KL Marathon 2026: Date, Categories, Sponsors and Results
About 40,000 runners from 70 countries ran the Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon on 3–4 October 2026. Here is how the race and its sponsor line-up work.
The Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon 2026 (KLSCM) was held on 3 and 4 October, starting and finishing at Dataran Merdeka. Saturday hosted the 10km, 5km and kids' races. Sunday hosted the full and half marathons. About 40,000 runners from 70 countries took part. Standard Chartered is title sponsor, with ASICS, IHH, Pantai Hospital and Reef Check among the partners.
Key facts
- KLSCM 2026 took place on Saturday, 3 October and Sunday, 4 October 2026, with every category starting and finishing at Dataran Merdeka.
- Bernama reported about 40,000 runners from 70 countries. Malay Mail reported more than 15,000 on the opening day alone.
- Total prize money was RM500,000, according to Bernama.
- KLSCM is Malaysia's only road race with a World Athletics Elite Label. It first received the label in 2025 and kept it in 2026.
- The race was the official preliminary selection event for the 2027 SEA Games marathon, with qualifying times of 2:45 for men and 3:15 for women.
- ASICS supplied footwear and apparel for a second year and was the naming partner of the ASICS Half Marathon. IHH was the naming partner of the 10km race.
- Kenya's Ezekiel Kemboi won the men's full marathon in 2:21:15, and Alemitu Ajema Lema won the women's race in 2:39:29.
KL Marathon 2026 at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official name | Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon 2026 (KLSCM) |
| Dates | 3–4 October 2026 |
| Start/finish | Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur |
| Organiser | Dirigo Events Sdn Bhd |
| Edition | 18th (as reported by Malay Mail) |
| Field | About 40,000 runners from 70 countries |
| Prize money | RM500,000 |
| Status | World Athletics Elite Label; 2027 SEA Games preliminary selection race |
Dirigo Events Sdn Bhd organises the race, according to the official KLSCM website. The 2026 edition took the race back to Dataran Merdeka. On the opening day, project director Rainer Biemans told Malay Mail that many runners were "happy and excited to return to Dataran Merdeka".
Race categories and schedule
The 2026 programme was split across two days. Road closures were planned around this schedule. SAYS reported that about 30 roads would close in stages. On Saturday, closures ran from 5am to 10am. On Sunday they started as early as 3am and lasted until 11am. Jalan Raja, in front of Dataran Merdeka, was closed from 8pm on Friday, 2 October until midnight on Sunday.
| Day | Category | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 3 October | IHH 10km | 10km |
| Saturday, 3 October | 5km Fun Run | 5km |
| Saturday, 3 October | Kids Dash | 2km and 800m |
| Sunday, 4 October | Full Marathon | 42.195km |
| Sunday, 4 October | ASICS Half Marathon | 21.0975km |
The official site also lists three team formats, the Corporate Challenge, Run Club Challenge and State Youth Challenge, as well as a charity entry route, Run For A Reason. Elite and high-performance runners have their own categories. For priority registration, runners needed at least eight previous KLSCM finishes, or a KLSCM 2024 or 2025 finish within set times.
In the days before the race, organisers were monitoring haze and air quality. They said they would confirm by about 4pm on Friday whether the races would go ahead, and that they were "cautiously optimistic". Both days went ahead as scheduled.
Who sponsors the KL Marathon?
The KLSCM partner structure is a good template for how city marathons sell sponsorship. Each partner below is named by the organiser or in coverage by Bernama and Malay Mail. None of the deal values has been published.
| Partner | Role (as reported) |
|---|---|
| Standard Chartered | Title sponsor; the Standard Chartered Foundation is also a Run For A Reason beneficiary |
| ASICS | Footwear and apparel supplier (second year); naming partner of the ASICS Half Marathon |
| IHH | Naming partner of the IHH 10km |
| Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur | Health screening (per official FAQ) |
| Reef Check Malaysia | Official charity partner |
Bernama reported on 6 October 2026 that ASICS was in its second year supplying footwear and apparel. ASICS Malaysia ran an ASICS House, Cheer Zones and a Roving Truck, and launched an ASICS x KLSCM 2026 merchandise line. That shows how far a category partner can go beyond putting its name on a race.
How running-event sponsorship works
A city marathon offers sponsors a different package from a football club or an esports league. There are no matches, no jerseys to sell space on and, for most sponsors, no single star athlete. Instead, the event owner sells a set of rights around one weekend and the months of training and registration that lead up to it. The KLSCM model includes most of the standard tiers:
- Title sponsor. The sponsor's name is part of the event name, so it appears in every news report, results list, road-closure notice and runner's social post. Standard Chartered holds this position at KLSCM.
- Category naming rights. Individual races can be sold separately, as the ASICS Half Marathon and IHH 10km show. Each category gets its own medal, results table and media coverage.
- Official supplier. A sportswear brand typically supplies race tees, finisher merchandise and volunteer kit, and runs retail activations at race-pack collection and the finish area.
- Medical and health partner. Hospitals and healthcare groups fit naturally with an endurance event. KLSCM's FAQ points runners to Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur for health screening.
- Charity partners. These link the event to causes and bring a separate stream of fundraising content.
- Corporate challenges. Companies enter teams, which turns the race into a staff engagement and employer branding exercise.
The value for sponsors comes from scale and spending power. A field of about 40,000 people, most of whom have paid an entry fee, trained for months and collected a race pack, is a large, engaged and identifiable audience.
Charity entries: Run For A Reason
KLSCM's charity programme shows how a race can add revenue on top of entry fees. According to the official Run For A Reason page, runners get a PIN code by donating to a charity partner: RM200 for Malaysian residents or RM600 for non-residents. They then fundraise through personal pages, with a minimum donation of RM30 per transaction. Fundraising closed at 11.59pm on 19 October 2026. Beneficiaries included Hospis Malaysia, Kechara Soup Kitchen Society, TFM Foundation, Yayasan Jantung Kongenital Malaysia and the Standard Chartered Foundation. The 2026 Run For A Reason entries sold out. Companies cannot buy PINs in bulk and are directed to the Corporate Challenge instead.
Elite status and the SEA Games link
Two features made the 2026 race more attractive to sponsors than a mass-participation run alone. First, its elite standing. Bernama reported that KLSCM is the country's only road race with a World Athletics Elite Label. Malay Mail reported that it first received the label in 2025 and kept it in 2026.
Second, the national team link. Malaysia Athletics named KLSCM 2026 the official preliminary selection event for the marathon at the 2027 SEA Games, to be held from 18 to 29 September 2027 across Sarawak, Penang, Johor and Kuala Lumpur. The top five men and top five women meeting qualifying standards of 2:45 for men and 3:15 for women go onto the long list. As host, Malaysia is expected to have three places per gender. Malaysia Athletics deputy president Wan Hisham Wan Salleh said: "I believe that within a year, they can improve their times by 10 to 15 minutes with the right training." Malaysia Athletics also signed an MoU with Dirigo Events covering athlete development, race exposure, National Sports Institute facilities and coaching.
KLSCM 2026 results
The full results were published on the race's social channels and reported by Malay Mail.
| Category | Winner | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Full Marathon, men open | Ezekiel Kemboi (Kenya) | 2:21:15 |
| Full Marathon, women open | Alemitu Ajema Lema | 2:39:29 |
| Full Marathon, Malaysian men | Yeow Ni Jia | 2:33:52 |
| Full Marathon, Malaysian women | Esther Joy Chen Hong Li | 3:05:22 |
| ASICS Half Marathon, men open | Amos Cheruiyot Kirui | 1:06:15 |
| ASICS Half Marathon, women open | Rachel See | 1:22:33 |
| IHH 10km, men open | Muhammad Haziq Mohd Hairol Izmi (Malaysia) | 33:54 |
| IHH 10km, women open | Mercy Jebiwott (Kenya) | 37:00 |
The opening day alone drew more than 11,500 runners in the 10km and 4,400 in the 5km, according to Malay Mail. Among the Malaysian elite entries named by the NST before the race were national record holder Tan Huong Leong (2:22:34) and Yeow Ni Jia. Both finished in the Malaysian men's top three, in 2:39:17 and 2:33:52 respectively, inside the 2:45 SEA Games long-list standard. Malaysia Athletics had not announced its final long list at the time of writing.
Daren James Nair Rodney James was the top Malaysian man in the ASICS Half Marathon in 1:13:44. Muhammad Haziq told Malay Mail the 10km was his first KLSCM race and that he hoped to step up to the half or full marathon next year.
What about KL Marathon 2027?
The date of KLSCM 2027 had not been announced by the organiser at the time of writing. Runners planning ahead should watch the official site for the race date, registration opening and the priority registration window, which in 2026 was linked to previous KLSCM finishes and qualifying times.
FAQ
When was KL Marathon 2026?
The Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon 2026 was held over two days. The IHH 10km, 5km and Kids Dash races were on Saturday, 3 October 2026. The full marathon and ASICS Half Marathon were on Sunday, 4 October 2026. All categories started and finished at Dataran Merdeka. The date for 2027 had not been announced at the time of writing.
What categories does KLSCM offer?
The 2026 race offered a full marathon (42.195km), the ASICS Half Marathon (21.0975km), the IHH 10km, a 5km Fun Run and Kids Dash races over 2km and 800m. There were also team formats, the Corporate Challenge, Run Club Challenge and State Youth Challenge, plus Run For A Reason charity entries and elite categories.
Who sponsors the KL Marathon?
Standard Chartered is the title sponsor. ASICS supplied footwear and apparel for a second year and named the half marathon, and IHH named the 10km. The official FAQ refers runners to Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur for health screening and lists Reef Check Malaysia as official charity partner. No sponsorship values have been published by the organiser, Dirigo Events.
How much prize money does the KL Marathon offer?
Bernama reported total prize money of RM500,000 for KLSCM 2026. The split across categories and places was not given in the reports we reviewed. The event holds a World Athletics Elite Label, first awarded in 2025 and retained in 2026, which helps attract international elite fields such as the Kenyan runners who won the 2026 full marathon.
How does Run For A Reason work?
Runners get a charity entry PIN by donating RM200 (Malaysian residents) or RM600 (non-residents) to a KLSCM charity partner. They then raise money from individuals through a personal fundraising page, with a RM30 minimum per donation. Corporate donations and bulk PIN purchases are not allowed. In 2026, fundraising closed on 19 October and the charity entries sold out.
Sources
- KLSCM 2026 FAQ (official site)
- Run For A Reason: about (official site)
- KLSCM countdown and categories (official site)
- Roads closed for the 2026 KL Standard Chartered Marathon (SAYS, 1 Oct 2026)
- KLSCM 2026 named preliminary event for 2027 SEA Games marathon (Bernama, 30 June 2026)
- Win a SEA Games ticket via Kuala Lumpur Marathon (NST, 30 June 2026)
- Home glory for Muhammad Haziq as KL marathon roars back to Dataran Merdeka (Malay Mail, 3 Oct 2026)
- Kenyan runners take top honours as Malaysians shine (Malay Mail, 4 Oct 2026)
- ASICS at KLSCM 2026 (Bernama, 6 Oct 2026)
- Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon 2026 event listing (Everything Boleh)
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