TAWAU: Sept 20, 2026 — Sheron Sariman retained the men’s open 28-kilometre (km) title at the Tropical Rainforest Run 2026 at Tawau Hills Park here today.
Sheron clocked 3 hours 10 minutes 24 seconds to emerge champion and repeat his success from the previous edition.
“There was expectation for me to maintain my winning streak. I am happy to have won again this year.
“My preparation was not very comprehensive because of the severe haze in Sabah, but I continued to do light runs every week to maintain momentum,” he said.
He said he really liked the race and would recommend it to new trail runners.
Sinapilin Sarawi emerged champion in the women’s open 28km category with a time of 5 hours 8 minutes 45 seconds, while Sapin@Sapirin Bin Sumping@Jemari won the men’s veteran category in 3 hours 24 minutes 28 seconds.
This year’s edition also introduced a new 10km category, with Donal Ronaldi Lasius winning the men’s open category in 53 minutes 58 seconds, while Noor Arina Hamid emerged champion in the women’s open category in 1 hour 20 minutes 34 seconds.
The 28km route starts with a steep climb towards Mount Lucia before participants enter a rainforest trail with tree roots and technical terrain.
The route is also recognised by the International Trail Running Association (ITRA) and offers international trail running points to eligible participants.
The event attracted runners from Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Kenya, China, Hong Kong and Japan.
The Tropical Rainforest Run 2026 was organised by the Sabah Tourism Board through Sri Pelancongan Sabah Sdn. Bhd., with support from the Sabah Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment and Tourism Malaysia.
