KL Marathon to revert to original date, says Khairy

PETALING JAYA: The Standard Chartered KL Marathon will revert to its original Oct 4 date.

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin (pic) made the announcement Thursday following a large public outcry after the event was pushed to Oct 10, to coincide with the inaugural National Sports Day.

“I’ve read all your tweets, Facebook messages and emails regarding the date change of the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2015.

“I have held many discussions with the organisers and other stakeholders … and have jointly come to the conclusion that the Standard Chartered KL Marathon will be reverted back to October 4,” said Khairy in a post on his Facebook page.

He explained also that the earlier change of date was not politically motivated or to “hijack” the event to artificially boost participation for the inaugural National Sports Day.

“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,” he said.

He said the earlier decision to change the date of the marathon to coincide with the National Sports Day was jointly made by the ministry, Standard Chartered, Dirigo Events and DBKL.

“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,” he said.

Khairy apologised for the inconvenience caused by the earlier change of date and said he hoped that everyone would still come forward to support the National Sports Day.