KUCHING: The Kuching Marathon will return in October after a two-year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic with nearly 9,000 runners taking part.
Sarawak Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said 8,906 local and international participants had registered for the marathon, which will be flagged off at Padang Merdeka here on Oct 2.
They comprise 5,811 runners from Sarawak and 3,095 from outside the state, including 639 international participants from countries such as Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Britain, Kenya, Japan and China.
"This will be the seventh edition of the Kuching Marathon which was last held in 2019. The response has been overwhelming.
"It's very good to see the number of non-Sarawakian participants coming for the race," Abdul Karim told a press conference here on Wednesday (Aug 17).
He said the runners would take part in four categories – the 42km full marathon, 21km half marathon, 10km run and 5km run.
"The 10km and 5km runs are suitable for families who want to run together or anyone who wants to run for fun," he said.
Abdul Karim also said the marathon was one of several events set to take place in the state capital in the coming months, which would help Sarawak exceed its visitor arrivals target.
"The Kuching Marathon is a sports event that will bring in international participants.
"We also have music and cultural events coming up, such as the Kuching Jazz Festival, Borneo Music Festival and the Miss Tourism International world final.
"By the time we reach December, I believe we will easily surpass our target of 1.2 million visitors because there are so many events happening in the next few months," he said.
