SIBU: Two teachers from Sabah yesterday stole the limelight at the Sibu Marathon 2019 by capturing the Men and Women’s Open 42KM.
Sapirin,39, from Kundasan, Sabah, who was competing in the marathon for the first time, captured the first position with a time of three hours. He ran faster by eight minutes to beat Chong Yen Boon to second place.
Tan Jit Ping came third with a time of 3 hours and 12 minutes.
Sapirin said he had been involved in long distance running since his school days.
“As I was busy with my teaching job, I did not have enough time to do much preparation. But I am fit as running has been my forte for the past 20 years,” he said, adding he would defend his title next year.
Meanwhile, Women’s Open 42KM winner, Mailin Sumping felt that the absence of foreign participants made the event less competitive. The 2017 Sibu marathon saw runners from African countries grabbing most of the top positions.
“There is less challenge for us this time. I competed in the last marathon where the presence of African runners really pushed me to the limit to achieve the best result,” said Mailin, 41, a teacher of SMK Kota Belut.
The Sibu Marathon incidentally was where she twice broke her personal best time of three-hour and 56 minutes. She ran four times a week to prepare for the marathon.
Winners of the Men and Women’s Open and Veteran categories received the same prize money.
The champion received RM2,000, second place winner RM1,500 and third place winner RM1,000.
A total of RM50,000 in prize money was given out for all categories which included fourth to 10th position winners.
68-year old Kim Hing Lee, who captured the Men’s Veteran 21KM, was happy to win it despite failing to break his personal best of one hour and 23 minutes. His time was one hour 24 minutes.
Kim from Miri, who retired 10 years ago as an electrician in Brunei, said, “I did not do serious training for this event but I was as usual running 5-8km daily to keep fit.”
Prizes were given away by Datin Seri Annie Wong, a director of the main sponsor, WTK Holdings. The event was organised by Sibu Municipal Council.
Full result:
Men’s Open 42KM
- Sapirin Sumping 2. Chong Yen Boon 3. Tan Jit Ping
Women’s Open 42KM
- Mailin Salungin 2. Rebecca James Juat 3. Jennifer Yeo
Women’s Open 21KM
- Siaw Khim Tho 2. Su Lian Tiing 3. Christabel Lim
Men’s Veteran 42KM
- Mohd Rashid Rahim 2. Joon Kien Liew 3. Wong Chii Kai
Women’s Veteran 42KM
- Bee Hong Ewe 2. May Lai Siew Seng 3. Ping Huong Wong
Men’s Veteran 21KM
- Kim Hing Lee 2. Mohd Sharif Mohd Ekbar
Women’s Veteran 21KM
- Lee Leh Ha 2. Mee Eng Ling 3. Yieng Nyuk Hii
