The Score Marathon has definitely made my running in the city of Kuala Lumpur a marvelous experience. The route for the half marathon, 21 km took me around the heart of KL, starting from the Berjaya Time Square. What I like most about the run is the route – scenic features of the city skyline, parks and undulating hills of the city. The route is similar to the Standard Charted KL Marathon, but lesser crowd. There were about 3,500 half marathon runners, 2,700 ten KM runners among the 13,000 participants at the Score Marathon.
I was glad the organiser moved the venue from Bukit Jalil to Berjaya Time Square. Running in the city was truly a lovely experience.
Score Marathon
The roads were well-managed and I felt safe running throughout. There were water stations serving 100 plus and water at every 3 km with one serving banana a few kilometers before the finish line. The run started at 5am and the roads were well lighted with many marshals on motorbikes. I felt safe although it was quite dark until the sun rose at about 7am.
Some of the iconic buildings that I passed were National Mosque, Islamic Museum, Merdeka Square, POS Malaysia, Sasana Kijang, PWTC, Pavilion KL, Bursa Malaysia and close enough to see the KL Tower and KLCC Twin Towers. The runners passed the National Mosque at KM 8, and it was well suited for morning prayers. Most muslim runners stopped at the mosque for prayers.
Towards the finish line – Photo by Marlina Ibrahim
I was not certain if the distance was accurate or not as my Garmin watch recorded a distance of 24 km and so did many of the other Garmin users with extra mileage. GPS can be inaccurate in city area with tall buildings. It was a bit tough to do a personal best due to the famous hilly routes. I was accompanying a friend, Farhani who ran her 1st half marathon and our goal was to finish and enjoy the run. Indeed we did. We took many pictures to cherish her 1st half marathon. She trained really hard for this. Ladies who plan to take up long distance running be it half or full marathon can join .Nashata Weekend Training
It was a thumbs up experience at the Score Marathon 2019 – from registering the run, picking up the race kit, running and finishing run.
Now, some pictures of the runners and the city of Kuala Lumpur!
Our 1st stop – Sultan Abdul Samad Building
Cool and hilly route, well lighted
Run like a tourist
The KL Tower on the backdrop as we cruise on Jalan Sultan Ismail
On Jalan Kuching Photo Credit : Score Marathon
At this point, it was about 2 more KM to go with KLCC Tower on the backdrop
The running sisters – Farhani and Farhati ran the half marathon
With brother and cousin who finished their half marathon
