SINGAPORE - The Osim Sundown Marathon will make its way overseas for the first time, with one race in Penang this December and another in Taipei next January.

The inaugural overseas races were announced on Friday (Oct 14) at a press briefing at the Singapore Sports Institute.

This is the 10th edition of the night race, with sponsor Osim returning for the third straight year.

The Penang edition of the event will be held on Dec 17 with three categories - 5km, 10km and 21.1km.

The Taipei race will take place on Jan 14, and participants can choose to run the 5km, 10km, 23km or 42.195km categories.

Said Adrian Mok, the managing director of HiVelovity Events which organises the Sundown Marathon: "We have been planning to go regional for quite some time, and with Sundown celebrating its 10th year, it is timely for us to go abroad to reach out to more people in different countries.

"The Singapore edition has attracted a significant number of foreigners, an indicator of the popularity of the race. We're also grateful to Osim for lending its continuous support, as this marks a major milestone for Sundown."

The Osim Sundown Marathon will also be the Republic's first sustainable marathon, as it coincides with the World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) Earth Hour.

Next year's Singapore marathon will take place on March 25, and it will take into account total carbon footprint, use of plastic and waste management.

Also present at the press briefing were national sprinter Shanti Pereira, Olympian Neo Jie Shi and Osim International founder, chairman and chief executive officer Ron Sim.