MALAYSIA - The Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2013 has been postponed due to the haze.
The organisers announced today that in the interest of public health, the event, that was initially scheduled for June 30, will be moved to September 29, 2013 instead.
The decision was made with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, co-organiser Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur and title sponsor, Standard Chartered Bank.
YB Khairy Jamaluddin, the Minister of Youth and Sports has concurred with the decision to postpone the event due to the current haze situation, given the potential detrimental health hazards posed to more than 33,000 participants of the Marathon.
Kuala Lumpur Mayor, YBhg Datuk Seri Haji Ahmad Phesal Talib reinforced the decision to set the Marathon to a more conducive time and date due to the unexpected circumstance. "The Standard Chartered KL Marathon is a key event for Kuala Lumpur, and I'm supportive of it being held in better weather condition. We want the participants to enjoy their run along the streets of Kuala Lumpur," he added.
Rainer Biemans, the Project Director of Standard Chartered KL Marathon further explained why such a tough decision was made, "The main factor of the postponement is due to the haze situation in the city. The Air Pollutant Index (API) which scaled to a hazardous level earlier in the week is yet to show strong improvement. We regret any inconveniences caused but we place our runners' health and safety above all else."
Race Entry Pack Collection will however proceed as scheduled on June 27 to 29 at PWTC for runners residing in W.P. Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. For runners that are not from W.P. Kuala Lumpur and Selangor may collect their race-entry packs on the week leading to Sept 29 where the organisers will set up a small scale Race Entry Pack Collection only for these outstation and overseas runners.
Organisers encourage participants to regularly visit the Standard Chartered KL Marathon official website at www.kl-marathon.com and facebook.com/scklmarathon for updates.