Borneo International Marathon

Last updated

Borneo International Marathon
DateMay
Location Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Event typeRoad
Distance Marathon, Half marathon, 10K run
Established2008
Course recordsMen's: 2:25:00 (2008)
Flag of Kenya.svg Sammy Kiptoo
Women's: 3:00:05 (2015)
Flag of Japan.svg Azusa Nojiri
Official site Borneo International Marathon

The Borneo International Marathon is a marathon held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, East Malaysia. The inaugural race was held on 12 October 2008. [1] This is the first marathon in the state for over 20 years. [2]

Contents

The Borneo International Marathon was started by four friends and runners: Andrew Voon, Christopher Nielsen, Urs Weisskop and Simon Amos.

The heat that runners face in Borneo is the biggest challenge in this event and water stations are critical to ensuring that runners avoid collapse. Volunteers provide drinks, energy foods and marshalling along the route and watch for runners who may be suffering from the effects of the heat.

After 2 years the directors team began to shrink. Urs and Christopher left Sabah for work and Simon eventually became unable to dedicate the time and money to make the event happen. Andrew Voon continued until he died in June 2011 while running at his local park.

The 2020 edition of the race was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, with all registrants receiving refunds minus a 7% administration fee. [3]

Route

The original route [4] took runners past the University of Malaysia Sabah and 1Borneo Hypermall on the first leg of the full marathon then back past Jalan Istiadat and through the city out to Tanjung Aru before turning round to return to the sports stadium. The new route enters the university campus and introduces some tricky hills to the hill-averse distance runners making the marathon one of the toughest in Asia. [5]

Winners

This list of winners below only applies to Full Marathon (42 km) only.
Key:  Course record

EditionYearMen's winnerNationalityTime (h:m:s)Women's winnerNationalityTime (h:m:s)
1st2008 Sammy Kiptoo Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 2:25:00 Fridah Lodepa Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 3:18:04
2nd2009 Johnson Tarus Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 2:31:00 Cecilia Wangui Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 3:05:59
3rd2010 Peter Keter Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 2:38:00 Tagami Mai Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 3:23:28
4th2011 Moses Kiptoo Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 2:31:19 Susan Chepkwony Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 3:34:09
5th2012 Fabian-Osmond Daimon Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 2:48:09 Claire Walton Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 3:35:38
6th2013 Collins Kimosop Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 2:35:21 Kona Liau Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 3:38:27
7th2014 John Njihia Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 2:46:41 Kona Liau Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 3:44:59
8th2015 Safrey Sumping Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 3:12:28 Azusa Nojiri Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 3:00:05
9th2016 Noel Tillor Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines 2:48:10 Ting Yu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 3:52:43
10th2017 Kentaro Masuda Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2:58:23 Azusa Nojiri Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 3:02:50
11th2018 Jeorge Andrade Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines 2:54:14 Nicci Chapman Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 3:34:05
12th2019 Safree Sabdin Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 2:49:44 Linda Then Yee Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 3:46:17
2020cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic [3]

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References

  1. "Marathon List for 2008". Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS). Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  2. "Borneo Marathon holds huge tourism potential for Sabah". Daily Express. 18 August 2008. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2010 via Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment of Sabah.
  3. 1 2 Tee, Kenneth (9 April 2020). "Borneo International Marathon cancelled, refunds underway". The Malay Mail. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  4. Pahamin, Armin Baniaz (7 May 2012). "Borneo International Marathon 2012: concurred and conquered". Stay Tune... Archived from the original on 12 May 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  5. "Race Route". Borneo Marathon. Archived from the original on 27 November 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2020.