More than 38,000 runners descended on Dataran Merdeka to take part in and celebrate the 10thAnniversary of the Standard Chartered KL Marathon (SCKLM) and for the first time in SCKLM history, over 10,000 runners took to the starting line for the Full Marathon.
Flagged off by Khairul Anuar Bin Mhd Juri, Director of Culture, Tourism, Arts and Sports, DBKL, along with senior executives from title sponsor Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia, led by their Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Abrar. A. Anwar, amid showers of confetti and pumping music to celebrate the event’s 10th Anniversary, Cosmas Matolo Muteti from Kenya eventually emerged as the Full Marathon Men’s Open Category winner while on the home front, Muhaizar Mohamad also retained his title of the Full Marathon Malaysian Men’s Category winner. This is Cosmas’ second consecutive win and Muhaizar’s fourth. Elizabeth Chepkanan Rumokol also retained her title as the Full Marathon Women’s Open Category winner while Loh Chooi Fern emerged as the Full Marathon Malaysian Women’s Category winner for the first time.
For the first time, the last runner to cross the finishing line within the cut-off time of 7 hours and 15 minutes was celebrated in style with fanfare and confetti acknowledging and honouring the sheer will-power it takes to complete 42.195km.
The 10th Anniversary celebrations in conjunction with SCKLM2018 began with the Friendship Run on Saturday morning, where over 180 runners took part in a 5km run which ended with a carbo-loading pasta breakfast. The event was meant to be a warm-up run for those taking part in the Full Marathon, as well as an opportunity for runners from around the world to meet and forge friendships.
The Friendship Run was followed by the Kids Dash categories on Saturday evening, which was also a first for SCKLM. This year, the 1km and 3km Kids Dash categories took place a day before the main event so that these categories would have their own prominence rather than be overshadowed by all the other categories on Race Day. For the first time, the kids who took part in these categories got to start under the main SCKLM Arch at Dataran Merdeka, which was pretty exciting for them.
Rainer Biemans, Project Director of SCKLM and Director of Dirigo Events, said “It has been an amazing couple of days at SCKLM2018 and we couldn’t be happier with the turn-out, which has been our biggest yet, befitting our 10th Anniversary celebrations. We sincerely hope that everyone had a wonderful time and that this 10th Anniversary meant as much to you as it has done for us at Dirigo, as well as for everyone else who had a hand in organising and executing this event.”
“As title sponsor for the last 10 years, Standard Chartered Malaysia is proud to be celebrating the 10th Anniversary of SCKLM with its biggest event yet. It is heart-warming to see so many running enthusiasts from all over Malaysia and the world come together,” said Abrar.
The objective of the organisers this year was to give back as much as possible to its loyal runners in appreciation of their steadfast support of the event over the last 10 years. One particular group of runners were accorded the special honour of having participated in all 10 editions of SCKLM thus far. The SCKLM Juggernauts were able to choose customised bib numbers and personalised Race Entry Tees, and were hosted by title sponsor Standard Chartered Bank in their hospitality Marquee.
SCKLM’s 10th Anniversary celebrations also incorporated new routes for the Full and Half Marathons which took in more of KL’s iconic landmarks but remained as challenging as usual with its route undulations. The hilly stretch beginning from Km32 was especially gruelling for a lot of runners, who thankfully had SCKLM Pacers encouraging and motivating them all the way. One of these Pacers was Kin K. Yum, a regular Pacer for SCKLM who ran his 100th marathon today. “Today I’m truly ecstatic as looking back, I have covered approximately 4,518 kms spanning 26 countries in this running journey of mine,” said KK.
The award-winning SCKLM mobile App was also given a cool update that incorporated a new photo feature that enabled runners to download photos of them taken by strategic cameras along the routes. The Apps seamless social media connectivity then allowed runners to instantly post their memorable running moments on their preferred social media channels.
To commemorate SCKLM’s 10th Anniversary, the last finishers to approach the Finish Line were given a rousing end with confetti blasts and cheering spectators urging the runners home.
Apart from the Full and Half Marathons, the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2018 also featured a 10km distance and a 5km Fun Run for social runners. There were also several categories like the Corporate Challenge, Media Challenge, Universities Challenge and Ministries Challenge to either raise money for charity or provide friendly competition and confer bragging rights to the eventual winners.
The Standard Chartered KL Marathon has grown to become the premier running event in Malaysia, drawing thousands of local and international runners to the country whilst firmly establishing Malaysia in the global running calendar. The 2018 and 10th Anniversary edition of the race once again saw Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia returning as title sponsor, along with a host of returning sponsors, including Seiko, Brooks, Lucozade and Pacific Regency. The event is owned and organised by Dirigo Events with co-organiser Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur.
Standard Chartered KL Marathon is sanctioned and supported by the Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF), Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur Athletic Federation (FTKLAA), International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and Association of International Marathons, Distance Races (AIMS).
On behalf of Dirigo Events, a very heartfelt THANK YOU to title sponsor for the 10th year, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia as well as our other sponsors Seiko, Brooks, Lucozade and Pacific Regency. We would also like to thank co-organiser, DBKL, MAF, FTKLAA, PDRM, all our media friends, staff and volunteers for your sterling support.
See you next year!
