The Joy of Running in Full Force

The successful first women marathon in South Asia and Australasia expected to be an annual affair

April 10, 2013

The successful first women marathon in South Asia and Australasia expected to be an annual affair

April 2013, Shah Alam – About 2,000 women may or may not realise it that they made history at the inaugural Malaysia Women Marathon (MWM) that took place at I-City Shah Alam today. It is the fifth women’s marathon to be organised in the world, outside of Japan and USA.

Even with a relatively short registration period, Malaysian women proved that they are ready to take on the challenge that precedes domestic and career responsibilities. The 42km category was flagged off at 4.30am, followed by 21km at 5.30am and the last category 8km at 7am.

YB Puan Rodziah binti Ismail flagged off the 8km run, which included Kathrine Switzer, best known as the first woman to run the famous Boston Marathon as a numbered entry in 1967 and for creating a social revolution by empowering women around the world through running. MWM also received runners from Australia, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada and Poland.

Organized by Irongirl Malaysia Sdn Bhd with the strong support of Tourism Selangor, Karen Loh, Race Director said that she was thrilled to see such positive response for MWM and the huge success of the maiden MWM this year has sealed it into becoming an annual event.

“I am sincerely happy to share my passion of running with all Malaysian sisters as well as to encourage them to know that they can do anything. We will begin promoting next year’s MWM this July. In fact, we would like to invite more foreign runners, so we will take our promotions to Australia and other countries.”

She hopes to have 5,000 runners for next year’s MWM.

The maiden marathon made its way through the scenic serene city of Shah Alam, passing several well-known landmarks along the way such as The Blue Mosque, The Sultan of Selangor Palace, 2 grand stadiums, 2 beautiful lakes, the city’s museum and the beautiful shell shaped Royal Theater of Selangor.

The full marathon, covered 42.195km and required to be completed within 6.5 hours; the half marathon of a distance of 21.1km within 3.5 hours and there was also a fun run of 8km.

Couples also joined in the run, where the men ran as pacers to accompany the women and give them support and encouragement as they ran together. Although, the men were not entitled to win any prizes, their race time was recorded.

All three distances have two categories, Open and Veteran. The minimum age for full marathon is 18 years old and 16 years old for half marathon and the 8km fun run. The veteran category is for those above 39 years of age.

Making the run more fun and interesting, encouraging posters were placed along the route such as ‘Remember to pace yourself and So, soo, soooo close.’ A runner shared that it was a good reminder that the run itself was meant to be enjoyed.

The winners emerged in impressive time and won attractive prizes which were presented to them by YB Puan Sri Datin Seri Salbiah Binti Tunut, YB Puan Elizabeth Wong, Ms. Aireen Omar CEO of AirAsia Berhad and Ms. Khoo Lee See, Ambassador of Suunto.

Champion winners are as follows, fun run 8km Open was Sheela Samivellu, Emer Breen for Women Veteran Half Marathon, Emily Donker for Women Half Marathon Open, Yuka Takehiro for Women Veteran Full Marathon and Yee Pei Ni for Women Full Marathon Open. For full list of winners and timings, please go to http://mwmarathon.site.socxs.com/Results.

Ms. Emer Breen, champion winner of the Half Marathon Veteran Women category was very pleased with the organisation of the race and said it was her best running experience in Malaysia. “The race empowered women while running together and it was admirable to see the men support the women during the race.”