T

he fifth Maybank Bali Marathon will return to the Island in August with organizers expecting an increase in the number of participants.

Set to take place in in Gianyar, Bali, on Aug. 28, the competition is split into divisions of full-marathon, half-marathon, 10K and children'€™s sprint.

'€œConsidering the increasing interest from the public, we anticipate an increase in the number of participants by approximately 25 percent from last year. The increase of participants must be supported by the readiness of better infrastructure, since we have to maintain and ensure the quality, safety and convenience of the event,'€ Taswin Zakaria, President Director of Maybank Indonesia, told a press conference on Tuesday.

Organizers say the name of the event was changed from the previous BII Maybank Bali Marathon to align with new sponsorship arrangements.

Since its first event in 2012, the full marathon and half marathon routes were claimed to have been certified by the International Measurement Certificate number and validated by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS).

'€œThe number of participants has grown each year, from 2000 in 2012 to more than 5000 in 2015,'€ Taswin said.

There is also off-track activities planned with the organizers holding a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibilty) program that organizers say will share the occasion with the community in a positive and sustainable way.

'€œContinuing our CSR initiative to support sport, community health and education that has been done in previous years, in 2016 we will focus on building a center of excellence in Gianyar, with a priority of sport and education training,'€ Taswin said.

Thousands of communities and 27 schools will take part in the program.

On top of that, the '€œMaybank Bali Marathon'€ is not only a race for professionals, as Taswin Zakaria pointed out.

'€œWe see some participants who started from the 10k-run and have now upgraded to the half-marathon and even full-marathon. Furthermore, there are non-athletes who were able to compete in Maybank Bali Marathon'€.

The Maybank Bali Marathon has been acknowledged as one of the world'€™s remarkable races, standing side by side with other famous marathons including the Boston, New York and Great Wall of China marathons.

Kenyan runners have dominated the event. Last year they took all podium honors in the men'€™s and women'€™s full-marathon and half-marathon, sweeping the top two places in the men'€™s 10K and taking top honor in the women'€™s 10K.

Mbogo Elijah Mwaniki won the men'€™s full-marathon by dethroning fellow Kenyan, three-time champion Kennedy Kiproo Lilan, while the women'€™s category went to Elizabeth Chepkanan Rumokol.

Hamdan Safril Hanafi emerged as the national champion in the men'€™s category while Oliva Sadi triumphed in the women'€™s category.

'€” The Writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post