Whether your mum is a modern-day sophisticate who shares your love of running, or the activity of which she is most proud is running her kitchen (and perhaps your love life!), it’s not hard to find reasons to attribute your success on the trail and in the world to your mother.

Sure, dads are great role models, but mums are the heart of a family, instilling values and offering the nurturing you require to blossom as a productive and caring human being.

We’d like to show you how life lessons she taught you spill over as you pursue your favourite sport.

Your Mum Taught You Never to Give Up.

Whether it’s in school, at work or on the marathon circuit, her influence is deeper than you think and even if you don’t always understand her unequivocal encouragement, it’s there, beneath the surface, every time you hit a wall, consider giving up or you don’t feel confident about entering a marathon that pushes your boundaries.

The courage you display to keep going may offer you the biggest incentive and motivation of all if Mum is standing near the finish line to applaud your fortitude!

Your Mum Taught You That Losing Doesn’t Mean Failing.

Having shown you very early in life that it’s important to fail so you understand that even if you lose, the love she has for you won’t ever diminish, you can be the last runner to walk across the finish line with a grin on your face and a shrug knowing that you haven’t failed; you’ve just had a bad day.

You know that you’ll have plenty more chances to take a medal or achieve a personal best because your Mum instilled in you the knowledge that you only fail if you don’t try.

Your Mum Taught You to See Things to The End.

This means the commitment you made to yourself to go on your conditioning runs even if it’s raining — or you’re just not in the mood — must be honoured because your mother taught you to persevere.

Seeing her insist on cooking a holiday dinner when she may not feel up to it offers a shining example of the love she lavishes on her family, and you’re smart enough to hold her up as your role model every time you find yourself dealing with problems at work and in your personal life because she taught you to finish everything you start.

Your Mum Taught You That Being a Gracious Loser is Better Than Being a Boastful Winner.

She reminded you of this the day you won a school contest that left a schoolmate in tears because she wanted the prize so badly.

At first, you gathered praise and accolades — until your mum reminded you that your friend was suffering, at which point, she urged you to comfort her rather than spending your time thinking only about yourself.

Such lessons continue to resonate every time someone trains hard but still loses a race and you’re able to put aside your own victory to offer heart-felt condolences to someone who simply had a bad performance day.

Your Mum Taught You That Success is Fleeting and Not to Be Taken As a Measure of Your Worth.

That raise, promotion or marathon medal is a deserved reward that you worked hard to attain, but it’s a momentary milestone, not the real measure of a life well-lived.

She instilled in you principles of character, particularly the one that reminds you never to think that true success can be won by anything other than hard work, long hours, good decision making and honesty.

Your Mum Taught You to Have a Great Time Every Time You Have New Experiences Because Life is Short!

Your ability to grab life by the throat and choke from it all of the joy that is yours for the asking just because you’re alive is likely the result of your loving upbringing.

Whether she has an offbeat humour that only family members understand, she’s a religious woman who shows, by example, that faith can move mountains or she is a busy career woman who never met a deadline she preferred over doing laundry, her unique personality has rubbed off on you.

Consequently, you feel free to be your own person, knowing that her love won’t diminish, even if you never win a race.

Your Mum Doesn’t Expect a Gift From You for Mother’s Day.

But after all she’s done for you, why not lavish praise on her by making the day extraordinary? Buy her something she longs for but won’t buy for herself.

Cook dinner on Mother’s Day or take her out. Is there a play or a movie she wants to see? Of course, a great way to kick off the day would be slowing down your pace to run with her or just walk and share the morning air, Singapore’s beautiful surroundings and the fact that the two of you have this amazing opportunity to be together on a day that’s like no other during the year!

How will you honour your mum on mohter’s day? Send us your ideas so we can share them with other sons and daughters looking for special ways to tell their mums how precious and loved they are!