KL Marathon 2006

Something has gone wrong with this year’s organizing of the KL Marathon. The quality of the organizing is still not up to international standards. The quantity of runners is much lower than that of many international runs. Just take a look at this year’s event t-shirt. It’s crap. Yellow and light blue is a display of bad taste, and the quality of the material is much to be desired.

The organizers of the KL Marathon has much to learn even though there might be slight improvements in the area of refreshment, early announcements of traffic management, existence of a dedicated website and prompt publishing of results. The organizers must realize that other international runs in other countries have also raised the bars while we are still playing catch up. We may have improved, but we are only about to achieve what other organizers left a few years back. Singapore, for example, has been exemplary in setting new standards for other organisers to follow.


Taking the event t-shirt for example, Singapore has not only given an event vest but also a finisher’s t-shirt of a reputable sports brand and of high quality.

Is it entirely the organizer’s fault or that of the lack of sponsors in Malaysia? Personally, I think it’s because of the lackadaisical attitude on the part of the organizers to source for contributions from the already depleted pool of sponsors for runs and the high-dependence cum expectations towards our red-yellow sponsor to make the run a success.

I was fortunate to be part of the organizing committee for a tunnel run in 2004. The run was only 10km and our rising sun partner was a fantastic co-organiser of the event. They have put in an enormous amount of work to source for sponsors and I must say that their hard work pays. If anyone has ran the tunnel run would remember the many lucky draws ranging from overseas and local holiday trips, bicycles, handphones to myriad of hampers. The sponsorship ran into hundreds of thousands. For a 10km run, that was a marvelous feat! Many appraised the run and 99% were positive feedback.

This goes without saying that a marathon race of international stature is expected to garner more sponsorship, publicity and support as those of a 10km run.

If monetary sponsor is fully sufficient to support the race including runners’ perks like an improved finisher’s medal, better breakfast box, finisher’s t-shirt or event vest, then there must be something wrong, very wrong with the management of fund on the part of the organizers. Perhaps it is also time to audit the financial account of the race event on where and how the money was spent, fully itemized in the order of accounting standards. Was there lavish spending on other items? Were the sponsors made to pay over-priced race peripherals like streetlight buntings, tarpaulins, billboards, or even the event t-shirt? Or were some organizers disguised as “volunteers” paid a handsome sum for incompetent services rendered during the race?

A running race may sound as a harmless sporting event, but because of the high stakes and expectations involved, where our country’s image is displayed before an array of international participants, we have a thin margin for failures and definitely no room for incompetence or inferiority. While sponsors have evolved over time, we know that there is one association that is still pegged and remained as a permanent feature of the KL Marathon since its inception. So, if the race is still not up to mark, we know who is the culprit…..