SINGAPORE – At the start of the year, doing simple tasks such as buttoning her clothes, wearing her earrings and putting on make-up was a challenge for Xanthe Khatoon.
Chemotherapy for breast cancer led to severe numbness in her fingers and feet, affecting the 66-year-old’s ability to carry out certain activities.
The financial services consultant also had lower back pain which meant that at times, she could not even walk for five minutes without resting. It was frustrating and sometimes left her in tears as she had to take a break every 20 to 30 steps.
It has been a tough road for Khatoon since her cancer diagnosis in 2017, but she has never let that stop her from living her life, and on Sunday, she was able to complete the 5km event at the Great Eastern (GE) Women’s Run at her own pace.
Khatoon said: “I feel very accomplished, very happy. I’m very thankful that there are so many people who are contributing to a worthy cause and I can be part of it.
“Previously, I couldn’t walk... I never in my wildest dreams thought that I could participate in a walkathon because I had walking problems.”
It was just the second walkathon for Khatoon, who was among over 9,000 participants of the GE Women’s Run at the Singapore Sports Hub on Sunday.
Her first walkathon, which was organised by the Singapore Cancer Society (SCS) in September, gave her the confidence that she could cover the 5km distance.
She credits the SCS programmes for helping her regain her mobility. As part of her rehabilitation, Khatoon did lower-back strengthening exercises and received advice on diet planning.
The mother of three, who has two grandchildren, said: “Being positive is very important. I can stay at home and moan and groan, some days are so bad that I am quite depressed, crying out to God, ‘Why is it like that?’
“But my son is very encouraging, everyone in Singapore Cancer Society is so encouraging... I don’t know whether it’s good or bad, but I try to block it out and dwell on the good parts and think of the nice things.”
The SCS was one of two beneficiaries of the GE Women’s Run, the other being Daughters of Tomorrow, a charity that works with underprivileged women. A total of $260,000 was raised for both organisations.
The GE Women’s Run’s elite 21.1km category, which is for local runners, was won by national athlete Vanessa Lee in 1hr 22min 51sec. Jasmine Teo (1:23:16) was second once again, while 2022 winner Rachel See (1:24:58) was third.
The win was unexpected for Lee, who finished third in 2022, because of how competitive the field was. The 25-year-old said: “We were running as a very tight group for most of the race so I really enjoyed that because I don’t really run with them much. It’s only the half-marathon where we have common races so it was nice to be able to run with very strong women the entire race.”
The win was even more impressive, considering that Lee started doing the half-marathon only in 2022.
Lee, who made her SEA Games debut in May competing in the 5km (sixth) and 10km (seventh) in Cambodia, still does a wide range of events, including the 800m.
On what drew her to the GE event, she said: “It’s just a new challenge. I had the opportunity to go to the Gold Coast half-marathon and that was a nice experience. Running with this group of women, you don’t really have this kind of race any time of the year.”
