©UNICEFMalaysia/2019/Lim

The UNICEF Borneo Marathon 2019 kicked off today, celebrating the 3rd year of running for a good cause. This year’s marathon carried the slogan #Kurangmanis because #ImSweetEnough, a nod towards healthy eating and the practice of asking for our food and drinks to be #Kurangmanis (less sweet), a staple phrase used in Malaysian eateries when asking for sugar to dialed down in made-to-order food. 

Every year, the marathon highlights a different issue pertaining to child rights and seeks to use the run as a way to spread the word. You can read more about previous years righthere. 

This year was extra special as we were joined by UNICEF’s national ambassador, Lisa Surihani, whose enthusiasm and dedication to the causes UNICEF champions has see her grace many initiatives since she came on board in 2017.

As usual, the run is inclusive and saw the 3km fun-run attended by children and persons with disabilities. 

Fun-filled activities leading up to the big run

In the days leading up to the marathon, UNICEF organised school outreach programmes, activities during race pack collection and utilised social media to call for participants to challenge themselves to going without sugar and entering a healthy recipe contest. 

The activities aimed to help both children and adults think about the food choices they make and how this contributes to health issues they may encounter.