MCIS Life-Malaysia Women Marathon Returns with a Physical Event After a Two Year Hiatus

The pacers of the MCIS Life-Malaysia Women Marathon 2022

Petaling Jaya, 29th May 2022: The MCIS Life-Malaysia Women Marathon 2022 (MCIS Life-MWM) today witnessed around 1,000 women and men enjoying the experience of an outdoor sporting event which made a successful comeback following a two year hiatus due to the pandemic.

Split into a series of 3 runs this year to mark the milestone of turning a decade old, the MCIS Life-MWM 2022 Petaling Jaya series’ full and half marathon runs were flagged off this morning by Mr Ragunath Murthy, MCIS Life Chief Distribution and Marketing Officer, Madam Josephine Mary, National Olympic and Commonwealth Games Athlete and YB Jamaliah Jamaluddin, the State Assemblywoman for Bandar Utama, respectively.

This is the first competitive marathon with a cash prize to return post-pandemic and although the number of registrations were promising, it had to be capped by the organisers to a maximum of 1,000 participants due to post-Covid-19 safety measures.

The MCIS Life Malaysia Women Marathon (MCIS Life MWM) 2022 Petaling Jaya Series was officially flagged off at 3:00am today by Madam Karen Loh, MWM founder and race director (first left), Mr Ragunath Murthy, MCIS Life Chief Distribution and Marketing Officer (third from left) and Madam Josephine Mary, National Olympic and Commonwealth Games Athlete (fourth from left).

“For the first time since the pandemic, we’re hosting a physical sporting event in strict compliance to established SOPs. The turnout today shows that Malaysians are excited to pursue their fitness goals through events such as ours which allows them to push their physical endurance limits,” said MCIS Life chief executive officer and managing director, Mr. Prasheem Seebran.

Tourism Selangor Chief Executive Officer Encik Azrul Shah Bin Mohamad said that they have been working with MWM for several years to promote Selangor to domestic and international tourists.

“Sports tourism is part of our focus in promoting domestic tourism and the MCIS Life-MWM event’s theme is in line with our "Pusing Selangor" campaign where we encourage local tourists to explore interesting places in the state,” he added.

Group photo (From left): Madam Karen Loh, MWM founder and race director , Mr Ragunath Murthy, MCIS Life Chief Distribution and Marketing Officer, YB Maria Chin Abdullah, Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya, Y.B. Tuan Hee Loy Sian, Selangor State’s Executive Council Member of Tourism and Environment, Tuan Mohamad Azhan Md Amir, Mayor of Petaling Jaya, Encik Azrul Shah Bin Mohamad, Tourism Selangor Chief Executive Officer,  Puan Normala Latiff , City Community Director of Ipoh City Council, and Madam Josephine Mary, National Olympic and Commonwealth Games Athlete.

To mark the 10th anniversary, this year’s run for the first time allowed male participants to register for the event without the need to be pacers for women runners and the move resulted in an increased number of registrations for the half marathon (21km) and full marathon (42km) categories.

“This was a significant step in marking our decade old history because men play an equally important role in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment,” said MWM founder and race director Madam Karen Loh.

“The goal of growing a community where women are equally empowered as men is a shared responsibility of all and we are certainly proud to be doing our part towards this global need,” concurred Loh and Prasheem jointly.

 The Top 3 Winners (Full Marathon Open) of the MCIS Life-Malaysia Women Marathon 2022

As the race concluded around 9am today, the following individuals emerged as the top winners:

• Champion of the Women Open, Women Vet and Men category of Full Marathon (42km) categories: Loh Chooi Fern, Ewe Bee Hong and Muhaizar Bin Mohamad respectively
• Champions of the half marathon (21km) of the Women Open, Women Vet and Men categories: Noor Amelia Bt Musa, Lee Siok Chin and Elvis Kyalo Kisavi.
• The champions of this series would be the first to represent Malaysia in the Sydney Marathon on 18 September at Hyde Park, Sydney, Australia

The Petaling Jaya series of the MCIS Life-MWM is a precursor to the next leg in Ipoh and Iskandar Puteri, Johor, which will be held in the third and fourth quarter of the year.

The event ended on a high note with a symbolic event flag being handed over to City Community Director of Ipoh City Council, Puan Normala Latiff by Mayor of Petaling Jaya, Tuan Mohamad Azhan Md Amir following the prize giving ceremony.