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Renuka flew the Singapore flag high.
A determined athlete with an effervescent personality, Renuka was one of our nation’s top cross-country and distance runners, representing Singapore at the 2011 and 2015 Southeast Asian Games.
Once a TAF (Trim-and-Fit program to tackle obesity in Singapore schools) child in her teens at Methodist Girls’ Secondary School, she refused to be stalled and stood proudly at the starting line.
Running was important to Renuka, and so was doing well in school. So, both had to fit.
Whenever a goal is set, she accepts the hard work required to achieve it
They aren’t sacrifices. They are opportunities to achieve that goal.
Achieved her goals, she did.
She trained under Steven Quek at Raffles Junior College.
She looked after her grades, made the best use of her training time, and worked unreservedly towards her goals.
That said, Renuka preferred training to racing, and racing to studying, and running to mugging.
Nevertheless, she won a Ministry of Education Scholarship and pursued her undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Applied Linguistics in Australia.
In between, she ran for the Republic at the 2011 SEA Games.
She returned home with honours and began her teaching career in Singapore.
Before her death, she was a General Paper and a track and field teacher at Eunoia Junior College.
A score year ago, she was a seed. She was showered by her mentors and educators with tough love.
She ran with their expectations. She challenged herself and broke records – they came tumbling down.
As a mentor, she played an integral part in grooming the next generation to excel in whatever they set their minds to do.
Her achievements as an athlete and General Paper teacher were hard-earned. In 2014, she was nominated for an award recognising outstanding teacher-coaches.
Renuka had an unstoppable personality, larger than life, opinionated and an unstinting appetite for fun, a capacity for nice food and a good pint.
She was kind, gentle and full of warmth.
Her presence was comforting, and she was always caring.
Once, she gave up her first position gracefully after finding out that another runner, who came in second, had mistakenly taken the wrong route and run additional distances.
She valued the camaraderie more than her results.
She valued people more than whether they could run as well or as fast as her.
She valued every opportunity that came her way.
She taught us that if you train hard and race frequently, the good times will come.
In the meantime, enjoy the scenery.
It applies as much to athletics as to life itself.
In the running fraternity, she was a legend of her era; she was never put off by a bad race.
She picked her up and continued running.
And, as an educator, she gave her all.
She saw the value in every student, nurtured and invested in them.
She gave them a head start in life.
Renuka ran the races in her life with aplomb, and today, she stands tall and proud at the finish line.
No distance was deemed too far for her.
Thank you for the friendship, the many makan sessions, and above all, her care and love towards every person and student whose path crossed hers.
It was a good race, Renuka.
: Mileage