David Shum (extreme right) pictured here with the rest of the 4:30 Group Pacers.
This week, we are proud to have with us David Shum, our 4.30 Group Pacers for a short interview. Think you know the man? Read on to find out more!
About David
David has been a running addict since he got to know about marathon in the early 90’s when Mobil and Singapore marathon were the main year-end attraction. Since then, there’s no turning back except hitting the road after a hard days work. As avid soccer and badminton player during tertiary education, making the transition to running after graduation was not a plain sailing but a rather bumpy ride.
The first five years was quite a turbulence learning the rope through trial and error as well as pain and burnout. There was no education and awareness about footwear and training regime except that to run as much as far as possible. He had his youth to support him for the first five years of his running career and pain was not in his dictionary. Well, it when on for a while and hitting the wall as he hit mid-twenties where he suffered both swollen knees as a results from internal bleeding.
That experience had put him into a perspective of taking it sensibly and coming out wiser. It was not until at a much later stage of running years it has prompted him to undertake a proper athletic coaching programme through Singapore Sports Council. It did not only benefit him but also those around him that shared the passion of running. The education part has allow him to enjoy his run in terms of further, stronger and faster as well as providing him the cardio workout for other sports such as soccer and badminton.
T: So tell us how did running first started for you?
D: It was in 1992, after a dinner at Alexandra Village, saw a banner inviting runners to join the bandwagon of the SAFRA Running Club. They look cool in green, so I said "Why Not?"...the rest as they say is history.
T: Share with us one of your best marathon experiences.
D: The best marathon experience was the Gold Coast Marathon where it was my first overseas run and running under cold condition along the coast. The view was magnificent as endless wave hitting the shoreline and not short of supporters as well. Strangers were offering jellybeans, coffee as well as beer along the way.
T: (Great! we are planning on that marathon as well... right team?)
T: Ok... Besides running for marathons, what other sports do you do?
D: I played soccer and badminton competitively during secondary school as well as polytechnic in the late 90’s. Dabbled in golf for a while and found it very boring and lots of walking.
T: Now that you're a Team Fat Bird marathon pacer for SCSM08, what race day tips do you have to share with our fellow pacers and pacees?
D: Take on the run with a strategy in mind and follow the plan as close as possible. At the same time, make some friends along the way to keep yourselves occupied and on track as well as motivation from the rest around us. We can not under-estimate what little we the Pacers do that could have an impact on their running lives, and how much it meant for the pacees to learn and achieve their personal goals.
T: Lastly, tell us something we Don't Know about David Shum.
D: A trained professional civil engineer of 15 years and had since made changes to his career to feed his passion for running by managing a sports facilities at Singapore Sports Council for fours years. Had picked up athletic and soccer coaching respectively with SSC and FAS along the way and decided to volunteer his time as a Running Trainer for SAFRA Running Club (Toa Payoh and Tampines) from 2004 till now. Found coaching meaningful and fulfilling and had decided to make the third career change to being a lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic teaching Leisure and Resort Management.
Father of two young daughters (3.5 years and 6months) and an understanding wife who has tolerated my silly mileage and approve my ‘passport’ for most of the Sundays’ run. Hope to keep it this way.
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