Kuala Lumpur, 27 June 2011 – The Standard Chartered KL Marathon has two new champions this year as Kennedy Kiproo Lilan of Kenya and Rose Kerubo Nyangacha, won the Men’s and Women’s Full Marathon with respective times of 2 hours 20 minutes and 8.07 seconds and 2 hours 34 minutes and 37.43 seconds.
Chesoo Jonathan Kipchirchir from Kenya took home the Men’s Full Marathon first runner-up trophy with a time of 2 hours 20 minutes and 8.82 seconds just ahead of Julius Ndiritu Karinga, also from Kenya, who clocked 2 hours 20 minutes and 13.58 seconds in third place.
Rose Jepkemboi Chesire from Kenya was the second to cross the line in the Women’s Full Marathon category with a time of 2 hours 35 minutes and 11.43 seconds, while Ruth Jepkoech Kutol of Kenya finished third in the women’s category at 2 hours 37 minutes and 23.93 seconds.
Malaysian Full Marathoners were not far behind with defending champion Shaharudin bin Hashim achieving his 5th Full Marathon Malaysian Men’s Title.
Emelyne Teo Jia Wei taking the Malaysian Women’s category with a time of 2 hours 42 minutes and 36.19 seconds and 3 hours 32 minutes and 24.69 seconds.
Ngare Joseph Mwangi of Kenya took home the men’s half marathon title, clocking 1 hour 6 minutes and 58.12 seconds.
Eunice Nyawira Muchiri, also from Kenya won the women’s category of the half marathon at 1 hour 18 minutes and 26.37 seconds.
Approximately 22,000 runners took off from the starting lines in Dataran Merdeka and Jalan Parliament throughout race day, solidifying Standard Chartered KL Marathon’s position as the largest marathon and most anticipated event in Malaysia. Yang Berbahagia Datuk Haji Salleh bin Yusup, Director General of Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur, started off Race Day with a blast by firing the first gun to signal the start of the Full Marathon race.
Other dignitaries present at the marathon were Yang Berhormat Senator Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department; Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Minister of Youth and Sports, Malaysia; Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Ahmad Fuad bin Ismail, Mayor of Kuala Lumpur; Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad, Mr. Osman Morad, Managing Director and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad, Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Mohd. Amin Osman, president of the Federal Territory Amateur Athletic Association (FTAAA); Yang Berbahagia Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, president of the Malaysian Amateur Athletic Union (MAAU); Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Paduka Dr. Hajah Mumtaz Begum Abdul Jaffar, Executive Director of the National Athletes Welfare Foundation (YAKEB); Mr. Chua Seck Guan, CEO of MSIG Insurance and Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dato’ Mohd. Sheriff Mohd. Kassim.
Mr Osman Morad, Managing Director & CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad said, “For the third year in a row, Standard Chartered Bank is proud to be the title sponsor of the KL Marathon. It’s an event our staff look forward to with enthusiasm and enjoy by running, volunteering and cheering. I’m so pleased to see the Standard Chartered KL Marathon’s tremendous growth this year, with more and more Malaysians embracing the ‘marathon spirit’ that we aim to spread throughout the country.”
Mr Rainer Biemans, Project Director, Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2011 said, “The success of today’s event truly cements the Standard Chartered KL Marathon as one of Malaysia’s premiere sporting events. On behalf of the organisers, I would like to thank everyone for their dedicated support and commitment that went into making this day a great success and extend congratulations to all of the runners for running with us!”
In the Corporate Challenge category, in which organizations in Malaysia ran for charity, Telekom Malaysia clinched first place while Freescale Semiconductor and Ien Consultants Sdn. Bhd. followed behind in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
Meanwhile, the team from Ministry of Youth and Sports emerged champions of the Ministries Challenge category, followed by the teams from Ministry of Works and Ministry of Home Affairs in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
For the first time this year, 40 teams of five leading corporate and community leaders in Malaysia swapped their suits and ties for running shoes at the MSIG Ekiden relay race. The winners, Team New Balance were the fastest at passing their sash from one team member to the next, demonstrating their strong ability to work together as a team to achieve their goals.
In addition to MSIG Insurance, other sponsors of the 3rd Standard Chartered KL Marathon include the Gold Sponsors: New Balance, 100Plus, Honda, DoubleTree by Hilton and Timex. This year’s media sponsors are NTV7 and the New Straits Times Press which comprise of the New Straits Times, Berita Harian and Harian Metro.
The event is sanctioned and supported by the relevant international and local sporting authorities – the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS), Malaysia Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU), Federal Territory Amateur Athletic Association (FTAAA), International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS), and National Fitness Council (NFC).
Source: Press release by Essence Communications.
