Running News Daily

Kuala Lumpur Marathon 2020 goes virtual

THE Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon (KLSCM) announced the introduction of its inaugural Virtual Run, which will take place from Dec 5 to 13 and offers free registration.

Organised by Dirigo Events and with Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia as title sponsor, the KLSCM 2020 Virtual Run will offer the full marathon, half marathon, 10km and 5km distance categories.

“We wanted to create something for our runners that would motivate and re-energize everyone about running again because without events to train for, enthusiasm levels often drop easily, ” said Dirigo Events director Rainer Biemans.

“And with the pandemic continuing to spread, it is now more important than ever for all of us to maintain our health at optimum levels and keep our immune systems strong.

“We also understand that a lot of people are struggling financially at the moment, so we decided to make registrations free of charge to encourage as many people as possible to take part, ” added Biemans.

Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia is eager to play its part in encouraging Malaysians to maintain a healthy lifestyle in these trying times.

“In response to our runners’ enthusiasm to stay fit virtually and remotely, we are delighted to elevate their running experience with the new and interactive KLSCM virtual run, ” said the bank’s managing director and chief executive officer Abrar A. Anwar.

“We hope that the continued commitment of our KLSCM sponsorship will provide tangible ways for runners to keep active and engaged during such testing times, ” he added.

KLSCM Virtual Run is designed to provide a proper challenge to participants who are required to complete their entered distance in a single attempt.

Runners will receive an e-bib once successfully registered and an e-certificate upon completion.

A dedicated digital application – the KLSCM 2020 VR app – has been developed that can be downloaded for free and will enable participants to track their run, submit their results, share their activity feed.

The application comes packed with a host of other engaging features such as category leaderboards and even an Augmented Reality selfie filter.

There will also be no limits or quotas to the participation numbers for any distance or category.

Participation will only be limited by age (12 years old and above for 5km, 15 years old and above for 10km and 18 years old and above for half and full marathons).

In addition, there will be no specific cut-off times for each distance.

Participants can complete their run anywhere outdoors, at a location of their choice, any time between 12.01am on Dec 5 and 11.59pm on Dec 13,2020 (GMT+8).

Each successful registration is entered into the runner’s KLSCM participation history.