SIBU: Three runners from Kelab Sukan Extreme Marathon Sibu returned with a flourish from the inaugural Kuching Marathon held in Kuching recently.
KSME’s top runner Ling Mee Eng was all smiles when she pocketed RM8,000 for grabbing two titles in the Women’s 42km Full Marathon for both the International Veteran and Malaysia Open category.
She collected RM4,000 for each category.
Ling posted a time of 3’38.58” which she described as one of her personal best.
“I did not expect to get the champion title as there are so many international runners taking part including the renowned runners from Kenya. Nevertheless, I am happy with my overall performance,” she added when contacted.
In the International Veteran category, Ling’s nearest challenger from Indonesia was miles away when she crossed the finishing line.
However, it was the runner from Sabah in the Malaysia Open’s category who put Ling under tremendous pressure.
“We kept in pace throughout the run and I only managed to pull ahead in the final lap,’ she added.
Ling’s next two international runs will be the KL Full Marathon in October and the Penang Bridge Run in November.
“I am training hard for these two events and hopefully, I will be able to return with more impressive results.”
Her teammate, Choo Ngiik Hung was also satisfied with her RM800 collection for emerging second in the Women’s Open Veteran 21km category where she posted a time of 1’52.24”.
Lee Kim Hing, surprisingly, emerged champion in the 21km Men’s Veteran Half Marathon to collect RM1,000. His time was 1’23.14”.
KSME chairman Tang Ka Seng was happy with the results obtained by his runners.
“We sent 16 runners to take part in the championship and we are satisfied with the overall performance of our team, with two runners winning the champion title and another finishing first runner-up.”
A total of 5,500 runners from 30 countries took part in the event which was jointly organised by the Kuching Marathon Association (KMA) and Kuching North City Commission (DBKU).
Tang said KSME would continue to send runners to both national and international meets so as to build a name for the club.