Third and proud of it

Brutal.

That was how they described the ASICS Beat The Sun run.

The objective of the 148km relay race was to finish the race in 15hr 41min and 35sec, or the time between sunrise and sunset on the longest day of the year in Europe.

The two Singaporeans, Mr Andy Neo and Mr Winston Ng, were part of a team of six which represented Asia-Pacific in the race.

The four other runners in their team were Mr Kota Araki and Mr Shingo Shintani from Japan, as well as Mr Pete Jacobs and Mrs Jaimielle Jacobs from Australia.

A standee with the names of the members of the Asia-Pacific team. PHOTO: MR ANDY NEO

Held on June 21, five teams competed in the race, each representing Asia-Pacific, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, the Americas and Africa.

Each team has three professional and three amateur runners

Set around the scenic sights of the 4,800m-high Mount Blanc, the relay race requires them to run through a variety of terrain which includes both extreme uphill and downhill segments.

For both Mr Neo and Mr Ng, the highest point they ran at during the race was about 2,000m above sea level.

Before the race, every member of the team was given the number of legs that they needed to run in the relay race.

Mr Neo, 35, one of the professional runners in the team, was given to run three legs.

The assistant manager for education and training in ASICS Asia had to run 8.5km downhill, 4km uphill and another 5km downhill.

Mr Ng, 42, was classified as one of his team's amateur runners. The former commando turned full-timed house daddy was given two legs, a 12.5km downhill run and a 12km trail section.

Mr Ng came to be part of the Asia-Pacific team after he saw that they were looking for amateur runners who wanted the opportunity to tackle Western Europe's highest peak.

After an interview process which involved a running session with Mr Neo, Mr Ng was chosen and they set forth to run the mountain.

In the end though, the Singaporeans were unable to 'beat' the sun, coming in 19mins after the sun set.

But they did come in third, beating the more fancied team from Africa and North Europe along the way.

"It really was a surprise that we came in ahead of them," said Mr Neo, 35

"The African team had fast runners while the North European team had the advantage of having large mountains to train on," added Mr Neo.

The feat though, did not come easy.

The punishing altitude and the terrain made it difficult for the two men who are more used to running on Singapore's flatter environment.

"During the second leg of my run, there was a point where I couldn't feel my legs," said Mr Neo.

"But I didn't want to let the team down and get overtaken so I persevered and continued moving," he added.

"The run was no joke," said Mr Ng.

"You have to respect the mountain," he added.

He said that toward the end, every single step was hard.

Like Mr Neo, he persevered and somehow made his way to the finish line.

As he approached the end of the race, Mr Ng said he got slightly emotional.

"I'm usually a very cool person but towards the last kilometre with the finish line in sight and my team-mates running with me, I got a bit emotional," he said.

When asked if they would consider running in the grueling race again if given the chance, they were both unanimous in their reply: "Of course!"