On May 11, a tri-nation group of 13 people took off their shoes and embarked on a seemingly endless walk around the 100Plus Promenade, a fully-sheltered jogging track encircling the National Stadium.
With no shoes to cushion their soles, blisters wore down their feet but not their spirit, for they had set their sights on the Singapore Book of Records.
Their efforts were rewarded as they successfully set a new record as the largest team to walk 21.1km barefoot.
Of the 13, four were from Singapore, one from India and the others from Malaysia. The team comprised members of Just Walk Lah (JWL), a community of brisk and race walkers that was formed in 2022.
Among the three women in the team was Ms Geetha Nallappan, who completed the walk in 3 hours, 41 minutes and 11 seconds – well in advance of the 5-hour cut-off time.
The 52-year-old said: “It was not an easy walk and it tested my endurance level. Walking barefoot was a new experience for me, so completing it successfully on my first attempt is something I’m proud of at this age.”
This was not the first time Ms Geetha, who works in an administrative role at a school, had her name recorded by the Singapore Book of Records. Last November, at the Let’s Take A Walk charity event, she was one of 17 walkers who set the record for “largest group to complete a 100km walk”.
The man who started JWL is veteran Singaporean racewalker R Subramaniam, 61, also one of the 13 people who achieved the record.
A runner in his younger days, he started race walking at the age of 15, drawing inspiration from his brother-in-law R Nadarajan, who won nine South-east Asian Games medals in racewalking between 1973 and 1983.
“I wanted to create an opportunity for walking enthusiasts to enter the Singapore Book of Records,” said Mr Subramaniam.
“Walking a half marathon is actually easy. But to do it barefoot is a big challenge, and not many can or would want to do it.
“We all have blisters. It’s been close to a month and they haven’t fully healed. One of our runners had a blood clot in his toenail. Yet, we pushed on. That’s the mental grit that we have.”
He first started JWL as a solution to the dwindling number of competitions for race walking.
“Compared to the early 2000s, there are very few community events for racewalking now. In my younger days, community centres organised race walks, and every week or two there would be a race,” he said.
“From 1991 to 2016 there was a very popular The New Paper Big Walk. We don’t see those types of races anymore. So many racewalkers lose their motivation to train.”
Last July, JWL organised a 5km Race Walk at Marina Promontory, which saw close to 100 participants.
Come November, at this year’s Let’s Take A Walk event, JWL hopes to set another record with the “largest team to walk 50km”, Mr Subramaniam said.
“Last year, we set the record for 100km, so this year we are looking at 50km. We already have around 25 people and we are expecting to exceed 30 by November.”
