The 16th edition of the Kuala Lumpur StanChart Marathon (KLSCM) is taking place this Sunday and promises to be an exciting event, with a strong field competing for the title of Full Marathon Malaysia Men’s category. These include Poo Vasanthan, five-time KLSCM champions Muhaizar Mohamad and last year’s runner-up Nik Fakaruddin.

Jacob Wong

They will go toe to toe against young, up and coming runners like Muhamad Haziq, Vimal Govendarajoo and Jacob Wong. Haziq finished fourth in KLSCM 2022 and has won a few local races in 2023 and 2024. He also recorded one of the fastest times by a Malaysian (2:31:57) at the Gold Coast Marathon this year. Vimal has been blazing a trail in the half marathon, winning a number of local titles and recording a time of 1:10:18 in the Gold Coast Marathon’s Half Marathon event this year. Jacob clocked a tune of 2:31:21 at the Seoul Marathon this year and is the dark horse for a podium place.

Vasanthan credits his father-coach for his success as he seeks a hat-trick of KLSCM titles. He said: “I am in the last stages of my training, which has been specifically designed by my father to prepare for a big race like KLSCM. I will not be overconfident and underestimate any runner.” 

Said Rainer Biemans, Project Director of KLSCM and Director of Dirigo Events, “It’s great to see fresh new faces in contention for the Full Marathon Malaysian Men’s category. These are hard-working young runners who are driven to perform at the highest level and we look forward to witnessing their progress.”

Keisuke Yokota

In the Full Marathon Men’s Open category, Keisuke Yokota from Japan has a personal best of 2:11:43 at the Osaka Marathon 2023 and is the underdog to clinch the crown. He said, “I wanted the challenge of an overseas marathon this year and I think taking part in the KLSCM would be a great choice, as I can help expose this world-class event to more Japanese runners.”

In the Women’s Malaysian Full Marathon, defending champion Michelle Chua and last year’s runner-up Noor Amelia will be fighting it out for the title. Amelia was the winner in 2022 and hopes to take the title back from Michelle this year.

Michelle Chua

Noor Amelia

A record 42,000 runners will take to the streets of Dataran Merdeka over two days on 5 & 6 October. Safety measures will be put in place such as medical personnel running both the Half and Full Marathon routes. Medic on the Run, an initiative between Dirigo Events and official medical partner Pantai Hospital KL, aims to provide quicker medical attention to potential race emergencies.

KLSCM has evolved to become the biggest running event in Malaysia attracting thousands of local and international runners whilst firmly establishing Malaysia in the global running calendar. This year saw a 72% increase of running tourists coming to KL for the race.  

All photos in this post are credited to KLSCM.