By Editor KB,Nancy Nais

Copyright dayakdaily

By Nancy Nais

KUCHING, Sept 17: The 10th edition of the Kuching Marathon, set for Sept 21, has drawn an impressive 14,100 participants from Malaysia and abroad, cementing its status as one of the region’s premier running events.

Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah congratulated the organisers for sustaining the marathon over the past decade, noting the steady growth in participation.

“I want to see the Kuching Marathon continue to grow with more runners each year. InshaAllah (God willing), we hope to reach 20,000 to 30,000 participants in the future,” he said during his visit to Plaza Merdeka today to witness the distribution of race packs containing official T-shirts and bib numbers.

The race pack collection, which began yesterday, will run until Saturday, Sept 20.

“So far, everything is running smoothly. I can see that this year’s collection process is well managed, and hopefully everything will continue seamlessly until race day on Sunday, Sept 21,” Abdul Karim added.

This year’s marathon will feature four categories: the 42km full marathon, 21km half marathon, 10km run and 5km run, with flag-offs scheduled between 1am and 6am.

The Kuching Marathon is recognised internationally, listed on the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) calendar.

While the majority of participants hail from Sarawak, the event has also attracted runners from across the world, including Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, India, Maldives, China, several African nations, the Netherlands, South Africa, Canada and the United Kingdom. — DayakDaily