The Kuching Marathon flag off early on 18 August 2019, Sunday despite recent troubling haze issue in parts of Sarawak with a record 10,681 participants, breaching the 10,000 mark consecutively for the third year.

Since its launch in 2014, the number of runners taking part in this international road race recognised by Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) and Distance Races (AIMS), with a offer of RM100,000 in prize money, has doubled in five short years.

Photo Credit: Kuching Marathon

Starting at Padang Merdeka in the heart of the state capital, the full marathon (42km) was flagged off at 1 a.m and the half marathon (21km) at 4 a.m. The 10km race flag off at 5.30 a.m. and the 5km race at 6.30 a.m.

Thousand of participants dashed past the starting line once the air horns were blasted even as a sudden downpour could not stop them. Several roads along the routes of the marathon were also closed as early as 11.30 p.m. on Saturday to facilitate race logistics.

Participants ran a route dotted with iconic landmarks depicting Kuching city’s cultural heritage including Fort Margherita, 1920s Chinese shophouses along Padungan Road, the golden coloured State Legislative Assembly Building across Sarawak River and the new Sarawak Museum Complex.

Kuching Marathon 2019 42km Race Results

National Top 10: Malaysian

1. Fabian @ Osmond Bin Daimon - 02:45:17
2. Safree Sabdin - 02:46:30
3. Mohd Syahidan Bin Alias - 02:50:12
4. Wincentbert Latius - 02:56:13
5. Sapirin Sumping - 02:58:02
6. Tan Jit Ping - 03:03:46
7. Mohd Jironi Riduan - 03:05:04
8. Mohd Rashid Bin Rahim - 03:06:38
9. Chong Yen Boon - 03:11:27
10. Amirul Afiq Nasruddin - 03:13:35

For the 42km Men Open, Kenyans took the 1st to 7th position but only the 1st and 2nd position for the 42KM Women Open.

Over 1,000 of the runners were from different parts of the world such as Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam and Yemen.

Photo Credit: Kuching Marathon

Sarawakians made up 7,345 of the total with 829 from Sabah, 219 from Johor, 527 from Selangor and 366 from Kuala Lumpur with a 1,000-strong volunteers.

The Kuching Marathon 2020 will take place 16 August 2020.