Runners snap up all individual race slots within
four days
KUALA LUMPUR, 20 January 2017: Dirigo Events, race owner and organiser of the Standard
Chartered KL Marathon 2017 (SCKLM), announced today that registrations for the
race has officially closed as they have sold out all individual race slots for
the event. The Standard Chartered KL Marathon turns nine this year and the 2017
edition will take place on Sunday, 21 May at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur.
“We are grateful that
interest in the Standard Chartered KL Marathon is as strong as ever. After our
pre-registration period for 2016 participants closed, we opened registrations
to the public on 16 January and have sold out four days later,” said Rainer
Biemans, Director of Dirigo Events and Project Director of SCKLM 2017. “We
thank all our loyal supporters for continuing to support the marathon and will
now focus on delivering the best race experience possible,” he added.
An incredible 12,512
race slots were snapped up on the first day of registrations on Monday, 16 Jan,
which is about a third of the total number of race slots available. According
to Rainer, an encouraging aspect this year was that registrations for the Full
and Half Marathon categories sold out quicker than the usually more popular
10km and 5km categories.
“We have been
consciously trying to increase the level of competitiveness for SCKLM 2017 and we
are very happy to see that the popularity of the longer distances are
increasing. In fact, we’ve closed the Full Marathon category with 8,000 runners
in total this year, constituting a 7% increase from 2016 and the highest number
recorded in this category so far for the Standard Chartered KL Marathon. So for
the first time our Running Clinics will have two sessions specifically for
runners who are going to attempt their first Full Marathon and first Half Marathon,”
he said.
The data gleaned from
the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2017’s registrations this year also show
that there will be 1,381 runners from 63 different nationalities taking part,
with the highest number of international runners coming from Indonesia (325)
followed by the United Kingdom (146) and India (132).
The Standard Chartered
KL Marathon has grown to become the premier running event in Malaysia that
draws thousands of local and international runners to the country whilst firmly
establishing Malaysia in the global running calendar. The 2017 edition of the
race will once again see sponsorship from Title Sponsor Standard Chartered Bank
Malaysia, along with Honda Malaysia, Brooks, Lucozade, Seiko and Pacific
Regency.
Mahendra Gursahani,
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank said,
“It gives us tremendous pride to be the title sponsor of such an iconic event
that has come to symbolise the coming together of communities and fostering
nation building through sport. We wish all runners the best of luck and we look
forward to welcoming them at the race.”
Elite runners will be
competing to earn a slice of the almost RM500,000 in total that is on offer at
the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2017,which include bonus prizes for record
breaking course times.
In an effort to reduce
congestion and make the race more competitive, SCKLM 2017 will continue with a
seven hour cut-off time for the Full Marathon with checkpoints at designated
areas along the route to ensure runners are within the specified time frames.
Runners who don’t make it to the checkpoints within the required times will not
be allowed to complete the race and will be transported to the finish line.
This is also meant to ensure the safety of runners as the public roads need to
be opened to regular traffic at times strictly stipulated by the authorities.
A perennial feature of
the Standard Chartered KL Marathon is its Corporate Social Responsibility
initiative Run For A Reason that aims to channel funds raised to deserving
charities that assist underprivileged communities and those in dire need. This
year the participating beneficiaries are the Standard Chartered Foundation,
National Cancer Society of Malaysia, Dignity for Children Foundation and Hospis
Malaysia.
Participating runners
can also look forward to a total of 12 running clinics that will be provided by
the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2017, including 5 Junior running clinics and
specialised clinics for those attempting their first Half and first Full
Marathons.
For more information and updates on SCKLM, please
visit:
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