THE Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM) 2022 made a great comeback at Queensbay Mall today after a lapse of two years, attracting a total of about 26,000 participants for the full marathon, half marathon and 10km.
It had rained intermittently but the weather held up when the race was about to begin as early as 1.30am this morning.
Penang Governor Tun Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak, who graced the PBIM for the first time, fired off a sea of runners competing in the full marathon (42km) event.
Tun Ahmad Fuzi fires off the full marathon participants of the Penang Bridge International Marathon 2022 while Chow blares the horn.
Also present were Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, state executive councillor for Tourism and Creative Economy (PETACE) Yeoh Soon Hin, who was also the organising chairman of the PBIM, and Penang Amateur Athletics Association (PAAA) president Datuk Syed Mohamad Aidid Syed Murtaza, who was also the race director.
One-and-a-half hours later at 3am, Chow fired off a big gathering of runners taking part in the half marathon (21km).
“One of our taglines is ‘Great Comeback’ and definitely, we’ve put in a lot of effort to realise this.
“Even before the resumption of the marathon, YB Yeoh and his team had done a lot of groundwork, preparatory policies, and guidelines for safe tourism. They recognise the impact the pandemic had on the people.
“We have maintained our publicity and marketing efforts (even during the lockdowns). The Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM) is one signature event that is well known in the country and region.
“We are thus happy with this great rebound. We can say that both our twin engines of growth (the manufacturing sector and services sector) have almost fully recovered.
“We are very thankful we can rebound due to our strong fundamentals.
“However, I still urge all Penangites, all businesses and operators to maintain their high standards so that we’ll continue to grow and recover,” Chow said.
Yeoh said the Penang Bridge International Marathon is always the state’s iconic and largest event that also attracts runners from around the world.
“We were forced to stop for two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, we have received approximately 26,000 participants.
“This shows we have a very good recovery and we will continue our efforts to leverage the remarkable response. We want to build on PBIM’s quality to ensure that eventually one day, it will become the highest level of the marathon in the world,” Yeoh said.
Syed Mohamad Aidid, president of the Penang Amateur Athletics Association (PAAA) and race director of PBIM, said he believed the Penang marathon was one of the best marathons in this region.
“We appreciate all the participants, the organisers and the sponsors for working together again after two years.
“I have been involved since the first marathon in the late 70s. Then, we had only less than 1,000 participants and only a full marathon race. But now, we have a half marathon, a full marathon and a 10km event with a total of about 26,000 participants.
“We will continue to give our best to make PBIM the best in this region,” Syed Mohamad Aidid said.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Adleena Rahayu Ahmad Radzi
Video by Siti Nuratikah Rahmat