A 15-year-old male runner was reported to have died in hospital after a fall during the 10KM race of The Performance Series Malaysia Race 3 on Sunday (18 Nov), local running news site — JOM KITA LARI revealed in a Facebook post.
This is the first time The Performance Series has been organised in Malaysia with 3 races, Race 1 @George Town, Race 2 @Kuching, and Race 3 @Shal Alam.
The death has led to many questioning the safety precautions and emergency response provided by the organiser. The minimum age to participate in the 21KM and 10km categories is 12 based on the year of birth in 2017.
No statement or report has been officially released by the organiser even though there are several people asking in the comments on the Facebook event page for the update.
It’s unsure why the organiser did not address this incident immediately as transparency and communication should be the priority for any organiser in any mass participation sporting event.
A check on the event website revealed that each race in the series is handled by a different event management. Marathon MY is indicated as the event management for the TPS Race 3@Shal Alam.
About 2,800 runners took part in the year The Performance Series Malaysia Race 3@Shal Alam event, 10KM and 21KM categories.
Featured Photo Credit: Setia City Park / 123RF
Update, 21 November 2017: The TPS MY released an announcement on their Facebook page confirming the tragedy. They revealed that they are in touch with the authorities to assist them in matters relating to this incident. No further details are made available and the organisers indicate that would not be making any further comment on this incident.
