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