News: Run for a Reason in the Standard Chartered KL Marathon on 24 June

Kuala Lumpur, 27 February 2012 – Kuala Lumpur’s most anticipated running event, the Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon 2012 was officially launched today at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel. This year’s Marathon, which will be held at Dataran Merdeka on 24 June 2012, expects 27,000 participants from more than 45 countries around the world.

To date, the iconic event has recorded almost 10,000 registrations in less than four weeks, since it opened for registration on 1 Feb. This is a 35% progress growth against the same period back in 2011.

Never one to rest on its laurels, this year’s Marathon now offers 10 running categories available to the general public to encourage participation. The two new categories to join the full-board spectrum is the Universities Challenge that will be open to all university and college students in Malaysia.

Following the success of the pilot stage of the MSIG Ekiden Race in 2010, MSIG Ekiden is now an official category open for public participation. The other categories are the Full Marathon, Honda Half Marathon, 10 km, 5 km, Corporate Challenge, and Kids’ Dash 2.5 km and 700m.

The prize package offered for Standard Chartered KL Marathon remains the highest amongst all marathons in Malaysia, with the prize package now increased to a total of USD 112,330. A new attraction this year will introduce special bonuses for top-finishing Malaysian participants as well as route records broken.

For the Full Marathon category, a bonus of USD 2,500 will be up for grabs. Additionally, Malaysians will be able to enjoy this bonus as well, as USD 1,500 is offered in the Malaysian Full Marathon category and USD 1,000 for the Malaysian Honda Half Marathoners respectively.

This year, the Standard Chartered KL Marathon’s theme is “Run for a Reason”, a theme that is synonymous with Standard Chartered Marathons around the world.

Everyone has a different reason for running – be it for their individual passions, commitments and dreams. This year, the Standard Chartered KL Marathon is more than proud to support these reasons to the fullest.

Officiated by the Minister of Youth and Sports Malaysia, Yang Berhormat Dato’ Sri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, the event brought together the Marathon’s title sponsor, Osman Morad, Managing Director & CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad and Marathon co-organiser Rainer Biemans, Director of Dirigo Events Sdn Bhd.

In his officiating speech, the Minister of Youth And Sports Malaysia, Yang Berhormat Dato’ Sri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said, “The Standard Chartered KL Marathon supports and plays a vital role in aiding the Ministry of Youth and Sports in developing a society that is healthy, energetic and one that adopts sports as a culture, towards the nation’s unity and development. With the marathon returning for a fourth successive year and staying until 2015, we encourage all runners to participate in this truly iconic sporting event”.

Osman Morad, Managing Director and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad, the title sponsor added, “Run for a Reason epitomises the essence of the Marathon, and the strength, diversity and values that makes this Marathon special.

Each person has a special reason – be it for health; bonding time with family or friends; running to raise funds for a special charity cause close to their hearts; or simply, running for the love of the sport. Each runner is running for a reason close to their hearts, and we are happy to be part of their passion and enthusiasm by hosting this event.”

Highlighting the growth of the run, Rainer Biemans, Director of Dirigo Events Sdn Bhd, co-organiser of the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2012 said, “Though the Standard Chartered KL Marathon has been here for only three years now, it has certainly grown exponentially and does not show any signs of slowing down. Feedback from the running community has indicated the significance of the KL marathon, and we wish for it to stay that way. We are proud and excited with the success of the marathon thus far, as this showcases its true potential to become one of Asia’s largest running events in years to come.”

From a modest beginning of only 13,500 runners from inception in 2009, the Standard Chartered KL Marathon has significantly grown by over 60% with approximately 22,000 runners taking part last year.

Additionally, Dirigo Events Sdn Bhd, co-organiser of the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2012 will be organising pre-race activities over the months leading up to race day, that participants can take part in. These continuous extensive pre-race activities are organised four months ahead prior to race day, providing participants with a platform to effectively train for their categories. These activities include the complimentary Zero to Hero training circuits and running clinics that will benefit the participants, as they will be able to gain valuable Marathon tips and training techniques from trained professionals.

Besides running events, an exciting element called the “Run for a Reason Fun Movement” has been added to the Standard Chartered KL Marathon agenda. The Fun Movement, which will be held ahead of the race day, is a fun social get-together with Standard Chartered staff and the general public coming to participate in a shared experience involving cheerful music and comical movements. Look out for more details via the SCKLM Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2012 will continue to focus on charitable initiatives through “Run for a Cause”, by partnering The National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM), Malaysian National Animal Welfare Foundation (MNAWF), Ecoknights and The Standard Chartered Trust Fund. It is through this partnership, that the Marathon will be able to aid the less fortunate across all ages and races living in Malaysia.

Also attending the launch event was co-organiser Yang Mulia Tuan Idzawi bin Raja Ismail, Director of Culture, Arts and Sports of DBKL and Jennifer Hsu, Executive Vice President of MSIG Insurance (Malaysia) Bhd, Gold Sponsor of the Standard Chartered KL Marathon.

Honda also joins the Standard Chartered KL Marathon as a Gold Sponsor. Official partners of the event include 100Plus, Titan, New Balance, DoubleTree by Hilton and NTV7.

More information about the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2012 can be obtained by logging on to www.kl-marathon.com. Alternatively, you can follow us on our Facebook page - Standard Chartered KL Marathon.

Source: Press Release for Standard Chartered KL Marathon