Coach Rui began his athletic journey in his home country of Singapore, running with his mother around Bedok Reservoir. Rui joined Hwa Chong Institution cross-country team and 2014, and began his illustrious running career. In the same year he ran his first marathon, clocking an impressive 2.26. He began coaching informally in 2018 and started RunSohFast Academy in late 2023.
Rui’s time in the marathon stands at 2.22:59, a national record. His numerous other achievements include 6 Singapore National Records, ranging from 5000m to the marathon, 5-time consecutive Singapore Marathon National Champion (2017-2024), as well as being a 2 x Southeast Asian Games Gold Medallist in the marathon, in 2015 and 2017. He is currently sponsored by Under Armour, Pocari Sweat, and BOSS.
Coach Rui’s philosophy centres around the simplicity of running. He believes that committing only a few hours a week can be the spark needed to go from unfit to a proficient runner, and that with only 10 hours a week of training you can be a fantastic athlete.
Rui offers elite coaching for all distances: from 5km to the Marathon, as well as expert preparation for the 2.4km Singapore IPPT.
Services
Singapore IPPT
5/10k
HALf marathon
marathon
TESTIMONIALS
Dan Bulbrook
I returned to London from my honeymoon in October 2023 with only 5 weeks before the Valencia Marathon. I’d always struggled with marathons, however during these 5 weeks, Rui managed to change my entire perspective on running. Rui gave me clear structure and set realistic (yet ambitious) goals. Despite a setback in my next race, I was able, under Rui’s expert tuition, to set a personal best time, by over 3 minutes, of 2.37 at Valencia, my first PB in 18 months.
Eugene Teo
I first met Rui in 2017, where he immediately came across as warm and friendly, despite what various controversies may suggest. Rui took me under his wing in 2019 as a reasonable middle-distance athlete with no experience in longer distance running. I had just ran 3.53 in the Berlin Marathon and was eager to better this in Chiangmai. I excelled under Rui’s motivating training programme and improved by an exceptional 18 minutes in 3 months, running 3.35.
Shaun Goh
I first met Ruiyong during the 2023 SEA Games, where I had the privilege to spend invaluable time with a talented and experienced runner. Months later, Ruiyong invited me for dinner, leading to an unexpected meeting with Marc, the Race Director of the Valencia Half-Marathon. I decided to compete in this race with the intention to qualify for the Singapore National Championships. Ruiyong mentored and encouraged me to set an ambitious goal of 70 minutes, which I achieved with a time of 69.35, becoming only the third Singaporean ever to do so.
Stefania Williams
I contacted Rui in the build up the the 2017 Singapore Marathon, seeking advice on running in tough conditions. He was more than happy to share his expertise with an amateur runner, and his advice helped me achieve 3rd in category. Some years later, after falling out of love with running, I contacted Rui again with the goal of Boston qualification. Despite my doubts due to my age, Rui was certain that no-one was “too old to follow their dreams”, and prepared me thoroughly for the 2022 Amsterdam Marathon, where I ran 3.41, a PB of over 5 minutes, achieving my goal of Boston.
Cindy Ong
As a working mother of two, my lifestyle involves significant challenges and time constraints. Coach Ruiyong became aware that I was without a coach in 2018 and immediately offered his services. Ruiyong focused on quality over quantity and “painful fun” so I could persevere through the programme. Since then has, through his personalised and flexible programme, allowed me to reach my goal of a top 10 finish at the 2018 Singapore Marathon, qualifying me for Boston.
Gordon Lim
My relationship with Ruiyong began with friendship, after he invited me to join his workout in 2019. Soon after, he began to coach me and I soon ran 2.37 at the Sunshine Coast Marathon. As a result, I qualified for the Southeast Asia Games, in which Ruiyong was unfortunately unable to compete. Despite this, Ruiyong offered to coach me for this event, as well as volunteering to fly out overseas at his own expense. During the marathon itself, Ruiyong supported me from start to finish, standing tirelessly in the sun for close to 3 hours.
RUTH (18)
I am so thankful for mr sohs help for the past 1+ month. although we only had a short runway to prepare for my nsg, he was confident that i could achieve my goals, and surely i did. he was flexible and was able to work with my school and training schedule, and emphasised the importance of scheduling interval workouts with recovery runs. this helped me to give my all during training sessions. furthermore, I’ve seen a huge decrease in my injuries and pain after this structured training plan. through this month of working with mr soh, i gained much more confidence about my performance level and it helped me so much mentally for race day. I am grateful for being able to work with him, and for what I’ve learnt throughout the process!
Julien Tadeusz
I have been training with Rui for the last year, and he helped me find the right balance between my family life, work demands and my running goals, while continuing to improve my running times.
In October 2022, I ran the London marathon in a personal best of 2h37. My wife was pregnant with our first, and I saw this race as a last opportunity. I gave it everything in the training block, running 120k a week with 8 sessions a week. By the time of the marathon I was burned out. The effort itself was the hardest thing I did in my life.
At that point I was happy with my PBs and at peace with adjusting my life balance. I stopped running competitively for about a year after the baby was born. After a year I joined Rui's group for a couple sessions, but wasn't ready to commit for a real race objective.
Within a couple months of joining Rui's group last year in the spring, I was back in PB shape on 5k. He gave me confidence to register again for a marathon. The months leading to the marathon were my best marathon prep ever, feeling challenged but not pressured. While preparing for the race, I ran sub 34' on the 10k for the first time since 2011. While my finishing time on the marathon was a couple minutes slower than my initial goal due to race day conditions, I now trust my fastest days are still ahead of me.
Rui's approach to running fully appreciates we have lives outside of track. He gave me the confidence I could target ambitious running goals without compromising time spent with family or work commitments. He is remarkably great at knowing when to tell me to limit the training load, but also when to challenge me to run some sessions with a faster group.
For anyone looking to progress at running, I highly recommend Rui. He gets the best out of people at any level.
