16 Sep Over 3,000 compete in Sibu Marathon 2017

Sarawak Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh performing the flag off ceremony of the Sibu Marathon 2017

SIBU: Over 3,000 runners including those from Australia, Japan, Kenya, Singapore , Hongkong and other parts of Malaysia took part in the recent Sibu Marathon 2017 which was held at Sibu Town Square. The exciting event offered a total prize money of RM75,160 and was divided into 12 categories namely 42.195 km full marathon, 21 km half marathon, 10 km run and the 5 km fun run.

The closing and prize presentation ceremony was performed by Sarawak’s Second Finance Minister, YB Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh who during his speech expressed hope of seeing more international events to held locally in order to put Sibu on the world tourism map. According to him, Sibu may not be well known on the world tourism map but the locals can try to make themselves better known by promoting others to come in conjunction with Visit Sibu Year 2017.

Wong, who is also Sarawak’s Minister for International Trade and E-Commerce and International Trade called on the locals to promote Sibu as the exciting heart of Borneo and it has a lot of attractions to offer to tourists.

“If you talk about natural landscape, eco-tourism, we have it everywhere, the mighty Rejang River which traverse through the tropical jungle, we have the running track, jungle trekking, longhouses and of course we have many ethnic groups with different culture and religious background which are very different to the rest of the world and all of us are able to live in peace and harmoniously,” the minister said while expressing optimism for more international event to boost Sibu’s popularity among domestic and foreign visitors.

Among those present during the event closing ceremony were Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) chairman, Datuk Tiong Thai King, his deputy Puan Rogayah Jemain and representatives from City Joggers Club (CJC).