Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon

The magnificent Mount Kinabalu, which stands tall in the midst of Sabah’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kinabalu Park is a sight to behold. The mount which rises to a height of 4,095 meters (13,435 feet) above sea level, is one of the highest peaks in South East Asia.

Despite its lofty height, Mount Kinabalu is quite an easy peak to conquer and even climbers with little or no mountaineering experience enjoy climbing up to the summit of the mount, which is perennially enshrouded in swirling mists and affords gorgeous views of the Kinabalu Park and beyond. Approximately 40,000 climbers attempt the climb up Mount Kinabalu every year.

The Sabah Tourism Board soon realized the tremendous tourism potential that Mount Kinabalu offered and decided to exploit this potential by taking over the administration of the park’s Climbathon event. The Mount Kinabalu Climbathon was instituted in 1987 as an exercise to help speed up rescue efforts of park rangers who are required to scale the peak in order to rescue stranded or injured climbers. At first the competitive version of this  Climbathon featured only domestic participation but in 1995, the tourism board opened the event to international participation.

In 2013, the Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon will be held over two days, the 19^th and 20^th of October. The event will also feature two different races, the Summit Race and the Adventure Race.

The Summit Race

Scheduled for 19^th October, the Summit Race will admit only 110 elite male and 40 elite female qualified runners. Qualified runners wishing to participate in the race have to meet one of three following criteria:-

1.      They must have previously competed in one of the Climbathons held since the year 2008.    

 

2.      They have competed in their home country’s official mountain race and have proof of their participation.

3.      They have a letter of recommendation from their home country’s mountain race / athletic body or any other body recognized by the authorities organizing the   Climbathon.

The Summit race will start off from the Kinabalu Park entrance and runners will be required to go up to the summit of Mt. Kinabalu (4,095.2 m). The runners will then have to come down to the Mesilau Nature Resort and finish the course at Kundasang town. The Summit course extends over 33 Km and will require runners to traverse 15 Km of tarmac road, 18 Km of forest trails as well as the rock face of the summit

The   Adventure   Race

The Adventure   Race   is open to all men and women aged 18 years and above. The race which is scheduled for 20th October 2013 features a newly altered race course. The runners participating in the Adventure Race will navigate a newly altered course which will require them to start off at the Kinabalu Park entrance and then go up to the Layang-Layang Hut (located half way up Mt. Kinabalu at  a height of 2760.3 m). The runners will then have to come down to the Mesilau Nature Resort before finishing the race at Kundasang town

The course of the Adventure race extends over 23km and requires runners to run over 15 km of tarmac road and 8 km of forest trails.

 

Registration for the 2013, Mount Kinabablu International Climbathon is currently closed but if you enjoy mountain running, you can always plan to take part in the event next year.

For more information about the event do visit -http://www.climbathon.my