Friday, October 4, 2019

Debutant Victor Kipchirchir from Kenya clinched maiden KLSCM title

Dataran Merdeka was awash in blue when 40,000 runners took part in the Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon (KLSCM) 2019 today. The 11th edition of the premier distance running event in Malaysia also saw YB Syed Saddiq, Minister of Youth and Sports, make his debut in the event by participating in the Half Marathon category. Also present were YB Khalid Samad, Minister of Federal Territories and YB, Dr. Ong Kian Ming, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industries, who also took part in the Half Marathon.

Contributing to the record participation numbers was one of the largest Full Marathon fields seen in an event in Malaysia when more than 13,000 runners took part in the category. An equally impressive 12,500 runners ran in the Half Marathon, making two of the longer distance categories the most well represented, which is testimony to the growing popularity of distance running in the country.

Victor Kipchirchir, from Kenya, who was making his debut appearance at KLSCM won the Full Marathon Men’s Open category in a time of 2:19:41 to take home USD17,500 while the Full Marathon Women’s Open category was won by Gladys Jepkemoi Chemweno from Kenya in a time of 2:36:45 also earning USD17,500 in the process.


Kiprop Tonui from Kenya came in second in the Full Marathon Men’s Open with a time of 2:20:05 while Tallam James Cherutich, also from Kenya finished third in a time of 2:21:04. In the Full Marathon Women’s Open, defending champion Elizabeth Chepkanan Rumokol from Kenya had to settle for second place in a time of 2:41:48 while Ngigi Pauline from Kenya took third place with a time of 2:45:44.

The Full Marathon Malaysian Men’s category was a keenly contested affair as Muhaizar bin Mohamad and his compatriot in the Armed Forces Nik Fakaruddin bin Ismail went toe-to-toe for most of the race. KL SEA Games bronze medallist Muhaizar though broke away towards the end, managing to defend his title and in doing so won this category for an astonishing fifth consecutive time, finishing in 2:35:23. Nik Fakaruddin finished second in 2:40:31 while Fabian @ Osmond bin Daimon came in third in a time of 2:45:06.

The Full Marathon Malaysian Women’s category saw Loh Chooi Fern defend her maiden win in KLSCM2018 in a time of 3:21:33 while Tho Siaw Khim clocked 3:29:42 to come in second and Yap Yee Ling got third place in a time of 3:30:50.

Syed Saddiq flagged off the Half Marathon category along with Abrar A. Anwar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of title sponsor Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia before joining in the run.

While KLSCM is a competitive event, it has been built with a community focus at its core and that community element was brought to the fore this year when KLSCM’s Run For A Reason (RFAR) charity initiative raised its highest amount in terms of funds raised compared to previous years. RFAR is an integral component of KLSCM and this year, participating charities the National Cancer Society of Malaysia, Dignity for Children Foundation and Hospis Malaysia will benefit from over RM890,000 worth of funds raised by over 1,000 RFAR participants, together with the Corporate Challenge. “We are extremely happy to have raised a record amount under our RFAR charity banner and our sincere thanks go out to all involved who made this possible,” said Biemans.

The record numbers did not end there as the event also saw its largest number of running tourists as well when more than 1,900 from 49 countries arrived in Kuala Lumpur to take part in the iconic event. Add another 10,020 Malaysians who came from outside of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor to make it a particularly busy weekend for the city.

One particularly inspiring tourist was Chris Koch, a farmer, athlete, adventurer and motivational speaker who flew in from Canada to participate. Born without limbs, Chris has been travelling the world and participating in marathons to spread his “If I Can” message to as many people as possible in the hopes of motivating them to get the most out of their lives. Using a longboard to traverse the Full Marathon route, Chris took part in his eighth marathon on a third continent when he completed his marathon here. “I was prepared for the heat and humidity because I knew it would be way more than I’m used to, however, starting so early was different. On the course, other marathoners are usually so encouraging and supportive but here, they were even more so. That definitely has me wanting to come back for another,” Koch said.

KLSCM2019 began with the Kids Dash categories yesterday morning that saw another record when 1,000 children participated in the 1km and 3km categories. Both categories were expanded this year to encourage more children to participate and also saw speed categories introduced for both distances in a move to separate the competitive children from the fun runners.

For the first time, the 5km category was also held yesterday morning to allow for larger participation numbers today and incorporated the Friendship Run, meant to be a warm-up run for those taking part in the Full Marathon, as well as an opportunity for runners from around the world to meet and forge friendships.

Towards the end of the event, the KLSCM running community gathered at the Finish Line to cheer and provide moral support to the last runners to finish within the check-out time of 7:15 hours. These runners had given their all to finish the race and were given a rousing end replete with confetti blasts to coax them home within the required time.

Winners of the KLSCM 2019:

Full Marathon Men’s Open
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Victor Kipchirchir
Kenya
2:19:41
2nd
Kiprop Tonui
Kenya
2:20:05
3rd
Tallam James Cherutich
Kenya
2:21:04

Full Marathon Women’s Open
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Gladys Jepkemoi Chemweno
Kenya
2:36:45
2nd
Elizabeth Chepkanan Rumokol
Kenya
2:41:48
3rd
Ngigi Pauline Wangui
Kenya
2:46:44

Full Marathon Malaysian Men
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Muhaizar bin Muhamad
Malaysia
2:35:23
2nd
Nik Fakaruddin bin Ismail
Malaysia
2:40:31
3rd
Fabian @ Osmond bin Daimon
Malaysia
2:45:06

Full Marathon Malaysian Women
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Loh Chooi Fern
Malaysia
3:21:33
2nd
Tho Siaw Khim
Malaysia
3:29:42
3rd
Yap Yee Ling
Malaysia
3:30:50

Full Marathon Malaysian Veteran Men
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Muniandy a/l Ramadass
Malaysia
2:54:21
2nd
Looi Mun Fai
Malaysia
2:55:37
3rd
Suresh a/l Muniandy
Malaysia
3:02:12

Full Marathon Malaysian Veteran Women
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Wong Boon Jien
Malaysia
3:46:08
2nd
Neoh Hueih Ching
Malaysia
3:46:50
3rd
Ewe Bee Hong
Malaysia
3:50:05

\Half Marathon Men Open
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Kiplagat Philemon Korir
Kenya
1:07:15
2nd
Mathew Samperu
Kenya
1:07:29
3rd
Mburu Francis Karau
Kenya
1:09:41

Half Marathon Women Open
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Edith Chemjor
Kenya
1:25:05
2nd
Jepkosgei Naum
Kenya
1:32:59
3rd
Agnieska Najnigier Pierzynowska
Poland
1:35:58

Half Marathon Malaysian Men
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Vimal a/l Govendarajoo
Malaysia
1:15:36
2nd
Mohd Nor Afifi bin Haron
Malaysia
1:16:07
3rd
Sivaneshwaran a/l Gunasegaran
Malaysia
1:19:25

Half Marathon Malaysian Women
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Sheela a/p Samivellu
Malaysia
1:30:08
2nd
Chua Kit Yeng
Malaysia
1:33:11
3rd
Chuah Cheng Ean
Malaysia
1:34:21

Half Marathon Men Veteran
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Jeffrey Ross
Great Britain
1:21:25
2nd
Cao Yuming
China
1:23:57
3rd
Chan Shan Ching
Hong Kong
1:25:22

Half Marathon Women Veteran
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Jasmine Goh Mei Ling
Singapore
1:31:25
2nd
Susan Khoo
Great Britain
1:46:38
3rd
Wang Sing Yee
Singapore
1:50:24

Half Marathon Malaysian Men Veteran
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Brij Ravinder a/l N Kathiravelu
Malaysia
1:21:32
2nd
Lim Khon Seng
Malaysia
1:23:51
3rd
Alex Tiong King Hee
Malaysia
1:26:29

Half Marathon Malaysian Women Veteran
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Looi Mei Yan
Malaysia
1:44:18
2nd
Joanne Poh Leng Grange
Malaysia
1:45:20
3rd
Seah Bee Lian
Malaysia
1:45:46

10km Speed Men Open
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Soh Wai Ching
Malaysia
0:34:02
2nd
Azwan bin Bunjing
Malaysia
0:36:05
3rd
Ku Aliff Aiman bin Ku Zainol
Malaysia
0:36:38

10km Speed Women Open
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Eunice Ong Huey Shen
Malaysia
0:43:56
2nd
Lim Cai Qin Daphne
Singapore
0:44:16
3rd
Michele Tan Bee Kiang
Malaysia
0:44:41

10km Speed Men Veteran
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Prabakharan a/l Madhavan
Malaysia
0:38:43
2nd
Dayalan a/l Suppayah
Malaysia
0:40:46
3rd
See Hock Leong
Malaysia
0:41:33

10km Speed Women Veteran
Position
Name
Country
Time
1st
Yong Chiew Ling
Malaysia
0:50:06
2nd
Jayce Chua Poh Cheng
Singapore
0:50:52
3rd
Karen
Malaysia
0:52:11

For more information and updates on KLSCM, please visit:
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/SCKLmarathon
Twitter : https://twitter.com/scklmarathon
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/klscmarathon/
Website : www.kl-marathon.com

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