Kuala Lumpur, 24 June 2012 – The Standard Chartered KL Marathon has two new champions this year as Kennedy Kiproo Lilan of Kenya and Elizabeth Jeruiyot Chemweno of Kenya, won the Men’s and Women’s Full Marathon with respective times of 02:14:45.32 and 02:40:24.84.
Malaysian Full Marathoners were not far behind with Shaharudin bin Hashim earning the Full Marathon Malaysian Men’s Title and Ling Mee Eng winning the Malaysian Women’s category title with a time of 02:42:27.57 and 03:36:48.65 respectively.
Some 28,000 runners took off from the starting lines in Dataran Merdeka and Jalan Parlimen throughout race day, solidifying the Standard Chartered KL Marathon’s position as the largest marathon event in Malaysia. YBhg. Tan Sri Dato’ Mohd. Sheriff Mohd. Kassim, Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia started of Race Day with a blast by firing the first gun to signal the start of the Full Marathon category.
Other dignitaries present at the marathon were Yang Amat Berhormat Tan Sri Muhyiddin Hj Mohd Yassin, Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia; Yang Berhormat Dato’ Sri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Minister of Youth and Sports Malaysia; Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Ahmad Fuad bin Ismail, Mayor of Kuala Lumpur; YBhg. Tan Sri Dato’ Mohd. Sheriff Mohd. Kassim, Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia; Osman Morad, Managing Director & CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia; A. Subramaniam, acting president of the Federal Territory Amateur Athletic Association (FTAAA); YBhg. Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, president of the Malaysian Athletic Federation (MAF) and Chua Seck Guan, CEO of MSIG Insurance.
Rainer Biemans, Project Director, Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2012 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’d like to thank everyone for their dedicated support and commitment that went into making this day a great success. I would also like to extend congratulations to all of the 28,000 local and foreign runners that ran for a reason today!”
S. Vegiyathuman, General Secretary of the Federal Territory Amateur Athletic Association said, “In the four years that The Standard Chartered KL Marathon has been here, so much growth has taken place in which the running community is now closer than ever before, thanks to this iconic running event with positive participation and event organisation. What is interesting to see is the feedback from the running community which demonstrates the significance of the Standard Chartered KL Marathon to them, with some even stating that the highlight of the marathon is to see the city of Kuala Lumpur with the company of family and friends. We hope and wish for the Standard Chartered KL Marathon to continue growing, and we are proud with the success gained thus far.”
Joseph Mwangi Ngare from Kenya took home the men’s Honda Half Marathon title, clocking 01:06:22.02 while Esther Wambui Karimi from Kenya won the women’s category of the half marathon at 01:19:38.00.
An official category this year and the only relay race in the Standard Chartered KL Marathon, the MSIG Ekiden category saw participation from 102 teams. The winners Arul Running Club took home the first prize for being the fastest to team to complete the 21km distance within 01:16:50.17.
Venugopal s/o Rajendran took home the winning title of the 10km Speed Category at 00:35:55.80 while Yuan Yu Fang won the female 10km Speed Category with the time of 00:42:39.04.
In addition to the title sponsor, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia, Gold sponsors include MSIG and Honda. Official partners are Titan, New Balance, 100 Plus, Doubletree by Hilton, NTV7 and LI TV. The event is co-organised by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia. The Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2012 is sanctioned and supported by the relevant international and local sporting authorities- Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF), Federal Territory Amateur Athletic Association (FTAAA), International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS), and National Fitness Council (NFC).