Kids Dash, 5km and Friendship Run kick-off event on the first day
KUALA LUMPUR, Saturday, 28 September 2019: The Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon (KLSCM) 2019, now held in a two-day format, got off to a fun start with the Kids Dash and 5km categories, along with the Friendship Run at Dataran Merdeka this morning. Unlike last year, the 5km category was brought forward to today to allow for more capacity in the 10km, Full and Half Marathon categories which will be held tomorrow.
The Kids Dash also used to take place on the main Race Day where the kids would run in a looped course near the Royal Selangor Club but beginning last year, the 1km and 3km categories were held the day before. This is intended to give the kids’ categories more prominence on their own and also the privilege of starting and finishing under the Main Race Arch on Dataran Merdeka. It would also allow parents participating in the event tomorrow to devote more time and attention to their children’s race.
Having the Kids Dash categories on the preceding day also allowed these categories to be expanded so that 1,000 children could take part this year compared to 500 in previous years. “The Kids Dash is an important area of development for us as we want to inspire children to take to running from a young age. Obesity, and even childhood obesity is increasingly becoming a concern here in Malaysia and running is one of the easiest physical activities for anyone to do to keep fit and healthy. Encouraging children early in their lives can help them form good habits that they can carry on with later in life,” said Gloria Ng, Director of Dirigo Events, the owner and organiser of KLSCM.
Speed categories for both distances were introduced this year to give a more competitive edge to the categories and to separate the faster children from the fun runners. In the 1km Kids Dash, which is for children aged between 6-9 years, the Boy’s Category was won by Wong Jun You in a time of 04:24:74 minutes, followed by Shaashwath Sivakumar who posted 04:30:14 and Wong Yin Heng, who came in third with a time of 04:31:95. Zhang Yuxuan won the Girl’s category in a time of 05:08:22 minutes with second place going to Nurin Qaizara binti Mohd Hafiz who finished in 05:15:03 and Nur Afina Zahra binti Zakwan Fasha came in third in 05:32:86.
In the 3km Kids Dash, which is for children aged between 10-12 years, the Boy’s Category was won by Jin Khoo in a time of 10:01:48 minutes, followed by Muhammad Iddin Mubin bin Rozmi who posted 10:34:13 and Justin Tan Weng Teng, who came in third with a time of 10:47:87. Purnamrtta Aditya Ujjayni Kasyapa Gunala won the Girl’s category in a time of 13:02:80 minutes with second place going to Shanice Tang who finished in 13:24:99 and Nurul Izzah Najwa bt Norzaidi rounded up the third position with a time of 13:28:43.
A Speed category was also introduced in the 5km distance this year, and those running in this category would have their timing recorded, with medals provided to the winners. In the 5km Open of the inaugural Speed category, Ho Sze Hou from China came in first in a time of 19:05 minutes while Tse Wai Hung from Hong Kong came in second with a time of 21:28 and third was Krishna Kumar a/l Jayaram from Malaysia who completed the route in 22:17. The 5km Women’s Open Speed category was won by Tung Yee Man from Hong Kong in a time of 26:41:28 minutes while Tse Choi Yuk, also from Hong Kong came in second posting 26:41:46 and Cheung Ho Lun from China placed third in a time of 26:50:71.
The Friendship Run has become a staple in the KLSCM Race Programme after its debut in 2015 and is meant for Full Marathon runners to have a warm up run the day before their big event. Local and international runners come dressed in all kinds of cool outfits which add fun and colour to the proceedings, with each runner also given a helium balloon with the flag of his/her country printed on it. It ends with a pasta and carbo-loading breakfast after the run where runners get to meet each other and forge friendships.
Abrar A. Anwar, Standard Chartered Malaysia’s MD and CEO also participated this year to continue from his debut participation last year.
“I really enjoyed myself last year and it was amazing to meet all these local and international runners brimming with positivity and camaraderie,” said Abrar. “As title sponsors for over a decade now, we are truly convinced that this event has a powerful ability to unite people from all walks of life. It is an honour to support an iconic sporting event such as this which has come to exemplify the coming together of a diversity of nationalities, backgrounds and ages,” he added.
The Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon has grown to become the premier running event in Malaysia that draws thousands of local and international runners to the country whilst firmly establishing Malaysia in the global running calendar. The 11th edition of the event will be the largest yet with 40,000 runners in total taking part, and will once again see sponsorship from Title Sponsor Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia, along with Under Armour, 100 Plus, Seiko, Jaybird, TudungPeople, Banana Boat and Pacific Regency and DBKL as venue hosts.
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