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SRY should be commended for putting up the challenge that will encourage our soldiers to train harder. Good job SRY!

My sentiments exactly. If not for Mr Soh's blistering and well-publicized run in under 7 minutes, this 2.4km run would remain just another part of fitness test-takers' routine, with nothing out of the ordinary. For decades uniformed personnel and civilians alike have run this distance to gauge their fitness levels or for recreation. Never before has anyone running this mundane distance received so much public attention. When you come to think of it, all the bad publicity arising from the bickering among Soh and netizens could well turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Our forummer dynamite commented, "What SRY did was the kind of publicity we needed to raise the standard of many sports in Singapore."  He has a point there. This unusual event has in fact come under the glare of publicity with an open invitation to runners to meet the challenge of next month's 2.4km Run. When those running fanatics train extra-hard and do a lot of dry runs, their performance levels along with their times are bound to improve somewhat. Some casual runners may turn to serious running to prove themselves in the sport. This may bode well for the future of athletics in SG, which is evidently in need of reform. Now the magical numbers "2.4 km" will get everyone's attention.