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Charmaine Yu

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.
He hopes to share his message and hear stories about others’ cancer experiences. At stops in major towns, he will hold community events in collaboration with the National Cancer Society Malaysia (NCSM).
Lim launched a crowdfunding campaign for cancer awareness and aims to raise 600,000 ringgit (US$150,000 or HK$1.2 million) for NCSM by the end of the run. Already, it has raised nearly 50,000 ringgit from old friends and strangers alike.
“That was our epic idea, of [walking] around Malaysia,” he says. A few years ago, he had read Chris Guillebeau’s The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life (2014), which discusses how people should pursue adventure to bring meaning into their lives. He and Goh had decided to explore Peninsular Malaysia on foot one day.

Lim was formerly a telecommunications engineer who worked across Malaysia, Singapore, Russia and New Zealand, before eventually moving to Hong Kong more than 26 years ago, raising two children with Goh in the city.
He now splits his time between Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Lim speaks of his late wife, whom he calls his best friend, in the present tense: “Joo Lee is a very artistic person – she’s got a bachelor of fine arts. She paints … she’s a gardener. That’s why I say we are the complete opposite.”
Goh worked as an interior designer before becoming a full-time homemaker.
To process her passing, he read many books about husbands losing their wives. From Grief to Love: Walking Around England and Wales (2024) by Laurence Carter struck a chord. The memoir recounts the author’s coastal walk around Britain to honour his late wife and to raise awareness about cervical cancer.
Lim contacted Carter to discuss doing something similar himself, that would allow Lim to leverage his love for running. Having struck up a friendship, Carter will even visit Lim during his run.

These days, Lim wakes up as early as 4.30am to start running by 6am and finish before the midday heat. He has run in marathons in Malaysia, Australia and Croatia, but did not develop a real passion for running until about 15 years ago after being attracted by Hong Kong’s marathons.
He recounts how both he and his wife put their names in for the ballot to take part in the 2023 Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Half Marathon, hoping to run it together. Only Goh won a place, though, and she had never taken part in a race before.
Lim, therefore, created a comprehensive spreadsheet for her 12-week training programme, which included strength training and conditioning as well as interval running, and coached her through it.
“Joo Lee is one determined lady – the kids learn it from her,” he says.
His advice to people in their fifties and sixties who want to start running is simple. “The people who are not running [should] start by walking. Once you start walking, you start to run. Running is a good sport to have – you can run everywhere … and you can run alone.”

But Lim will not be alone much during this run. After running a marathon in Sydney, Australia, in which his son provided support, food and drink, he learned the importance of having a team.
Seasoned Malaysian ultrarunner Ng Seow Kong and his wife, Teo Hwee Peng, agreed to be Lim’s support team and travel by car as he wends his way around the country. A videographer will also follow him as Lim hopes to create a documentary about the campaign.
In his spare time, Lim films and edits Instagram reels to use his social media platform to connect with doctors, runners and donors in the Malaysian community. He has since received offers for free medical check-ups, cancer screening vouchers to share and even a portable automated external defibrillator, or AED, for his run.
When sportswear company Asics and watch company Garmin offered to sponsor him with free merchandise, he declined. Instead, he asked that they help him create more running clubs for “Run For Gold”.
“There are always people who have cancer in their family, so I want to get the community going,” he says, understanding the immense emotional support that a strong community can provide in times of grief.

Though he is excited to begin and overwhelmingly grateful for the support he has received, he does wake up feeling a tinge of anxiety.
“Sometimes, I’m [asking myself], like ‘What am I doing!’” he laughs. But he ultimately believes that “Joo Lee [would] not want me to mope around and do nothing.”
Lim recalls another book, Twenty Good Summers: Work Less, Live More and Make the Most of Your Money (2006), by Martin Hawes, which proposes that after turning 50, people have only 20 “good” summers left thanks to deteriorating health and mobility.
“I’m already 66, so I’ve only got four summers to go,” Lim says, “but I will stretch it … [and] do things I enjoy.”
His goal is to run a marathon on each continent.
Since he began this project last year, Lim has sat through many interviews to speak about his late wife.
“Unfortunately, when they say ‘time will heal’, it’s not really true,” he says. “And with all these news articles about Joo Lee, the emotions are very difficult. But it reminds me of the times we had together, and every time they post a photo of me [with her], the memories are always there.
“I guess you don’t move on – you basically bring her along.”

His son will join him near the end of the run, while his daughter will support him from Australia. Lim will carry Goh’s photo while he completes the trek and has made sure to print multiple copies in case of wear and tear.
“She’s not physically there,” he says, “but I’m bringing her along with me.”
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66-year-old sets off on 2,200km run around Peninsular Malaysia to honour his wife

Lim Shyang Guey, a Malaysian runner, at Victoria Park, in Hong Kong. Lim is preparing to run 2,200km around Peninsular Malaysia starting on March 28 in honour of his late wife, who passed away from cancer. Photo: Edmond So

Lim Shyang Guey and his wife, Goh Joo Lee, training in Hong Kong. Lim is running 2,200km across Malaysia to honour his late wife, who died in 2024. Photo: Lim Shyang Guey

Lim Shyang Guey and his wife, Goh Joo Lee, travelling together. Photo: Lim Shyang Guey

The route that Lim will run across 90 days around Peninsular Malaysia. Photo: courtesy of Lim Shyang Guey

Lim runs through Victoria Park. He is preparing to run 2,200km around Peninsular Malaysia in honour of his late wife, who passed away from cancer. Photo: Edmond So

Goh next to her 12-week training programme, which Lim created for her ahead of the 2023 Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Half Marathon. Photo: Lim Shyang Guey

Veteran Malaysian endurance runner Ng Seow Kong and his wife will be providing support to Lim throughout his “Run for Gold”. Photo: Instagram/ngseowkong

Lim will run with a photo of his late wife. Photo: Charmaine Yu

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Today, Lim Shyang Guey starts a 90-day campaign to fulfil a dream he shared with his wife, Goh Joo Lee, running up to 35km a day


Today, Lim Shyang Guey starts a 90-day campaign to fulfil a dream he shared with his wife, Goh Joo Lee, running up to 35km a day.


66-year-old sets off on 2,200km run around Peninsular Malaysia to honour his wife

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Today, Lim Shyang Guey starts a 90-day campaign to fulfil a dream he shared with his wife, Goh Joo Lee, running up to 35km a day

Today, Lim Shyang Guey starts a 90-day campaign to fulfil a dream he shared with his wife, Goh Joo Lee, running up to 35km a day