Yvonne Elizabeth Chee
Marathon Runner
Yvonne Elizabeth Chee is a mother runner of two young girls and started seriously training only after giving birth to her first child in September 2016 at the age of 37. In spite of the late start, she was recently selected to join the Singapore National Team for the marathon, making her a national marathoner. Yvonne also became the youngest, second female and third Singaporean to accomplish the feat of running a marathon on all seven continents.

1. How did you get involved in running?
I started running on the treadmill in the gym as a way of relieving stress and decided to train for my first marathon. After I crossed the line of my first marathon, I was hooked. Like me, my brother is also a Team Singapore marathon runner and training together keeps us going.
2. Who is your all time inspirational athlete and why?
Stephanie Rothstein Bruce. She’s an American professional marathon runner. Like me, we are both mother runners with two young kids. She keeps things real, trains her butt off and is a testimony that motherhood doesn’t hold us back from being better runners and achieving our dreams.
3. What has been your greatest achievement in running?
Achievements can be measured in so many ways. My most meaningful achievement was completing my 7 marathons on 7 continents bid with my last marathon in Antarctica. This was dedicated to my late grandmother who brought me up and I had raised funds for the elderly as well.
Another running achievement was coming in 3rd Singaporean female at the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon in 2018 when I was one year post-partum. It was a tough year coming back from childbirth, breastfeeding and I had many sleepless nights so coming in 3rd was that much sweeter and rewarding.
4. What is your biggest motivation to keep pushing your limits of performance?
5. What are your aspirations for running in 2019 and beyond?
6. What advice do you have for someone who is considering taking up running seriously?
Take things slowly, get the right shoes and find a group of running buddies who can keep you motivated.
7. Top 3 nutrition tips
- Use Beet It Sport before tough workouts to fuel yourself.
- Get adequate protein post workout to enhance recovery.
- Hydrate during your run.
8. Top 3 training tips
- Build up your mileage gradually
- Vary your runs – from easy to fast and long runs.
- Build in rest days to recover from your hard workouts. This helps with injury prevention.