Penang Bridge Marathon-tourism package to woo foreigners

IN CONJUNCTION with Visit Malaysia 2007, the organisers of the Penang Bridge Marathon hope to woo more foreign participants into joining the scenic run.

Penang Tourism and Envi- ronment Committee chairman Teng Chang Yeow said for- eigners could take advantage of the three-day-two-night Penang-marathon-cum-tourism package.

Registration forms for the June 24 marathon have also been placed at Malaysia tour- ism offices overseas while the marathon packages are already being promoted through travel agents in Europe.

At the same time, efforts are also being made to encourage more local participation.

The organisers have targe- ted 18,000 participants for this year’s marathon, almost double the number of participants who signed up last year.

Judging by the aggressive pro-motion drive and response so far, Teng said they were con- fident of achieving the targe- ted number.

“Participants can register via the official website www.llmnet. gov.my,” he said at the launching of the website at Queensbay Mall on Tuesday.

Teng added that more than 500 runners from Thailand had pledged to compete in the event. The organisers were also trying to woo more Singaporeans to join the marathon and had sought assistance from Singa-pore’s National Trade Union Con-gress (NTUC).

The marathon is among 50 events lined up for VM2007.

It offers a total prize mo- ney of RM120,000 compared with RM55,000 last year. The first 20 finishers will be selec- ted for the Singapore Marathon 2007.

The top two runners will be sponsored by Adidas Malaysia Sdn Bhd to take part in a mara-thon in either London, Prague or Berlin.

Early registrants will get a RM50 voucher (while stock lasts) from Adidas Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

The entry fee for the full ma-rathon is RM50 or US$50 for for-eign participants, half marathon (RM25, US$25), quarter mara-thon (RM15, US$15) and Fun Run (RM10, US$10). There are 11 categories.

The marathon is open to any-one aged 13 and above. It is co-organised by the Malaysian Highway Authority, Penang Mu-nicipal Council, Tourism Minis-try, Universiti Sains Malaysia, state Youth and Sports Depart-ment, Penang Amateur Athlete Association and Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd.

The Star is the official English newspaper while Nanyang Siang Pau and Tamil Nesan are the other official papers

For enquiries, call 03-8737 3000, 03-8738 3195, 03-8738 3149, 04-6577911 or 04-6576 292.

Source : STAR
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