Possibly one of the most anticipated marathon for runners, the Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon, is now canceled!
Photo: Instagram KLSCMarathon
In light of the uncertainties brought about by the COVID-19 global pandemic, the organizers of the event, Dirigo Events, announced the cancellation of the Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon (KLSCM) 2020 that was scheduled to take place on 13 and 14 June 2020.
In an official statement posted across their social media platforms, the organizers clarified that they could not in good conscience proceed with the event without being able to guarantee the safety of runners, organizing crew, volunteers, medical personnel, officials, police personnel and all the others who are involved.
They have explored all possible avenues for a postponement of the event but unfortunately could not find an available date or venue that would be suitable for an event of the magnitude of KLSCM.
As such, they have decided to cancel this year’s event and automatically defer all individual registrations to 2021. KLSCM 2021 will be held at a similar time period as this year, which is the second week of June, pending confirmation from the city council.
“This was not an easy decision as we understand the amount of time and preparation that has been put into this year’s event from all parties has been significant. Thank you to all of our runners, volunteers and fans for your support and understanding at this time. We realize that there will be many questions with regards to the cancellation in the coming days and have updated our FAQ section on our website to address this,” said Rainer Biemans, Project Director of KLSCM and Director of Dirigo Events, the owner and organiser of the event.
Besides KLSCM, all remaining Running Clinics, the REPC (Race Entry Pack Collection) and the Active Lifestyle Expo for KLSCM 2020 have also been canceled.
The Run For A Reason (RFAR) charity initiative will continue until 14 May and all funds raised thus far will be disbursed to the respective charity beneficiaries.
For more updates, you can check out their website and social media accounts.
Dear Runners, After consultations with all relevant stakeholders and Government authorities, it is with deep regret that we have to cancel the Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon 2020 due to the uncertainties brought about by the still developing Covid-19 pandemic. The health and safety of our runners, working crew and volunteers, along with spectators and fans will always be our top priority and never compromised. Consequently, all remaining Running Clinics, the REPC and Expo are also cancelled. All individual registrations will be automatically deferred to KLSCM2021, which is scheduled to take place on a similar time period as this year, which is mid-June, pending confirmation from the city council. We understand that this is not an ideal situation and will therefore allow you to transfer your registration should you not be able to make next year’s event. We will inform you of the mechanics of this process in the second half of 2020. Similarly, all your race entitlements will also be deferred to KLSCM 2021. Fundraising for Run For A Reason will continue until 14 May 2020, after which it will be closed and all funds raised will be disbursed to the respective beneficiary charities. All RFAR registrations will be deferred to KLSCM 2021 but runners who raised a minimum of RM500.00 will get their RFAR T-shirt this year. This was an extremely difficult decision to make as we know that KLSCM has become an event that thousands of runners look forward to every year but this is an unprecedented situation that we face, requiring a similarly unprecedented response. Thank you to all of our runners, volunteers and fans for your support and understanding at this time. We realise that there will be many questions with regards to the cancellation in the coming days and have updated our FAQ section on our website to address this. We implore everyone who is a part of the KLSCM family, and the wider national and global community to do their respective parts in combating the coronavirus. Stay safe, and together we will all run again!
A post shared by KLSC Marathon (@klscmarathon) on
By: Siti Farhana Sheikh Yahya
