YEOH: PBIM WILL OMIT 10KM RUN FROM 2020

GEORGE TOWN, Feb 28 (Bernama) -- The 10 kilometre (10 km) run of the Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM) will be done away with from next year, in line with the intention to rebrand it as an international marathon.

Penang Tourism Development, Heritage, Culture and Arts Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin said this year would be the final year PBIM would hold the 10 km run category.

"The decision is to place more emphasis on delivering quality instead of quantity in order to ensure a more competitive running environment," he said after announcing that the early-bird registration for 2019 PBIM would be opened on March 1 at 12.01 am, here today.

Yeoh, who is also the PBIM organising chairman, said PBIM had three categories, namely, full marathon (42 km), half marathon (21 km) and 10 km run, last year.

He said 1,500 early-bird participants would enjoy a discounted registration fee of RM80 for full marathon, RM70 for half marathon (up to 2,000 participants), RM60 for 10 km open (up to 2,500 participants) and RM50 for 10 km junior (up to 500 participants aged between 13 and 17 years old).

He said the early-bird registration would be open until March 31 but once the targeted numbers were achieved, it would be closed and stage 1 registration would begin from April 1 until May 31 at different registration fees and targeted participants.

"Stage 2 registration will begin on June 1 until July 31 while the last date for registration is Aug 15. The committee is expecting 33,000 runners from all over the world to participate in PBIM this year which falls on Nov 24," he said.

He added that PBIM attracted 23,000 participants from over 80 countries last year.

Yeoh said PBIM had gained worldwide recognition and successfully created long lasting partnerships with important organisations such as Association of International Marathons and Distance Races.

-- BERNAMA