Inaugural ASEAN Unity Run 2015 Promotes Community Harmony and Fitness

The one-of-a-kind event featured unique and community driven categories such as a Celebrity Run, Stroller Run and Lend Your Body Run while the Malaysian Prime Minister, Youth & Sports Minister, and International Trade & Industry Minister, also graced the two-day affair

Padang Merbok at Kuala Lumpur played host to the first ever ASEAN Unity Run 2015, a half-marathon, fun run and community lifestyle event aimed at fostering ties and building community engagement while promoting a healthy lifestyle in Malaysia and the ASEAN region.

Organised by Aman Malaysia, the race event was officially launched during the ASEAN Day Celebrations at Pavilion, by Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Sri Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak.

The inaugural ASEAN Unity Run featured two competitive categories and five non-competitive and fundraising categories that provided new and unique opportunities for families, kids and special needs individuals to participate.

Participants in the two competitive categories, Men’s and Women’s Open (16 years & above), raced over a distance of 21km and top placed finishers took home cash prizes up to RM5,000 for first place.

The non-competitive categories included an Open Run of 10km (both men and women aged 16 & above), a 5km Fun Run for kids aged four years & above, a 5km Stroller Run, a Celebrity Run for charity and the Lend Your Body campaign run.

There were more than 9,500 runners participating in all seven categories, and in the true spirit of ASEAN unity, a total of more than 20 nations from around the world was represented.

The ASEAN Unity Run 2015 commemorated the event with the release of ten doves, which represents the ten ASEAN nations. The doves bring about the meaning of peace and unity.

“ASEAN Unity Run 2015 has been a truly international run, with participants from around the world, including the USA, China, India, as well as all of ASEAN nations. We are proud to have been able to use this platform to promote ASEAN values and the goal of unity and harmony amongst ASEAN countries. I believe we have achieved our objective of helping to foster greater ties and unity within the community while also providing an opportunity for people of all walks of life and of all ages to participate in a health and fitness activity. In addition to that, this run has also been for a good cause, as we have raised RM33,000 for our charity partners UNICEF,” said Dato’ Mohamed Hazali Bin Abu Hassan, President of Aman Malaysia, who flagged off all the categories.

One of the highlights on the running track today was the participation of Malaysian Ministers and dignitaries in the day’s events.

Minister of International Trade & Industry, YB Dato’ Seri Mustapha Mohamed together with YB Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar, the Minister of Youth & Sports, led the call towards greater fitness by example as they ran in the 5km run. 

“I really enjoyed myself during the run today. I believe that everyone, no matter how old you are or what job you may have, should take the time and effort to participate regularly in health and fitness activities. The ASEAN Unity Run 2015 is a great example of how community driven events can be held for a charitable cause while forming the catalyst for growing healthy habits amongst the youth,” said the Malaysian Youth & Sport Minister, who also presented the prizes for all categories later in the day.

ASEAN nations’ embassies also showed their support with the participation of the Ambassador of Japan and Philippines, Deputy Ambassador from Indonesia and Brunei, Singapore Counsellor, as well as representatives from Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

One of the more unique runs of the day was the Stroller Run, which gave parents of babies and toddlers the unique opportunity to involve their kids in fitness from a young age, even if they were being pushed in strollers by their parents over the 5km distance!

Two charity runs were also today held in conjunction with the ASEAN Unity Run 2015, including a Celebrity Run and the Lend Your Body campaign.

The celebrity run was a big crowd puller today, with celebrities such as Azura Zainal, Datuk DJ Dave, Ummi Nazeera and Chia Yen-Yi taking part and giving their fans a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to run a race beside them.

The Lend Your Body campaign was another pop-up event took place today together with the Ras Adiba Radzi’s Perwira K9 Foundation, allowing differently-abled individuals to experience running by being pushed on wheelchairs by Malaysian celebrities such as Patricia Knudsen, Ng Chelsia, Kevin Chong, Kayda Aziz, Ariff Karim & many more.

The aim of the Lend Your Body run was to create awareness and break the stigma towards disabled people in Malaysia and across the ASEAN region.

Off the running course, there was some excitement to be found at the Race Village too. Aside from the food stalls and pavilions representing Ministry bodies, sponsors and associations, there were Carnival Booths offering fun family entertainment and a Lucky Draw that gave all participants the chance to be a winner.

As the charity partner for the event, a UNICEF booth was also present at the Race Village and collected donations from members of the public to further progress its mission to help children and women around the world.

Other event partners include Exclusive Apparel Partner Brooks, Official Event Partners ASEAN Chairmanship 2015, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Tourism, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

21KM WINNERS’ LIST

Category A – 21KM Men’s Open (16 years & above)

Timing & Result by ChampionChip, Printed at 9Aug2015 @ 7:07:46AM

Category B – 21KM Women’s Open (16 years & above)

Timing & Result by ChampionChip, Printed at 9Aug2015 @ 7:36:22AM

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