Lim, an IT procurer from Singapore, who was married on his 38th birthday, arrived in Dunedin last Thursday, with wife Pei Li (32) and 7-month-old daughter Brooklyn for a family holiday that will finish with trips to the lake districts of Queenstown, Tekapo and Mt Cook.
Yesterday’s marathon was Lim’s 12th and, despite a much smaller field than he has experienced around the world, he was quite happy to take part with an eye to running a 3hr 15min time to qualify for Boston.
Lim has a personal-best time of 3hr 16min he clocked in New YorkDespite contesting some of the world’s premier marathon events, Lim was impressed with the Dunedin event.
"I like it. I like it a lot. It is very well planned and I was surprised by the amount of encouragement you get around the course."
He added that the morning sea fog that engulfed the course helped him settle into a steady pace and enabled him to push harder in the second half.
While family commitments and sleepless nights mean his time yesterday of 3hr 29min 41sec was outside the qualifying time for Boston, he is confident he has the ability and is looking to the Tokyo or Brisbane events in which to achieve it in the next couple of years.
Lim was first encouraged into running while living in Michigan in the United States for two years.
"Initially I hated it," he said of beginning to run.
But he persevered and began to pick up distance and pace to run his first marathon when he returned to Singapore in 2004.
Among his international marathons is the Basel Marathon in Switzerland, New York, Chicago and Berlin.
"I usually try to do at least one a year," he said.
After meeting Pei Li five years ago, Lim thought running the Berlin Marathon in 2013 would be a good idea for the two of them.
While he completed the course in 3hr 23min, he had an anxious wait for Pei Li, who finished in 4hr 52min.
Kneeling on one knee to greet her as she crossed the finish line was Lim with an engagement ring.
"I was just happy to complete the distance," she said of her first thoughts after completing her first and only marathon.
