PETALING JAYA: This year’s Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon, a record 42,000 participants, comprising new, seasoned and competitive runners, will congregate at Dataran Merdeka over Race Weekend, which takes place on Oct 5 and 6, 2024.
The event usually receives between 1,500 to 1,700 running tourists from 40 to 50 countries around the world each year, bringing in significant tourism revenues to the city and the country. This year however, will see over 2,500 running tourists from 45 different countries participate in the race, representing a 72% increase from 2023.
A large proportion of these runners are from Indonesia, with over 1,200 runners making their way to Kuala Lumpur, more than double the numbers from 2023.
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Indonesia is going through a surge in the popularity of running, largely driven by the explosion of social media. Runners want to amplify their achievements, as well as highlight cool, running locations that end up inspiring others to take up the sport.
Hizkia Tri Hananto, a 45-year-old team leader at a multinational manufacturing company in Batam agrees that social media has a big part to play in driving participation numbers up. “Lately, running has become very popular in Indonesia, and I believe social media has been very influential in driving this increase,” said Hizkia.
50-year-old Yudha Mega Kusumonegoro, from Jakarta also attributes the increase in Indonesian runners to social media. “Running is more popular in Indonesia now, especially when social media influencers post their running activities. Last year I happened to meet a group of runners from the Eastern part of Indonesia (Sulawesi) which was unusual as I used to only meet runners from Medan and Jakarta previously,” said Yudha.
Suyanti, 32, who hails from Tanjung Pinang, believes that Indonesian running groups play a big role in fuelling the popularity in running and the increased participation n events like KLSCM. “Most Indonesian runners are usually part of a running group, of which there are many here. If someone from a group signs up for an event, chances are high that others would follow,” she said.
