KL Marathon

Clinging on to KLIM

The marathon runners are really excited that this year's KL International Marathon ("KLIM") is being staged by Standard Chartered Bank, which has shown high standards in organizing similar marathons in Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Nairobi.

Octagon, a division of CMGRP (M) Sdn. Bhd and Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad is organizing the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2009 which will be held on Sunday 28 June 2009.

There could well be two international marathons in Kuala Lumpur this year as the Federal Territory Amateur Athletic Association (FTAAA) is adamant on staging its flagship event - KL International Marathon. (from NST Online, 6 February 2009).

Click here to read (extracted by KP and Gang's blogiste): FTAAA to Organise Own Marathon
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Kuala Lumpur International Marathon starting/finishing point

On the other hand, The Federal Territory AAA (FTAAA) have only themselves to blame for the quagmire they’re in. They were complacent and this has resulted in their losing their only source of income — the KL International Marathon. FTAAA raked in almost RM150,000 in entry fees when they organised the marathon and that money was used to run their programmes. (from Malay Mail, 6 February 2009).

Click here to read (extracted by KP and Gang's blogsite): Digging Their Own Grave

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The common complaints among the marathon runners are:

1. The same running route for full marathon has been around for many years (and FTAAA is not improving it)

2. The stretch heading to Cheras roundabout and another stretch near General Hospital are always choked with heavy traffic (the exhaust fume is bad for runners and FTAAA is not improving it)

3. At the starting area, the middle-aged lady announcer does not qualify as a professional to lead such an important event (does not seem to lift up the mood of the event; instead, focus on petty issues, and FTAAA is not improving it).

Let us hope that the above shortcomings are being looked into by the new organizer.

Click here to read other postings on previous KLIM (scroll down the pages).

Posted by KC
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