Continue Running Forward

When LKCMedicine launched Run It Forward in 2020 in celebration of its 10th anniversary, it received great support from staff and supporters who collectively raised more than $120,000, well above the original target of $50,000. 

Spurred by its inaugural success, the School decided to run the fundraising event again with the aim of breaking the previous records in terms of participants, distance and monies collected.

The response went well beyond expectations. All records were broken. 

From mid-October to December 2021, LKCMedicine staff and students, together with their friends and families, donned their running gear and left their footprints all over Singapore. The collective pounding of the roads, foot tracks and pathways accumulated over 99,550km, significantly further than the 23,960km covered in the inaugural edition. Putting this in perspective, this is more than twice the circumference of the earth! A great achievement indeed that deserves a big pat on the back of all the participants!

This edition saw 741 runners, comprising 104 teams and 325 solo participants, in three categories - 5km, 30km, and 300km. The number of participants in 2021 was a big jump from the 525 who took part in 2020.

Spurred by the success of the first edition, the organising team set a higher fundraising target of $150,000 for 2021.

The result? Over $230,000 was raised, benefitting NTU Priorities Fund and President’s Challenge. NTU Priorities Fund was set up in 2020 to address urgent financial needs faced by NTU students affected by COVID-19 with no other recourse for help. The School chose NTU Priorities Fund as a beneficiary in support of the worthy cause and in celebration of NTU’s 30th anniversary in 2021. President’s Challenge – the beneficiary of Run It Forward 2020 - supports various disadvantaged communities in Singapore through its 92 beneficiaries.

Running for a good cause was a very attractive concept for Year 1 student and triathlete Nicholas Rachmadi. He ran with Team Flying Doctors, comprising himself and three doctor-triathlete friends, Dr Lim Bao Ying, Dr Foo Gen Lin, and Dr Joshua Li, all of whom also teach at LKCMedicine and at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. “As competitive triathletes and long-distance runners, we instantly got drawn by this challenge. It was also convenient that we are already members of The Flying Doctors, a competitive running group we started in 2012 to encourage a healthy lifestyle through regular exercise both to our profession and to the wider community. We hope to use this platform to expand our group to like-minded runners within the medical profession, host regular training sessions and participate in local races as a team,” says Nicholas.

Year 2 students Amanda Auyong, Zhang Zheting, Dominic Goh and Maegan Ng from Team MADZ clinched the top position in the 300km team category. Interestingly, they wanted to find out how long it would take to walk from NTU Jurong to Novena campus. That route added 25km to their distance count and took seven hours! On a separate day, the team started their walk at midnight from the LKCMedicine Novena campus to the Singapore Sports Hub, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Botanic Gardens and back to Novena at around 7.30am for a quick wash up before attending lessons! Motivated by their self-invented principles of Fulfilment, Fun and Friendship, they hope to do more if there is another edition. “We will definitely want to do this again as it has a very good and meaningful cause. And we are game to do something more challenging in the next round,” says Amanda. 

Perhaps it was COVID-19 that drove many to the outdoors after months of working from home. Or maybe the returning participants were encouraged by their efforts in 2020 and wanted to do more this year. Whatever the reason, they all did a great job for society and also for their health.

In the words of LKCMedicine Dean Professor Joseph Sung, “Run It Forward takes our spirit forward and our health upwards.”