3 September 2024
KLSCM champion Vasanthan will race to make an impact on society
The 26-year-old two-time winner and defending champion is eyeing a hat-trick, pledging to donate part of his prize money to charity
As professional and avid runners gear up for the Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon (KLSCM) 2024 – Malaysia’s biggest marathon and arguably the most popular in the region – records have already been broken before the October race, in more ways than one.
Some 42,000 runners have signed up for the race this year, breaking last year’s record of 40,000 participants. At more than 12,500, the number of Full Marathon participants is also the largest ever since KLSCM’s inception, or any full-distance road-running event in Malaysia, for that matter. The sign-ups for the Half Marathon, totalling 13,770, is a record-breaking number too.
This year, the race owner and organiser Dirigo Events is looking to create more history of its own. The people behind the race are making efforts to prod the running community and corporates to go deeper in their contribution to society, through fundraising for charities and foundations.
“We don’t want to miss a golden opportunity to make a statement here,” said Rainer Biemans, director of Dirigo Events, and project director of KLSCM. “We have recorded our largest KLSCM yet in terms of participation, and this bodes well for our Run For A Reason (RFAR) charity initiative. We hope the extra numbers can help drive fundraising for our beneficiaries.”
Biemans is getting a tremendous morale-boosting support from Poo Vasanthan Subramaniam, the two-time champion in the Malaysian Open category, who will be defending his title this year.
“I cherish the competition and I’m ready to do my part in making this a great race to remember,” Vasanthan said in an interview. I will donate part of the prize money to one of the RFAR charities if I make it a hat-trick this time. Let’s all not forget to do our share for society.”
The 26-year-old champion finished the race last year in 2 hours 37 minutes and 38 seconds in his back-to-back win. His perennial rivals, including five-time winner Muhaizar Mohamad and last year’s runner-up Nik Fakaruddin Ismail, will be there to give him a run for his money again.
Money raised by runners and corporate sponsors will benefit four such organisations associated with the event this year, through the RFAR platform. They are women empowerment advocates Standard Chartered’s Futuremakers, palliative care provider Hospis Malaysia, marginalised communities champion Kechara Soup Kitchen, and education foundation Teach for Malaysia (TFM).
Since the event officially opened for business in March, some RM750,000 has been raised by runners and sponsors, according to the latest estimate. That’s not far from Dirigo Events’ modest aim of breaking the million-ringgit threshold for the first time.
Biemans is hopeful the flagship running event will bring people from all walks of life to do extraordinary things with their own inspirational stories.
Dr. Mohd Amirul Husaini Ibne Walid of Wangsa Maju in Kuala Lumpur is registered for a half-marathon to raise funds on behalf of Hospis Malaysia to honour his wife. She succumbed to cancer last year, with Hospis providing a lot of care and comfort in her final days.
“My wife and I used to run and take part in events together, and her passing left me feeling empty even when I took part in other running events,” he said. “When I found out that Hospis Malaysia is one of the RFAR beneficiaries, I decided to sign up to raise funds for them. They were a great source of reassurance towards the end of my wife’s life.”
Amirul hopes the amount he raises will help Hospis in providing palliative care to those needing it “and raise awareness about the availability of their complimentary services,” he added.
Jun Wu, a 32-year-old education consultant, will also be a RFAR runner this year. The fellowship alumni and ex-tech manager at TFM taught Form 5 Science in a high-needs school in a fishing village off Port Klang, Selangor, continues to make an impact there with his annual visits.
He co-founded the English Club at Pulau Ketam to help students practise and build interest in the language. Despite some challenges, Wu and TFM Fellow Kai Syn’s efforts have fostered trust and significant progress in English proficiency, with students gaining confidence and participating in various enriching activities.
“I want to contribute to the mission of TFM to end inequity in education,” Wu said. “I hope the funds raised will make a difference by enabling teachers and TFM Fellows to provide more for their students in the classroom.”
After a successful collaboration last year, Kechara Soup Kitchen is also stepping up to help marginalised communities and the urban poor by providing dry-food supplies through their volunteers. Lew Jean Wern from Puchong, will be doing her part by running the Half Marathon to raise funds for the charity.
“Being a passionate advocate of nutrition and eating right, it is non-negotiable for everyone to have access to the most basic needs such as food and shelter,” she said. “Therefore, I'm lacing up to raise funds for Kechara.”
Biemans at Dirigo Events is also getting a generous helping hand from title sponsor Standard Chartered Malaysia, as two of the UK lender’s top executives in Malaysia are locking horns in a personal race to beat each other in fundraising.
Mak Joon Nien, CEO of Standard Chartered Malaysia, has received pledges amounting to over RM110,000, according to his RFAR campaign page. Bilal Parvaiz, his counterpart at Saadiq, the bank’s Islamic banking unit, has raised about RM44,000 from his supporters. Both are raising funds for Futuremakers by Standard Chartered.
“Futuremakers by Standard Chartered is all about tackling inequality and empowering youths to learn lifelong skills. Globally, we’ve reached out to 2.1 million people and in Malaysia, around 30,000 – and growing. It is our way of saying thank you, helping the broader ecosystem and community in which we operate, as we are Here for Good,” said Mak.
With less than six weeks before race weekend, the organiser and all supporting parties are making sure this year’s KLSCM “will be the best edition yet,” according to Biemans.
For the general public to donate to RFAR, just visit the donations page at https://www.kl-marathon.com/charity/run-for-a-reason/runners-profile/2024/, and donate to the runner you wish to support through their profile on the website.
Rainer Biemans - KLSCM Project Director and Director of Dirigo Events
