THE organisers of the Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM) have decided to extend the registration deadline from Aug 31 to Sept 2.
Penang Tourism Development, Heritage, Culture and Arts Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin said so far, 26,632 runners have confirmed their participation for the run to be held from Queensbay Mall on Nov 25.
“Due to the overwhelming response, the organising committee has decided to extend the registration deadline. We hope that those interested can register online as soon as possible,” Yeoh told reporters in his office at Komtar today.
Last year, there were about 35,000 participants, including 10,000 for the fun run. However, Yeoh said the fun run was dropped this year as the committee wanted to rebrand PBIM and to attract prominent marathoners.
Also present was PBIM project manager Grace Teoh Koon Gee, who is also Yeoh’s coordinating officer.
“We’ve fun run almost every week in Penang and so, for fun runners, there are a lot of opportunities to take part,” he said.
Yeoh added that Taiwan TV Show “iWalker” production team will be covering and filming the marathon this year.
Two artistes from the TV show, Danny Koo Kar Lin and Emmie, will also take part in the marathon.
“As organisers, we welcome the production team of ‘iWalker’ to promote the attractions of Penang as well as the Penang Bridge International Marathon,” Yeoh said.
There will also be a lucky draw after the event with two Perodua Axia (Model 1000 G (Auto) AG2GZ1) as the grand prizes. Only those who finish within the qualifying times (7 hours for full marathon, 3 hours 45 minutes for half marathon and 1 hour 45 minutes for 10km) are entitled to the lucky draw. They have to be present to collect their prizes.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Darwina Mohd Daud