Thursday, July 9, 2009

Seremban Half Marathon: More scenic route for run

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 ).

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