Retired civil engineer Lim Shyang Guey will don his running shoes on March 28 for a 2,200km (1,367-mile) journey around Peninsular Malaysia. The 90-day “Run for Gold” campaign is Lim’s attempt to finish a gruelling circuit by June 22 – his 67th birthday.
The inspiration for this challenge comes from profound loss. In November 2023, Lim and his wife, Goh Joo Lee, were celebrating her completion of the
Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Half Marathon – her first ever race. But soon after, she began to experience intense stomach pain. Doctors initially assured the couple, both in their sixties, that it was likely nothing more than gallstones.
The correct, devastating diagnosis of stage four gallbladder cancer only came in April 2024. After receiving two rounds of chemotherapy in Australia, where their daughter works as a doctor and healthcare is more affordable, Goh died in August 2024.
“Sometimes I’m upset with myself; sometimes I’m upset with the doctor,” Lim says. “But it’s something you cannot change.”
The 66-year-old’s advice to those grieving is not just to keep telling the same story, but to go make new ones to tell. Lim is doing exactly that, honouring a shared dream of travelling the peninsula while raising awareness for the disease that cut their story short, turning a personal tragedy into a public tribute.
The run begins and will end at Home of Hope, in Penang, which houses children undergoing cancer treatment and their low-income carers. Lim intends to run 25km to 35km daily through all 11 states and two federal territories, with rest days in between, in which he will stay with hosts or at shared accommodation.