3,000 Took Part In Brunei Marathon
By Kartika Rahman & Za'im Zaini

Bandar Seri Begawan - One of the most highly anticipated sporting events of the year hit our nation yesterday when the Brunei Marathon 2006 went into full swing despite the showers early in the day.

Now in its second year, the Brunei Marathon once again attracted enthusiastic participation from both within and without the country; some 3,000 runners registered for the run, a 40 percent increase than in 2005, and easily making the marathon the biggest sporting event in Brunei this year.

Meanwhile, over 80 of the runners ran for the Standard Chartered Bank's "Seeing is Believing" fundraising initiative. The SCB, together with the event organiser Excellence Event Management, linked the Brunei Marathon to bank's "Seeing is Believing" fundraising initiative by inviting pat ticipants to run and raise money to help the visually impaired.

The money raised will go to the Brunei Darussalam National Association of the Blind (BDNAB), the Special Education Unit of the Ministry of Education, as well as the various "Seeing is Believing" initiatives.

The B$300,000 Brunei Marathon was the richest marathon race in Asia. The Full Marathon (42 km) was flagged off at exactly 6 am at the entrance to Taman Sir Omar Ali Saiftuddien, followed by 21 km half-marathon, 10 km marathon and the . 5 km Fun Run at 10 minutes interval.

Wilson Chepwonky came first in the Full Marathon open male category, in time of 2hrs 30 mins and 44 sees. Second was Kipkosgei Bitok in 2.30:48, and third was Disdery Lucian (02:31:32). The Brunei finisher in the category was Sefli Ahar who finished 9th overall, in a time of 2.43:32.

The open female Full Marathon winner was Marry Akor (2.45:21), followed Emyl Samoei (2.46:18) in second place and Susan Teimet (02:51:36) third. Tan Siew King was the best Brunei female runner, coming in at 4 hrs and 5 mins.

The Full Marathon, Brunei male category was won by Sefli Ahar of course, with Chung Kwei Mingg (02:58:55), Shamsul Hj Saman (03:00:33), Zulkiflee Liman (03:11:17) and Mohammad IsaAli (03:14:37) in second, third, fourth and fifth spots respectively.

Jenny Tan Feng Ling (04:29) was the runner-up in the Brunei open female Full Marathon category, Dk Hjh Salwana (04:43) third and Fatimah Hj Abu Bakar (04:45) and Norsaidah bte Hj Md Ali (04:49) fourth and fifth respectively. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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