April 29, 2016 Friday.
By Olivia Miwil
Pictures courtesy of Sabah Tourism Board
KOTA KINABALU: A septuagenarian from Japan will be running her 1,114th full marathon at the 9th Borneo International Marathon (BIM) here this Sunday.
Noriko Sakota, 70, a pharmacist, wanted to try the race as she had heard compliments from others on the beauty of the annual run.
“I have never been to Sabah but everybody says it is a wonderful place to visit.
“I know the weather is very hot there, so my target is to finish the 42km run within seven hours," she said in an email interview.
Noriko started her first run with a 10 kilometres distance when she was 46.
From that on, she decided to keep running to discover new places and meeting with local people.
Noriko's best time is 3:32:07 set in 1998 at Gyeongiu Cherry Marathon Korea and placed 15th in the World Megamarathon Ranking.
The BIM this year is expected to see 1,000 international and 8,500 participants who will enjoy the sunrise while running through Tanjung Lipat coastal highway.
Meanwhile, race director Datuk Dr Heng Aik Cheng said BIM was getting more international attention and expected bigger crowd in its 10th year run next year.
BIM is organized by Kinabalu Running Club and is mainly supported and sponsored by Sabah Tourism Board and Youth and Sports ministry.
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