Merdeka Run to celebrate National Day

IN conjunction with the National Day celebration, the Cheras MCA is organising a Merdeka Run in its constituency on Monday.
“It is our National Day and what better way to celebrate it if not with residents and people in the community,” Cheras MCA secretary Dr Jeffrey Goh said.
The 3.5km run passes through housing areas like Taman Segar, Bukit Segar, Taman Supreme, Taman Cheras, Desa Aman Flat, Desa Aman, Taman Mutiara Timur and Taman Gemilang.
The run is jointly organised with Taman Taynton Residents Association. The first 500 participants to sign up will be given a free T-shirt and a flag.
“It is a healthy activity for residents of all ages to participate in this fun run. They can also cycle, roller-blade or just walk the short route,” Goh said.
He said that 51 residents would also be chosen to carry the National Flag along the route this year, to mark the country’s 51st birthday.
Those interested can call 03-9133 2286 for details. Registration begins at 7am in front of the Cheras MCA office at Jalan Manis 1 in Taman Segar.
A light breakfast would be served before the run, followed by a short warm-up session conducted by Fitness First instructors.

RM35,000 up for grabs

A CASH purse of RM35,000 is up for grabs at the National Open relay in Temerloh on Aug 30.
The 10km relay will start at the Mentakab Town Hall and end at Dataran Temerloh. Each member of the team will run 2km.
The relay, organised by the Termeloh District Athletics Association, has seven categories — men’s open, men’s under-20, women’s under-20, boys’ under-12, girls under-12, men’s veteran and Pahang government staff.
Organising secretary Moha-med Musa Noor Mohamed said they were expecting about 700 teams.
“Several foreign teams have also indicated their interest to join the relay. If we can get 700 teams, then it will be endorsed by the Malaysia Book of Records,’’ he said.
The top 10 finishers in each category will receive cash prizes. The organisers are also giving away four laptops — two each to secondary and primary schools — to the schools with the highest number of participants. For more information, contact 09-278 1572.

SEREMBAN HALF

THE Seremban Half Marathon (SHM), which will be held for the 21st consecutive year tomorrow, will take runners through a more scenic route, said the run’s organising committee secretary, Loh Kim Heong.
He said the annual event — one of the biggest sporting events in the state — was held in conjunction with the birthday celebration of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negri Sembilan Tuanku Ja’afar and would have about 8,000 participants.
“This year’s edition is sure to be exciting, with the addition of the new route. This new route, through Forest Heights with its beautiful surroundings, will be refreshing for regular participants,” he said, adding that the event would begin at the MPS Hall in Seremban.
As in previous years, students will make up the bulk of participants in the 10km run.
“To encourage more students to take part in healthy activities like this, we are giving cash incentives to the school with the largest number of participants,” he said.
The run also has its fair share of foreign participants and this year, runners from Germany, Japan, India, Thailand and Singapore have already signed up.
Loh said most of the foreign participants, especially those employed in local companies, made it a point to sign up every year.
“We have many regulars this year — four from the Sunita Godara Fitness Trust in New Delhi.
“Sunita herself was the SHM women’s champion for three consecutive years from 1998,” he said.
The 21km run has three categories – (A) women’s open (19 years and above), (B) men’s senior (19 to below 40 years) and (C) men’s veteran (above 40 years).
The 11km run has eight categories – (D) women’s senior (19 to below 35 years), (E) women’s veteran (35 to below 45 years), (F) women’s senior veteran (45 years and above), (G) men’s senior (19 to below 40 years), (H) men’s veteran (40 to below 50 years) and (J) men’s senior veteran (50 years and above), (K) women’s junior (13 to under 19 years) and (L) men’s junior (13 to under 19 years).
The SHM also features special categories for the disabled, wheelchair-bound and a corporate fun run.
The run has a number of corporate sponsors, the latest being Carlsberg Marketing Sdn Bhd which recently contributed RM5,000 and 100 cartons of Nutri Malt for the runners.
Loh said surplus funds raised from the SHM would be channelled to various state sporting bodies to develop new talent in athletics.
“This is our way of giving back to the local community and it has been our tradition for some years now,” he said.
The run is organised by the Antah Group, the Seremban Municipal Council, Seremban Hash House Harriers and Negri Sembilan Amateur Athletic Association.
The Star is the official press sponsor for the event.
For more details and route map, visit www.serembanhalfmarathon.com or call Santha Chitty ( 03-2094 5099 ), Koong Lin Ngen ( 019-661 2605), or Loh Kim Heong (013-353 0322).

Walk for charity

KELAB Darul Ehsan will be organising a Merdeka Charity Walk to raise funds for the Pondok Penyayang Raudhah in Gombak at its premises on Aug 24.
The 6km walk will start at the main lobby at 7.30am.
The club is undertaking the programme to raise funds for the poor in conjunction with Merdeka month.
As part of its community service to the public, Kelab Darul Ehsan, with the support of its in-house team of volunteers, will be organising the walk near the club and its surrounding residential areas.
Part of the proceeds collected will be channelled to the Pondok Penyayang Raudhah in Gombak.
Entries are open to Kelab Darul Ehsan members and the public.
All participants will receive goodie bags, T-shirts and enjoy complimentary breakfast.
Participants will be divided into four categories, — women’s open, men’s open, team and children.
Registration fee is RM30 for members and RM50 for non-members.
For the team category, the registration fee is RM300 and each team should comprise four participants.
Kelab Darul Ehsan’s public relations manager Sannie Wong said it was the first charity walk the club was undertaking.
“We hope to start the ball rolling to help the poor and needy. We look forward to organising more charity events,’’ said Wong.
For registration or further information, call 03-4257 2333 ext 331 or 726. Registration forms are also available at www.berjayaclubs.com/kde/index.cfm

Larian Perpaduan

IN conjunction with the 51st Merdeka celebrations, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry is calling on everyone to take part in its Merdeka Unity Run on Aug 17.
Its minister, Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen, is chairing the integrated people’s committee, the run’s organiser.
The run will take place at Dataran Merdeka Kuala Lumpur at 7.30am and end at the same venue.
The ministry’s secretary-general, Datuk Faizah Tahir, said the run’s objectives was to instil the spirit of patriotism and foster national unity among the different races.
Part of Merdeka celebration: Faizah with some of the forms for the run.
“Registration starts at 6.30am,” said Faizah during a recent interview.
“On the day itself, the Prime Minister will flag-off the 10km walk, while the deputy prime minster will flag off the 5km run.
“Ng will flag off the 3km walk.”
While the run is the main highlight, Faizah said a host of other activities had been lined-up for the crowd.
“For instance, there is a carnival with fun activities and a cultural show organised by the Unity, Culture, Arts, and Heritage Ministry.
“The public can also take check their sugar or cholesterol level at the free health screening clinics set up by the National Population and Family Development Board.
“We also have subsidised mammograms for women who are eligible at RM50 a person,” said Faizah.
She added that stars from Bintang Akademi Fantasia and Astro StarQuest would also be perfoming.
A crowd of 10,000 people is expected.
Faizah said the 12 categories of run would appeal to everyone of all ages.
The categories are men’s open (18 years and above), women’s open (18 years and above), men’s junior veteran (40 to 49 years), men’s senior veteran (50 years and above), women’s veteran (35 years and above), boys (13 years and below 18), girls (13 years and below 18), wheelchair men’s open (18 years and above), wheelchair women’s open (18 years and above), unity team event (a three-person team of three different ethnic groups), fun run (for disabled and primary schoolchildren) and fun run for families.
For the two non-competitive fun run groups, the distance is 3km, while the first three categories of men’s open, women’s open and men’s junior veteran will run the 10km distance. The other run is 5km.
Faizah said the run was open to Malaysians aged 13 and above for all categories, except the fun runs.
There is a participation fee charged for the different categories, between RM3 and RM15, except for the wheelchair categories and disabled participants whereby participation is free.
“Each participant, however, will receive a T-shirt and cap and a goodie bag that contains a voucher for snack pack. They will also be entitled to a lucky draw and stand a chance of winning prizes,” said Faizah.
She said in the category of charity run a corporate body could sponsor a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and pledge a donation through the National Welfare Foundation and run with the NGO on the event day.
“If the corporation does not identify any beneficiary, the foundation can do so on its behalf. All donations are tax-exempted.”
Interested participants can register at the 2008 Merdeka unity run secretariat, F.T.A.A.A office, Level 2, Wisma OCM, Jalan Hang Jebat between 10am and 6pm (Monday to Friday), and 10am to 1pm (Saturday).
Forms can also be downloaded from websites of www.kpwkm.gov.my, www.jkm.gov.my or www.lppkn.gov.my
The closing date for registration is two to three days before the event.
Participants will need to collect their numbers (for lucky draw) and T-shirts between Aug 14 and 16 from 10am to 6pm at the conference room of Wisma OCM.
For enquiries, call 03-2715 2843.

More sponsors for Seremban run

SEREMBAN Half Marathon patron Tunku Naquiyuddin Tuanky Ja’afar said this year’s run will probably the best ever.

“This is the best managed marathon we have had,” he said.

The success of the marathon will ensure that more funds will be donated to the Junior Athletes Development fund that promotes junior and disabled athletes in Negri Sembilan.

“Our main objective is to ensure that we have enough resources for the marathon itself while the second objective is to give all surplus proceeds to the fund,” Naquiyuddin said.

In the past 21 years, more than 12 state organisations and 15,000 sports people have benefited from the fund.

Naquiyuddin said the fund usually subsidised the athletes’ expenses like equipment, supplements and sometimes even transport for those travelling to other states.

To attract a larger crowd this year, more sponsors have come forward with cash contributions and gifts for participants.

ExxonMobil Subsidaries in Malaysia and Tint-Shop (M) Sdn Bhd will both be contributing to the event with the Tint-Shop also providing gifts for the lucky draw.

Exxonmobil has been supporting the Larian Istimewa categories since 1993 and their cash contribution will be used for the special needs runners’ vests as well as the rental of buses to transport the runners to and from the Negri Sembilan field in Seremban.

“It is a great way to give back to the society, especially to the needy and children,” ExxonMobil Subsidiaries in Malaysia chariman Liam Mallon said.

Royal Selangor International Sdn Bhd, the co-sponsor, will also be contributing to the run, including offering special discounts on the pewter medals for the run.

F&N Coca-Cola will be supplying free flow of 100 Plus Isotonic drinks on the day, plus cups and gifts for the lucky draw while Nestle Breakfast Cereals will provide breakfast cereals for the runners as well as donating boxes of cereals for the lucky draw prizes.

“This is a great platform for us to give back to our consumers,” F&N Coca-Cola (M) Sdn Bhd event and sponsorship manager Muhammad Fauzi Ahmad said.

Milo also chipped in with an extra RM3,000 that will be given to schools with the most number of participants who finish within the qualifying time.

The event that will be held on Aug 24 at 6.30am just before the month of Ramadan and will see about 9,000 participants this year.

The event is held as part of the birthday celebrations of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negri Sembilan Tuanku Jaa’far Tuanku Abdul Rahman who turned 86 on July 19.

For more details, contact Santha Chitty (03-2094 5099), Koong Lin Ngen (019-661 2605), Loh Kim Heong (013-353 0322) or visit www.serembanhalfmarathon.com.

Penang Bridge Marathon 2008

檳大橋馬拉松賽11月16日舉行（檳城7日訊）今年度的“檳城國際大橋馬拉松賽”已鐵定在11月16日舉行，除全程42公里公開組冠軍獎金增至1萬令吉外，啟跑及終點也被改在皇后灣。

每年循例在5月間舉辦的國際大橋馬拉松賽，今年因為主辦賽會的大馬大道局宣佈放棄舉辦權，這項備受國際支持的賽會現改由檳州政府舉辦。

檳旅遊發展委員會主席羅興強今日在檳古蹟中心召開一項新聞發佈會指出，今屆賽會與往年一樣設有全程42公里的各組賽項，也有25公里半程及10公里四分一賽程各組賽項。

他說，除了各組別的賽項外，也設有10公里四分一賽程的歡樂跑，參加者可以攜老扶幼舉家參加，同時也有名人跑。

他希望公眾人士切勿錯失檳城大橋在一整年裡，唯一不開放給車輛使用的難得時刻，可以舉家在大橋上悠閒漫步，及欣賞美景。

參賽者最少13歲

他說，42公里賽項的報名費為每人50令吉、25公里的是25令吉、10公里以及歡樂跑的報名費也是10令吉；12歲以下與父母同時參與歡樂跑的兒童一律免費，參賽者年齡必須最少13歲以上。
他指出，今年除設有7萬令吉的各項獎金外，還有豐富幸運獎及贈品。

有意參賽者可在下星期開始前往設在打石街古蹟中心的秘書處索取表格外，也可上網報名，網址為 www.penangmarathon.gov.my.

他同時呼請熱心商家踴贊助，共同努力辦好這項賽事。去年賽會共吸引約2萬人參加，希望今年也不遜色，獲得各界的熱烈響應。

Penang Bridge Marathon

Participation is open to those 13 years and above as at 31 December 2008. Eligible participants will be categorized in 8 groups as below:

Categories for Half Marathon (22 km) are:
Men Open 16 years and above
Women Open 16 years and above
Men Junior Veteran 40 to 49 years
Men Senior Veteran 50 and above
Women Veteran 35 and above

Categories for Quarter Marathon (10 km) are:
Boys 13 to 15 years
Girls 13 to 15 years

Fun Run (10 km):
Open for participants 13 years and above