Photos: KL Tower International Night Towerthon Challenge 2011

The prestigious sport event, KL TOWER INTERNATIONAL NIGHT TOWERTHON CHALLENGE 2011 was back to thrill the sports enthusiasts on 7 May 2011 with the theme, “The thrill begins after sundown”.

Menara Kuala Lumpur’s yearly signature event was organized for the 10th consecutive time since introduced back in 1998.

For the first time, the race was held at night signifying the uniqueness and thrill of the event this year.

The race began from the open car park area and runners had to run up the 800 meters hill before climbing the 2,058 steps of staircases. The race ended at Megaview Banquet Deck of Menara Kuala Lumpur at the height of 288 meters above sea level.

In the planning stage, they were only targeting around 3,000 participants, however, they had to increase the number to 3,500 due to overwhelming response from the public which include runners from Singapore, Philippines, Samoa, Australia, Iraq, France, Germany, Korea, Morocco, Indonesia, Kenya, America, Yemen and Thailand.

Opening gambit before the race featured few dancers geting their grooves on to Jennifer Lopez's To The Floor.

The race was flagged off by Yang Berhormat Datuk M.Saravanan, Deputy Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing, who represented Yang Berhormat Dato’ Raja Nong Chik bin Dato’ Raja Zainal Abidin, Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing.

3...2...1...Go!

Yang Berhormat Datuk M.Saravanan and Puan Zuraidah Mohd Said, Chief Executive Officer of Menara Kuala Lumpur.

I think those two VIPs must be tired from flagging off more than 10 times. Runners were flagged of in staggered groups of approximately 300 runners in each group. The tower cannot take 3,500 runners all at one go. LOL!

Tazneem Faisal of RTM hyping up the runners before flag off. You can watch the coverage of RTM on Selamat Pagi Malaysia (TV1) and Hello on 2 (TV2)

Runners seen racing into the tower after completing a 800m dash up the hill to KL Tower.

At the finish line!

Sweaty but happy. Heheh!

All the finishers were "garlanded" on the spot with the medals right when they complete the race. Nice personal touch from Menara KL!

The simple medal design. We think the 2010 finisher medal looks better. Read about last year's race report HERE.

It was an exciting race for many as they get to run up KL Tower and enjoy the breathtaking views from the observatory deck while resting and taking a sip from the isotonic drink and water provided.

Iconic landmark of KL, the Petronas Twin Towers as seen from the KL Tower.

We had a little chat with CEO of Menara KL, Puan Zuraidah. We asked if they would do this again at night next year or revert to the morning race. She said, it will be a NIGHT race again next year with some exciting categories!

What exciting categories? Well, it's gonna be a surprise and it will involve fashion, fun and lights. Heheh! Remember, you heard this here first! :D