it and see how it goes on the day itself.”
It is a similar approach for Goh, who works in cybersecurity, with the 28-year-old hoping to build on his debut in Cambodia.
He said: “I want to be there and in a position where I can really contend. I was there two years ago and was just happy to be there because I qualified. This year it’s my second time. I want to race in a way that I can contend for medals.
“The weather has an impact because in Cambodia it was really hot. But, knowing that I can run this kind of timing, I won’t be scared to follow the fast paces that my competitors are going at.
“So it just gives me more confidence that I can stick with them as long as I can.”
