Kuala Lumpur, 4 October 2026 – The much anticipated Full Marathon and Half Marathon categories of the Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon (KLSCM) 2026 saw fierce competition amongst the top runners this morning.
The Full Marathon Men’s Open saw a close finish and a Kenyan sweep with Ezekiel Kemboi pipping defending champion John Nzau Mwangangi to the line to win the gold and the prize purse of US$15,000 (RM61,065.00). Kemboi crossed the finish line in 02:21:19, while Mwangangi claimed the silver in a time of 02:21:27. Moses Kibet Kipsang took the bronze with his time of 02:21:32.
All eyes were then on the Full Marathon Malaysian categories, where the stakes were high for some of the nation’s top long distance runners with KLSCM being the official preliminary selection event for the marathon category for SEA Games 2027. The final stretch saw Yeow Ni Jia arriving ahead to cross the finish line with a new local personal best of 2:33:52 to win the Malaysian title.
Earlier this morning, the Full Marathon was flagged off by the Deputy Minister of Economy, Dato’ Indera Mohd Shahar Abdullah. He was accompanied by Mushahid Syed, the Interim Chief Executive Officer of title sponsor Standard Chartered Malaysia, and Chairman Tan Sri Shahril Ridzuan. Mushahid – who is also the Interim Head of Coverage, and Chief Financial Officer, Malaysia – also participated in the ASICS Half Marathon category under the Run For A Reason (RFAR) charity programme, running and raising funds for the Standard Chartered Foundation.
The ASICS Half Marathon was flagged off by Datuk Chang Lih Kang, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation. He was accompanied by Boon Tib Soom Nik, Country Manager of ASICS Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Mushahid, Tan Sri Shahril and Bilal Parvaiz, CEO of Standard Chartered Saadiq Malaysia.
KLSCM 2026’s second day saw a total of more than 27,000 runners pounding the pavements of Kuala Lumpur and its highways, passing iconic buildings while pushing forward to meet their personal goals for the race. The first day of races yesterday saw the IHH 10km and 5km categories also flagging off from and finishing at Dataran Merdeka. A record number of 43,800 participants from 53 countries signed up for the 18th edition of the KLSCM - with 3,600 being international participants.
Kemboi, who last raced in the KLSCM in 2023, trained for KLSCM 2026 in the areas of Eldoret, Kenya which had similar conditions to Malaysia.
“I did not really have a strategy for today and came to the race deciding to give it a try. It was hot and humid but I was lucky today,” he said.
In the Women’s Open, the crown went to Alemitu Ajema Lema of Ethiopia, who finished the race with a time of 02:39:29. The remaining podium positions went to Lucy Nthenya Ndambuki of Kenya who came in second with a time of 02:39:59 while her compatriot Caroline Cheptonui Kilel took third place with a time of 02:40:17.
The Full Marathon Malaysian Men’s category also saw Lai Yi Hng clocking 02:34:16 to come in second after Yeow Ni Jia. National record holder Tan Huong Leong had to settle for third place with his time of 02:39:17.
“I decided to go with the flow today. My goal was to secure a podium spot as well as make the SEA Games longlist and of course, defend the title. I was hoping to clock below 2:35 and because of the competitive field, I managed to get my local personal best,” said Yeow, 26. “I will be taking a little break after this to recover from previous injuries.”
In the Full Marathon Malaysian Women’s category, Esther Joy Chen Hong Li become the newly crowned champion after breaking the tape at 3:05:22 in her very first full marathon race. Second place went to Elaine Koon who registered a time of 03:12:43 while Lai Wei Ling finished third with 03:14:37.
“I decided to give it a shot after heading about KLSCM being the preliminary selection event for the 2027 SEA Games. My coach adapted my training for a marathon block and our strategy was to go big or go home. He gave me a rough pace to follow and my goal was to finish the race. It would have been nice to also clock a Sub-3,” said Chen, 22.
“We are truly appreciative of the support for KLSCM 2026 that has been shown by the running community and our sponsors and partners. We are humbled by the overwhelming response we have and continue to receive from everyone. This year, more than 3,600 of 43,800 runners have travelled to Kuala Lumpur specifically to take part in the event. We are always committed to providing a world-class race for everyone and try to raise the bar a little higher every year to ensure that KLSCM remains a much sought-after race for runners to look forward to every year. We are also grateful that KLSCM has once again been awarded the prestigious World Athletics Elite Label,” said Rainer Biemans, Project Director of KLSCM and Director of Dirigo Events, the rights holder and organiser of the event.
“We are honoured to have so many runners include the KLSCM in their running journey and we look forward to helping them rise above their limits each and every time to become the champions that they can be. Not only does KLSCM showcase athleticism, determination and unity in one event, it also lets runners experience more beyond the race and hopefully, they go home with many happy memories,” he added.
“As always, the health and safety of our runners is paramount and we strive to ensure a higher elevated medical preparedness level every year with aid from our Medic-on the Run team. We are most grateful to all of the medical professionals involved in KLSCM 2026 for their assistance, especially the medical personnel who ran alongside participants during the race,” Rainer further added.
"We're proud to be the title sponsor of KLSCM for the 18th year running and are honoured to have witnessed it grow into Malaysia's premier distance running event. We'd like to thank the team at Dirigo Events for the long-standing partnership as KLSCM continues to notch new achievements, most recently as the official Preliminary Selection Event for SEA Games 2027. This underscores Malaysia as a nation with a strong sporting heritage and culture that resonates internationally," said Mushahid Syed, Interim Chief Executive Officer & Head of Coverage, and Chief Financial Officer of Standard Chartered Malaysia, the title sponsor of the event.
"Beyond that, KLSCM has evolved to be much more than a race. It has become a platform for community inclusion and collective achievement by bringing together runners of different ages, background and nationalities - be it with the goal of challenging themselves or supporting causes that matter, through the RFAR programme. The experience at race weekend is like no other, and it's thanks to the runners for bringing the energy and excitement each year," he added.
KLSCM 2026 also saw RFAR runners opting to support a charitable cause while running in the event, raising more than RM1.1 million in donations even before the race weekend. The RFAR programme is the heart of the KLSCM and a collective effort where the runners turn their strides into a powerful catalyst for change by rallying their friends, family and communities to contribute to the deserving charities in the RFAR. This year’s returning beneficiaries are the Standard Chartered Foundation, Hospis Malaysia, Kechara Soup Kitchen and Teach for Malaysia, with the Malaysian Congenital Heart Foundation (Yayasan Jantung Kongenital Malaysia) as the new charity organisation joining the line-up this year.
“The RFAR is an integral part of the KLSCM and we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the RFAR runners who have stepped up to raise this record amount of over RM1.1 million for beneficiaries in the programme. Every ringgit raised in the RFAR will help our charity partners make a positive difference in many lives with the work that they do. The overall fundraising remains open until 12 October and we would like to encourage everyone to donate generously to these worthy causes who are working to give many of the less fortunate a better tomorrow,” said Biemans.
The KLSCM is Malaysia’s premier distance running event and also the first and only race in the country to be awarded the World Athletics Elite Label – achieving that in 2025 and once again this year. It has steadily grown to become the most anticipated distance running event in Malaysia, attracting thousands of local and international runners annually whilst establishing itself as a landmark running event in the local and global running calendar.
Standard Chartered Malaysia is the title sponsor while global sports brand ASICS and IHH Healthcare are the Gold sponsors. The other official partners are 100 Plus, Counterpain, Dynamo, High5 Nutrition, Seiko and TudungPeople.
KLSCM 2026 is sanctioned and supported by venue host Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), Malaysia Athletics, World Athletics and the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS), the Malaysian Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the Kuala Lumpur Traffic Police. It is also supported by the Malaysian Highway Authority (Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia), Konsortium Lebuhraya Utara - Timur (KL) Sdn Bhd (Kesturi), Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd (PROLINTAS) and Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB). The event is owned and organised by Dirigo Events.
For more information and updates, please visit the KLSCM website at www.kl-marathon.com/ or our social media pages at:
- Facebook – www.facebook.com/KLSCMarathon
- Instagram – www.instagram.com/klscmarathon/
- TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@klscmarathon
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