The run kicked off early in the morning of 10 September 2017 with the flag off for 21km at 5:30 a.m. followed by the flag off for 10km challenge at 6:30 a.m. Participants had the chance to run on a completely closed highway, starting from the Sunway Pyramid. Runners were treated to the incredible view of sunrise against the backdrop of the city skyline.
Runners who have participated in the first leg of IJM Allianz Duo Highway Challenge at Besraya Highway were excited to do their best in the second leg because the overall winners of the Duo Highway Challenge were determined according to the fastest combined timing of 21km race at NPE and 13km race at Besraya Highway.
Dato’ Soam Heng Choon, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of IJM Corporation Berhad, said,
“It is great to see the participants running on a closed highway as this is a rare occasion. We agreed to conduct the run on the highway to create awareness on the accessibility and convenience of the two highways that we own in an exciting way. In addition to this, our Corporate Social Responsibility focus is to bring the community together through sport events and promote fitness and healthy living. Today’s turnout surpassed our expectations, showing us that awareness is created. At IJM, we believe that good fitness will always bring out more consistency and better results.”
Sean Wang, Chief Operations Officer of Allianz Malaysia Berhad, said,
“Being able to witness thousands of Malaysians challenging themselves to run for both events has assured us that we are achieving our goals in advocating healthy living among Malaysians. Allianz will constantly support such events as there is a growing interest in the running community where people are taking action to make healthy changes to their lifestyle. We are proud to be able to partner with IJM for Malaysia’s first Duo Highway Challenge as it is a great start to many more future endeavours that will benefit the community in a healthy way.”
Men’s Open 21km Category
Poo Vasanthan Subramaniam Vsanthan came in at first place for Men’s Open 21km category with 1 hour 15 minutes and 35 seconds, followed closely by Vasanthan Balakrishnan who finished with 1 hour 15 minutes and 52 seconds. Anas Rosli finished at third place with a time of 1 hour 16 minutes and 6 seconds.
Women’s Open 21km Category
In the Women’s Open 21km category, the winners were Sheela Samivellu with a timing of 1 hour 25 minutes and 33 seconds, followed by Loh Chooi Fern with 1 hour 34 minutes and 31 seconds, and Tahira Najmunissa Muhammad Zaid who finished third with 1 hour 37 minutes and 6 seconds.
Winners of Men’s Overall Duo Highway Challenge
The winner of the overall Duo Highway Challenge was Poo Vasanthan Subramaniam Vasanthan who clocked the best combined timing of 2 hours and 30 seconds. In the first leg, he clocked 44 minutes and 55 seconds for the 13km race in Besraya Highway; meanwhile, in the second leg, he clocked 1 hour 15 minutes and 35 seconds for the 21km race in NPE. As the men’s overall champion, he won a round trip to Japan along with a cash prize of RM2,000 and a trophy. He said,
“I feel very happy to be named as the overall champion for IJM Allianz Duo Highway Challenge. I want to thank my family and friends for their support. I spent at least two hours of training every day and I’m very happy with the results. My next aim is to compete in a race at Terengganu.”
Anas Rosli came in second place with a total time of 2 hours 1 minute and 36 seconds and won a round trip to Thailand with a cash prize of RM1,000 and a trophy. Lastly, Azwan Bin Bujing who won the third place with a total time of 2 hours 5 minutes and 40 seconds was rewarded with a round trip to Thailand with a cash prize of RM500 and a trophy.
Winners of Women’s Overall Duo Highway Challenge
For the Women’s category, the overall champion for Duo Highway Challenge went to Sheela Samivellu who clocked a total time of 2 hours 19 minutes and 38 seconds. Her race timings for 13km and 21km were 54 minutes 5 seconds and of 1 hour 25 minutes 33 seconds respectively. Similar to Poo Vasanthan, she also won a round trip to Japan with a cash prize of RM 2,000 and a trophy. Sheela said,
“Today’s run was a bit challenging because we started at 5.30am. However, the weather was chilly and it actually motivated me to finish my run and do my best. A tip to beginners out there is that you can improve your kilometers gradually. Try to not overdo it or else you will injure yourself. My plan after this is to do more 21km runs in order to sustain my performance and since 21km is not easy, it will be a challenge for me to do my best.”
The first runner up in the women’s overall category went to Loh Chooi Fern, who had a combined timing of 2 hours 32 minutes 21 seconds; Loh took home a cash prize of RM1,000, a trophy as well as a round trip to Thailand. Susan Khoo came in third place with a time of 2 hours 43 minutes 56 seconds and won a round trip to Thailand with a cash prize of RM500 and a trophy.
