Three Ministries Collaborate to Support Malang Half Marathon 2026
A commitment to promote healthy lifestyles whilst strengthening Indonesia’s sports tourism ecosystem has been reinforced through cross-sector collaboration. Three government institutions—the Ministry of Youth and Sports (Kemenpora), the Ministry of Tourism, and the Ministry of Creative Economy—have formally declared their support for the Malang Half Marathon 2026.
The running event, sponsored by MS GLOW For Men, is scheduled to take place on 26 April 2026 in Malang, East Java. The event targets participation from 7,000 runners from across the country.
Indonesia’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Erick Thohir, expressed his appreciation for private sector involvement in advancing the national sports industry. “I am very pleased with this cross-sector collaboration to support the growth of sport in our country. We fully support sporting events such as the MS Glow for Men Malang Half Marathon, as this is concrete evidence of how the private sector plays an active role in supporting progress, achievements, and the development of the sports and sports tourism industry, particularly running,” said Erick.
He added that this approach should be emulated as it provides long-term positive impacts on the economy and tourism.
Vice Minister of Tourism, Ni Luh Puspa, also highlighted the significant potential of this event in the sports tourism strategy. According to her, the collaboration aligns with the government’s efforts to combine sporting activities with unique experiences at tourist destinations. In line with this, Minister of Creative Economy, Teuku Riefky Harsya, assessed that large-scale events like this create opportunities for the creative economy ecosystem, ranging from the culinary sector to local micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, to continue growing.
MS GLOW For Men founder, Gilang Widya Pramana, explained that the choice of Malang as host was based on the city’s significant potential as a sports tourism destination, supported by adequate infrastructure and a very active running community. “Malang has exceptional potential. Besides being known as an education and tourism city, Malang also has a very active running community. We want to present an event that is not only a sporting competition, but also delivers positive impact for the community and the regional economy,” Gilang stated.
There are three race categories available for participants: Half Marathon (21K), 10K, and 5K, with routes designed to have different start and finish points.
Enthusiasm also came from Raffi Ahmad, serving as Brand Ambassador and Presidential Special Envoy for Youth Development, who hopes this event will inspire young people to begin building healthy lifestyle habits. With the presence of thousands of runners, this event is expected to generate multiplier effects for the hotel sector and creative industry players in Malang, whilst solidifying the Malang Half Marathon’s position as a leading annual agenda in Indonesia.