Monday, January 02, 2012

News: Borneo International Marathon 2012 Targets 3,500 Runners

KOTA KINABALU: The 5th Borneo International Marathon 2012 targets 3,500 runners, said Datuk Peter Pang, Minister of Youth and Sports at the official launch today. The Marathon will be organized by Kinabalu Running Club, a new club headed by Dr Heng Aik Cheng, which takes over the event from Championship Sports Events Sdn. Bhd.

“The race is scheduled for Sunday, 6 May 2012. Since we launched our website on 1 December, 300 runners registered on that day itself. This is a good sign. It will be a great run for our participants and I am sure we can all look forward to a bigger and better event in 2012. This year‟s participation was about 2,400 runners and next year, our target is 3,500. We hope next year more schools will register students to participate for the marathon, especially for the 10KM race. We will have prizes especially for students,” said Dr Heng.

“Sabah‟s first marathon was held in 1984. We hope this event can continue and be one of Sabah‟s flagship sporting events and attract more international participants. It will serve to promote Sabah as an ideal international sports tourism destination,” said Datuk Peter Pang.

Dubbed "The Beautiful Run", the Borneo International Marathon passes through the city and many of Kota Kinabalu‟s interesting tourist sights. Runners will have the opportunity to participate in a Full Marathon (42.2KM), Half Marathon (21.1KM) and 10KM. The marathon is held to coincide with the cultural month of May, where Sabah Fest is usually held.

The Borneo International Marathon has raised money for local charities since its inaugural event in 2008, and this shall remain one of the main goals of BIM 2012. One of the charity events will be “Sky‟s The Limit” category, whereby any runner will try to raise as much money as possible through their friends and families to support their effort.

As an added incentive, the top three fund-raising champions will be rewarded attractive prizes. Runners who register for the run will also have choices of amount to donate to charities, apart from the respective entry fees.

Runwitme says: Check out our post on the registration for BIM 2012 HERE.

Photos and press release courtesy of BIM.

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