The KL Standard Chartered Marathon is an annual marathon event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The event was established in 1989. It is supported by the Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU), Federal Territory Amateur Athletics Association (FTAAA) and Kuala Lumpur City Hall. In the 26th edition of the marathon in 2017, close to 36,000 runners participated in the event.
Standard Chartered Bank is currently the primary sponsor of the event and has been branding it as the Standard Chartered KL Marathon since 2009.
Dates of the marathon The marathon can be organized at any time of the year given Malaysia's consistent tropical weather. The marathon initially begun with a June date, but has since evolved to be held on any other month.
On four occasions the Kuala Lumpur Marathon was either postponed or cancelled, which occurred in 2013, 2015, 2020 and 2021, due to situations rendering the impracticability of holding the marathon.
Since 2019, the marathon has switched to a two-day format due to the growing number of runners, spread out over a race weekend period. The first day, a Saturday, will involve the Boost Juice 10 km, 5 km, 1 km and 2 km Kids Dashes, while the half and full marathons will take place on Sunday, the second day of the marathon.
+ Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon dates (since 2009) Year Date Remarks 2009 28 June 2010 28 June 2011 26 June 2012 24 June 2013 29 September Postponed due to the 2013 Southeast Asian haze 2014 12 October 2015 4 October Originally postponed to 10 October to coincide with the National Sports Day, but reverted back to 4 October and cancelled due to the 2015 Southeast Asian haze 2016 7 August 2017 21 May 2018 8 April 2019 28/29 September 2020 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and replaced with a virtual run from 5 to 13 December 2020 2021 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and replaced with a virtual run from 20 to 28 November 2021 2022 12/13 November 2023 30 September/1 October 15th edition of Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon 2024 5 October/6 October 2025 4 October/5 October 2026 3 October/4 October
2015 postponement controversy
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On 13 July 2015, the Malaysian Ministry of Youth and Sports announced that the Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon would be postponed by six days to Saturday, 10 October 2015, from the original date of 4 October. The purpose was to coincide with the launch of Malaysia's inaugural National Sports Day which is held annually on the second week of October.
Many runners who have signed up for the marathon criticized the sudden change, as the postponement would affect many of their plans. Some runners were intending to be participating in other running events on 10 October in addition to the KL Standard Chartered Marathon on the 4th, which resulted in dates being clashed. They also expressed worry that the marathon organizers were being forced to follow the Ministry's set date. Concern was also turned to the international runners who were planning to fly into Malaysia just for the marathon, as they need to change their flight tickets, which had already been booked. Critics also accused the government of trying to hijack the event for political mileage and take advantage of the marathon to achieve high turnout for the National Sports Day.
While added comparisons compared the marathon's 2015 postponement to the marathon's 2013 postponement and change of date, netizens excused the inconvenience resulting from the postponement of the 2013 marathon from 30 June to 29 September as the transboundary haze was generally unavoidable due to natural disaster-related concerns and the postponement was necessitated, while the new postponement was unnecessary just because it was to coincide with the National Sports Day, which itself could be moved to 4 October if there was a need to coincide with the marathon, or to hold a National Sports Week or declare October as the National Sports Month; both of which would include the marathon in it.
The added concern was also the new day of the week of the marathon, which is a Saturday as opposed to Sundays at the time when the marathon was a one-day event. Due to this inconvenient timing, many people would need to take advanced leave towards the end of a workweek and that roads would need to be closed in advance on a Friday evening which can affect traffic in the city.
In response to the announcement, the marathon organizers gave runners the option to cancel their registrations and request for a refund. Some runners did so, but the majority of participants protested the decision. Ong Kian Ming, the then-member of Parliament for Serdang, planned to hold a press conference to urge the government to rescind the original date as the new date would cause more logistical problems for the 38,000 runners who have already planned for the original date of 4 October. The Ministry eventually rescinded the marathon's date to the original schedule of 4 October following the backlash, in a statement on 16 July 2015.
I've read all your tweets, Facebook messages and emails regarding the date change of the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2015. There are a few things I want to clear up.
The National Sports Day isn’t about achieving KPIs or hijacking events. There are noble intentions in what we were trying to do. We were trying to get as many Malaysians from different ethnicities, religions, age, location and walks of life out there as one to do as many sporting activities as possible on one day.
The power of sports to unite people can not be underestimated. When you’re running, cycling, lifting weights or playing football, they person next to you isn’t defined by what they look like, but rather what they’re able to achieve. Not in relation to you, but in relation to themselves. Sports has that power to show you what your limits are and then pushes you to exceed them.
Ten months ago, my ministry launched the Fit Malaysia initiative with this in mind. In that short time, we’ve seen great success in bringing people together. We’ve had tens of thousands of people who might ordinarily not exercise come out to join us in our fitness activities. We’ve had people who might ordinarily not mix around outside their ethnic boundaries come together as one. Everyone who’ve been at the events have been Malaysians.
The National Sports Day is the culmination of the Fit Malaysia movement -- one day in a year where everyone gets off the couch, comes out, and does something, not for fitness or sports, but for themselves. To join organised runs like the Standard Chartered KL Marathon or the Spartan Race, dance at the Score FitMob, play football or badminton, or just get out there to your local neighbourhood park with your loved ones and do something.
The National Sports Day is not a political event with a political agenda, like how Teachers Day or Cancer Awareness Month are not. It was to be our step towards becoming a sporting nation and to make sports and fitness part of a Malaysian culture, identity and lifestyle. We are a sports-loving nation but we are nowhere near being a sporting nation.
That was the idea behind changing the date of the Standard Chartered KL Marathon. It was a joint decision between the ministry, Standard Chartered, Dirigo Events and DBKL, and for that I thank them for their commitment and support to this national agenda. Not only them, but all the other organisers and partners who’ve pledged to pull their weight to come together on that one day.
It was not to “hijack” their event to artificially boost participation for the inaugural National Sports Day or to achieve my KPI. We were looking for several iconic events all around Malaysia and we realised that there is a hunger for running events, evident from the spots that have been quickly sold out in these events.
I have personally been reading a lot of your comments about the marathon and have held many discussions with the organisers and other stakeholders. We have jointly come to the conclusion that the Standard Chartered KL Marathon will be reverted back to October 4, considering the many issues that have been raised.
On behalf of the ministry, Standard Chartered, Dirigo and DBKL, I apologise for the inconvenience caused by the earlier change in date and I hope that you all will still come forward to support the National Sports Day.
Khairy Jamaluddin, Minister of Youth and Sports, in a statement on 16th July 2015
The 2015 Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon was eventually cancelled due to a sudden resurgence in the 2015 Southeast Asian haze which affected most parts of Malaysia. Most runners were anxious over whether the marathon was going ahead, but the race was axed closer to race day.
Cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic begun with an outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The fast-spreading virus eventually caused a global outbreak which affected many countries. Governments worldwide eventually closed borders and declared lockdowns, and from 18 March 2020, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin declared the Malaysian movement control order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Malaysia.
The 2020 Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon was scheduled to be held on 13 and 14 June 2020, and preparations for the marathon had been ongoing since the start of 2020. With the restriction of international travel to Malaysia, organizers initially explored the possibility of postponing the marathon to a later date or finding a suitable venue to hold the marathon. However, all odds showed signs of uncertainty, forcing the cancellation of the 2020 marathon.
Individuals who have registered for the 2020 race were deferred to the year 2021. Consequently, the marathon scheduled for 2021 was to take place in the second week of June according to the organizers. This meant that the second weekend of June, 12 and 13 June 2021, were chosen. However, the 2021 marathon would also be cancelled due to the pandemic, and registrations deferred once again to the 2022 Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon, which proceeded as planned on 12 and 13 November 2022. Runners who wish to cancel their registration were given the opportunity to do so.
To compensate for the cancellation of both marathons, runners were given the option to do a virtual run from 5 to 13 December 2020 and 20 to 28 November 2021.
Course
The current route was approved by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races and International Association of Athletics Federations and it will be utilised until 2015.
The Dataran Merdeka is the starting and ending points of this marathon. Runners who participate this marathon will run through the notable places and landmarks in Kuala Lumpur such as National Mosque, National Museum, Kuala Lumpur Railway Station, KL Sentral, Mid Valley Megamall, Thean Hou Temple, Stadium Negara, Royal Selangor Golf Club, Bukit Bintang, Jalan Imbi, KL Tower, Petronas Twin Towers, Istana Budaya, PWTC, Parlimen Malaysia and end at Dataran Merdeka.
Roads that are affected by the marathon race route are closed to traffic throughout the duration of the race for runners' safety. Water stations are available in every two kilometres and there are 24 water stations throughout the 42-kilometre route. Volunteers and medical personnel are also on stand-by at every station.
Routes since 2022
Following the COVID-19 pandemic where the marathons were cancelled, the current route for the full marathon was introduced. The routes are planned in order to give runners a view around Kuala Lumpur's central business district.