The Comeback of KL Standard Chartered Marathon

The Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon (KLSCM) 2022 returned for its 12^th edition after a two-year hiatus with a new running route that took runners through the heart of the city. The event saw more than 34,000 runners taking part. As usual, the race categories included Full Marathon, Half Marathon, Boost Juice 10km (Speed, Cruise and Leisure) as well as 5km (Speed and Fun Run). While the first two events happened on 12 November 2022, the other races took place the day before on 11 November 2022.

This is my 25^th Full Marathon and I had a target time in my mind for the race. Kuala Lumpur is known for its high humidity and hot temperature. Despite an early morning flag off (3:45am) at the renowned Dataran Merdeka, the temperature went up to around 26 degree as time passes. The new route brought us to run past some iconic buildings and streets such as the KL Tower, KLCC, Menara Standard Chartered and Jalan Bukit Bintang before heading out to the AKLEH Highway.

Running along the 2 major highways – AKLEH and DUKE – with countless rolling hills for 20km had caused many runners to have mental and physical breakdowns. However, they were still as motivated and their spirits were lifted whenever they ran past the volunteers at the stations encouraging them to keep going. You can find a water station every 2km along the route after the 10km mark, banana and gel stations were around as well to keep the runners hydrated.

Without the famous 4km of up- and downhill of Bukit Tungku at the last part of the race, runners were able to enjoy a faster pace and timing at the end of the run. The atmosphere at the home stretch was great as local running groups were lining up and cheering at the finish line.

Finishing my race at 3:18:24 while vlogging at the same time was something new to me. I also smashed my previous Personal Best by almost 30 minutes! Special thanks to my training buddies, Darren Looi and Wen Jia, who were willing to spend time training at 4:00am. I would definitely race again in the next KLSCM.

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

Kelvin Wan

A come back runner from the COVID-19 pandemic. He is also a Content Creator where he started a Youtube channel called K1 Run to document his trainings and races.