MARATHON MUM

Plenty of people do marathons every year in running-mad Singapore but her story is pretty unique - Military Expert (ME) 2 Cheryl Chen did it a few months after delivering her first child in mid-2008.

"I started running and training a month after delivery and did a marathon at the end of the year," she said. "I felt that I needed to take care of my kid but I also needed some time for myself."

Since then, she has been doing the Army Half Marathon (AHM) every year. Somewhere in between preparing her son for school and getting to work, ME2 Chen finds time to run daily.

"My husband got me hooked on long distance running," said ME2 Chen. Her husband had taken her to her first AHM when she was still going through Basic Military Training.

But it could have all turned out another way. While studying at a polytechnic for her diploma in Law, her sights were set on joining the police force.

"My best friend wanted to join the Army so we signed up for both (the SAF and police force)." Her best friend ended up in the police force and ME2 Chen in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). "We ended up both working in the intelligence units, so that's really a twist of fate!"

What can we say; she's destined to be in uniform.