A truly international running event, this year’s Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon attracted 35,200 runners from over 48 countries to Malaysia last Sunday morning!
The total prize package offered this year amounted to US$116,740 (approximately RM$376, 524). Kennedy Kiproo Lilan and Mugo Hellen Wanjiku, both from Kenya, were named champions with respective times of 2 hours 17 minutes 47 seconds, and 2 hours 43 minutes and 22 seconds respectively.
Sharing her joy, Hellen (Full Marathon Women’s winner) said,
“I am very thrilled because this is my first Standard Chartered KL Marathon and I won the race! I have been overtaken several times but I kept pushing myself until I crossed the finish line, and the feeling was surreal.”
Malaysian full marathoners were not far behind, with Muhaizar Mohamad earning the Full Marathon Malaysian Men’s Title and Loh Chooi Fern taking the Malaysian Women’s category with a time of 2 hours 41 minutes 11 seconds and 3 hours 25 minutes 52 seconds respectively.
Both the male and female Malaysian winners for the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2014 are part of the Dirigo Atheletes Development Programme, which aims to develop a cadre of world-class running talent within the country.
Additionally winners of the MSIG 10km category Open Champion were also awarded a pair of tickets to Osaka, Japan, courtesy of sponsor, MSIG Insurance.
Runners Take to the Challenge of KL SCM’s New Route
This year, the Standard Chartered KL Marathon introduced a new route for the event. The new route took runners to the some of the busiest highways of the city, namely the Duta-Ulu Klang (DUKE) Highway and the Ampang Elevated Highway (AKLEH), offering an interesting bird’s eye view of the city.
The flag-off was conducted by YBhg. Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal bin Talib, Mayor of Kuala Lumpur. Other dignitaries present at the marathon were YB. En. Khairy Jamaluddin, Minister of Youth and Sports, YBhg. Tan Sri Datuk Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim, Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad, and more.
Staying Committed, Confident and Courageous!
In support of the event, the Minister of Youth and Sports Malaysia, Y.B En. Khairy Jamaluddin also took on the 10km Speed category. Khairy successfully completed the race within a 1 hour timeframe, setting an outstanding example to the Malaysian public.
Khairy said,
“The Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2014 is indeed an impressive and well planned event. I am happy that I am fit enough to join and finish this event. Training for this race not only requires discipline but as the tagline for this year’s marathon goes – Committed. Confident. Courageous. Recently, I have launched a programme called Fit Malaysia which aims to drive Malaysians to lead a healthy lifestyle and for Malaysia to be a sporting nation one day. The Ministry of Youth and Sports and its agencies support these kinds of events and I urge all Malaysians to take part in various sporting events such as today’s to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”
This year’s Standard Chartered KL Marathon was great, and we’re looking forward to next year’s event to be even bigger and better!
