Standard Chartered KL Marathon Hosts Its First Night Route Tour

Come June 27th, Dataran Merdeka will be a hive of activity as the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2010 takes to the road.

For the first time, race organizers and promoters Golazo Sdn. Bhd. and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) hosted a Night Tour, providing members of the media a glimpse into the similar atmosphere of the upcoming early hours’ race on 17 June 2010. The earlier route tour was done in the morning in May.

This time we had the luxury of riding in a Hop-on Hop-off Bus!

We met below the clock tower of Sultan Abdul Samad Building around 8pm. Look what was happening at Dataran Merdeka!.. :)

It's the World Cup season and people gathered at the field to watch the match on the big screens.

Well...if you are football crazy enough, maybe you can go to Dataran Merdeka on the marathon day at 2.30am to watch the live broadcast and then run your marathon! LOL! (Note: We seriously advise you to get enough rest for the race. Heheh!)

What I love about this Hop-on Hop-off Bus is it has an open top deck at the back to enjoy unhindered view of the city.

The SCKLM 2010 SUV....(More photos HERE)

Just like the previous route tour, the bus was flanked by three Malaysian traffic police motorcycle outriders.

Mark Williams, the Official Running Coach of the marathon guided us on various running techniques and provides tips to be used along the many surfaces along the 42.195km route.

The tour made a stop in front of Pavilion.

We had a quiz stop! You read correctly. Not a pit stop but a quiz stop, where unsuspecting members of the public were lured to take part. Hehehe!

More happy winners. The questions were so simple, they might as well just give the prizes away.

The Operations Director of SCKLM being interviewed by RTM.

It was more like a tour of scenic Kuala Lumpur. I felt like a tourist, well in fact I was since it was my first time on a Hop-On Hop-Off bus!

I enjoyed the bus ride. Luckily for us it was a night tour. Otherwise, we would have been fried by the sun!

Even though the route is the same old undulating path that we toured on that day, the night tour gave me a different perspective.

You can't see that far ahead of you in low light conditions at night/ early in the morning (marathon start time). You will not see that distance hill until you run on it. You will not see that faraway slope until you get to it. You might not see that wall until you breakthrough it. So, maybe that's a good thing! LOL!

And I must add that Kuala Lumpur is on heck of a beautiful city at night!

Meet Aishah Sinclair, one of the Run For A Cause Celebrities who joined the Night Route Tour.

Now, it's time to "ride wit me" on the SCKLM 2010 Night Route Tour. I am still at awe everytime I see the KLCC Twin Towers at night. I hope you like the "rempit" scene I put together at 4:02 onwards too.

ENJOY!

Click HERE to read about the daytime media tour organised on 23 May 2010.

Acknowlegments: Thank you to the organizers and promoters of the marathon, Golazo Sdn. Bhd., and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) for Night Route Tour. Special thanks to hardworking people at G2 for providing all the info we need for this post and taking good care of us.