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Top speed for Best Foot Forward 2024
Over 1,100 participants clocked over 73,000km during the third edition of NTU’s fundraising challenge Best Foot Forward (BFF) and raised over S$180,000 for university funds.
By Nur Isyana Isaman
With a total distance of over 2,700km, Raymond Howe clinched first place in the new virtual cycle category introduced for BFF 2024.
The NTU staff, who is a first-time BFF participant, is also on the leaderboards for top runners and top individual fundraisers. He ran almost 1,540km and raised over S$1,500.
Raymond Howe clocking his cycling distance for BFF 2024.
“I did not participate in previous BFFs as I did not want to disrupt the training programme for my Ironman triathlon races. But after witnessing my colleagues’ efforts and the motivations behind their own journeys, I was inspired. Every day for two months during BFF, I ran at 3am and cycled during lunch time, then do my Ironman training in the early evening before clocking BFF distances from 10pm onwards,” said the 61-year-old.
Raymond was not always an exercise enthusiast. In fact, he used to be a heavy smoker and drinker. He was also overweight at almost 100kg.
His turning point was a cancer relapse in 2000, which spurred him to embrace fitness.
The two-time cancer survivor said, “Participating in BFF this year has served as extra training for my 28th Ironman race in Cebu later this month. What inspired me to do all this is because I had cancer. I'm in remission now and exercise has kept me healthy. I hope to inspire people to keep on exercising and never take good health for granted.”
Making great strides
BFF 2024 kicked off with the physical flag-off X Campus Run on 2 February and ended on 5 April, garnering participation from over 1,100 NTU students, alumni, faculty, staff, and supporters.
Together, the participants recorded a total distance of over 73,000km by running, walking, or cycling, and raised more than S$180,000 for the NTU Bursary Fund and School Advancement Funds in support of student and school development. These records surpassed 2023's performance.
Among the school teams, Nanyang Business School (NBS) emerged top after raising over S$37,000. Meanwhile, National Institute of Education (NIE) raised over S$17,000 and the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS) raised over S$11,000.
Stay tuned for the next edition of Best Foot Forward on NTU Giving website.
