Running for Rare Disease

After my first experience raising small amount of funds for the National Cancer Society of Malaysia at the Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon 2019 – Run for a Reason, I knew I would run again to raise funds for charity, be it for the same or other cause. I learned that raising funds for charity is not easy, at least for me. It’s like having thick skin to get people to understand the cause and charity. You get people judging, ignoring and block you, and of course, you get friends and strangers who support the cause, unexpected ones who donate and one or two who would go extra mile to be your voice. The last two of course, very little.

Despite those challenges, I do not feel I should stop running for a cause and fortunately, when I was looking at registering for the Malaysia Women Marathon 2020, I saw a new category – Fund Raising for Malaysia Rare Disease Society. I quickly contacted the organiser to register as the link to register for that category was not ready yet. I was sold for two reasons: Firstly, running for a cause adds more meaning to my runs and secondly, it was for Lily, an 18 year old angel who suffered a rare disease – AADC since birth till the day she died on the 4th July 2019. She was the eldest child of my schoolmate Melati Khalid and Shariman Kamarulzaman.

Although Lily has left us, I hope to spread awareness about rare diseases and hope to bring good impact to a child or two.

 

RM890,000 Raised for Charity at the KLSCM 2019

The organiser and runner’s feat to run and raise funds for charity at the KLSCM 2019 stepped up significantly with about RM890,000 raised for three charity bodies. It was about RM150,000 more than 2018. The charity drive were done through Run for a Reason and Corporate Challenge for Dignity for Children Foundation, Hospis Malaysia & the National Cancer Society of Malaysia.

The announcement was made by the Race Director, Rainer Biemans  at the Media Appreciation Brunch.

The top 3 winners of Corporate Challenge. Petronas ICT team won the corporate challenge race. The Giga Shipping Sdn Bhd, the first runner up raised the most, a total of RM46,000.

For the media, the organiser provided a special medal for the winner of each category, starting with 10 km for women, men, open and veteran category each, followed by half and full marathon.

Winners of Full Marathon Media Challenge flanked by Rainer Biemans (left) and Pn. Mastura (right) from Standard Chartered

Blogger Priscilla Chew – Winner of Media Challenge Full Marathon Women and I

Twelve winners from the media received this special medal

For keeps!

 

Ballot Winners Selected for Standard Charted KL Marathon 2019

Ballot at Standard Charted KL Marathon

YB Syed Saddiq displays his SCKLM2019 Half Marathon Running Bib, flanked by Rainer Biemans and Abrar A. Anwar

Today, Malaysia’s premier distance running event implements ballot system for public registrations due to tremendous response and the Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman was given the honour to activate the random computerised ballot selection process whereby ballot winners were picked and immediately notified of their selection.

Check your ballot status at https://www.kl-marathon.com/

The Standard Chartered KL Marathon has seen phenomenal growth over the last decade with the 10th Anniversary edition in 2018 seeing the highest attendance to date of over 38,000 participants. Public registrations for the 2018 event were snapped up within 10 hours of opening, leaving a lot of disgruntled runners who didn’t get a chance to register due to a variety of reasons, such as network congestion and poor internet connections.

This year saw a significant increase in loyalty registrations, where returning 2018 runners were given the privilege of signing up and securing their slot before registrations opened to the general public. Almost two thirds of the available slots were snapped up during this period leaving slightly over 12,000 slots across all categories remaining for public registrations. Hence, the ballot system was introduced this year to give everyone an equal opportunity to secure a race slot as potential participants could cast their ballot between 13 to 19 February 2019.

“We introduced loyalty registrations in 2016 as a way of giving back to the running community who have strongly supported us, and continued to implement this in the following years” said Rainer Biemans, Project Director of SCKLM and Director of Dirigo Events, the owners and organisers of the multi-award winning event. “Since then, the take-up during the loyalty registrations consistently yielded about 40-45% of overall slots available. This year we were caught by surprise when the loyalty registration period saw more than 60% of available slots snapped up, which is why we have had to implement balloting for public registrations” added Rainer. “This way, everyone gets an equal chance to secure a race entry and will not be hindered by network or work issues.” Rainer also mentioned that moving forward, the balloting process would most probably be implemented right from the loyalty registration period.

“It’s certainly a privilege to be involved with the premier distance running event in Malaysia. I have truly been inspired by the hard work undertaken by SCKLM to develop the sport of distance running by consistently putting on a world class event that attracts more than 38,000 participants from Malaysia and around the world,” said Syed Saddiq. “While the competitive aspect of SCKLM has provided talented Malaysian runners like Leo Tan and Muhaizar Mohamad with the platform to perform alongside elite international runners and raise their game, the heart-warming aspect of SCKLM is the commitment placed on making a difference through the Run For A Reason charity initiative,” added Syed Saddiq. “In fact I have decided to accept Dirigo Events invitation to participate in the Half Marathon for SCKLM2019 and if my preparations go well, I hope to do something to be able to give back to the running community too.”

The 2019 edition of SCKLM was given a boost late last year when Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia renewed their title sponsorship of the event for a further four (4) years. The Bank has been a steadfast supporter of the event since its inception in 2009 and is a major factor behind its success.

“We are delighted to resume our title sponsorship of the KL Marathon. The past 10 years of our sponsorship has shown us the amazing power this event has to bring people from all walks of life together to do extraordinary things. SCKLM has grown from strength to strength and is now one of the most sought after events in Malaysia and the region,” said Abrar A. Anwar, Managing Director and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia. “This year marks yet another milestone with the ballot system introduced for public registrations,” added Abrar.

Charity programme Run For A Reason (RFAR) has been an integral component of SCKLM which has benefited and improved the lives of thousands of Malaysians over the last 10 years. Last year, the programme raised RM500,000, with individual runner raising more than RM17,000 and Rainer hopes the amount increases this year. For 2019, the charity beneficiaries are the National Cancer Society of Malaysia, Hospis Malaysia and Dignity For Children Foundation.

 

From Press Release
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