Lets face it. Life is fast. City life is chaotic. Work is stressful. Even a walk in the park comes with its own share of worries. So amidst all the drama, on a bright clear day when one is allowed to feel like a part of a group, working together, in the same direction and simultaneously contributing towards a noble cause, it can trigger some pretty overwhelming emotions. And when there are emotions, know that brands are not far behind.
Fitness events are becoming hugely popular in the country. It is endearing to see increasing number of cities being mobilized each year. Thousands of people are enrolling to run marathons for fitness and also contribute towards charitable causes in the bargain. As a result of the increasing lifestyle related illnesses people are becoming more aware about the need for fitness and so marathons allow them a platform to engage in the cheapest, most natural and effective form of exercise- running.
Taking inspiration from the London Marathon, Procam, awarded the ‘Best Sports Event Management Company’ at the India Sports Award ‘13 initiated the Mumbai Marathon in the year 2004. Standard Chartered Bank, already associated with several marathons across the world, immediately joined hands with them as the title sponsor. In its 11th edition this year the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon engages upto 40,000 participants and raises close to 20 Crore for charity. Bruno Goveas, Director Media Relations at Procam says, “Mumbai Marathon is acclaimed as the biggest fitness event in India. Mumbai is a very vibrant city, people like to get down to the streets, the energy here is spectacular. SCMM has harnessed this energy and channeled it towards inculcating a health and fitness culture.
Though the event is organized and managed by Procam, it is often accredited to Standard Chartered. The brand can lay claim to have turned Mumbai into a fitter city. People’s lives have been touched. More lives have been changed with the money raised for charity. This has resulted in tremendous brand value which is incalculable”. The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon offers $250,000 as prize money and will flag off on 19 January, 2014. Procam also organizes the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon and the Tata Consultancy World 10K Bangalore.
The Pune International Marathon is another prominent fitness event held annually, scheduled for 1 December this year. Running in its 28th year, this year’s edition named ‘Run for Mother’ aims to create awareness for the cause of women empowerment. KyaZoonga has come on board as the official ticketing partner. On its association with the marathon, Arpita Majumdar, COO KyaZoonga, comments,”The Pune International Marathon is a highly prestigious event and we are very excited to be associated as its ticketing partner. The event is a natural extension of our customer offering, giving them access to top international events in the sporting calendar. Premier events like these give KyaZoonga an opportunity be visible amongst a mass audience globally.” Winners stand to win a total sum of Rs 50 Lakh as prize money from the event.
This year Pune will play host to another marathon where participation would be restricted only to women. The Pinkathon, claimed as the first 10 Km run exclusively for women, will be held on 17 November 2013 in the city of Pune. The money raised from the event would go towards creating awareness against breast cancer. Adidas has jumped on board as one of the prominent sponsors of the event while Former Miss India, Gul Panag, has been announced the Event Ambassador. Reema Sanghavi, Managing Director, Maximus MICE & Media Solutions quoted, “I believe we as a populace should do whatever it takes to raise awareness about breast cancer and keep it at bay. Running addresses most of the top 10 ways to help prevent breast cancer, not only promoting well-being but also raising immunity levels and improving health to help fight diseases like cancer. Maximus is proud of Pinkathon as our leading Intellectual Property working towards a noble cause.”
If running a marathon is not exciting enough then perhaps you could look at an alternative in Tour De India- an International cycling carnival to be held across Mumbai, Jaipur and New Delhi from 15 December to 22 December 2013. In its second year, the event organized by Total Sports Asia, a premier sports management agency within Asia, will see more than 6000 cycling enthusiasts and 15+ international cycling teams ride for glory and lend their support to charity. Charity Aid Foundation is the philanthropic partner for its Delhi leg and pledges raised from the campaign will go towards charity for underprivileged specially-able people.
R. Ramakrishnan, Director Sales and Business Development, Total Sports Asia, says, “Given the congestion due to traffic in cities today, Tour De India is a fantastic opportunity for cycling enthusiasts to not only be able to cycle but cycle towards a noble cause. We are very happy to have Godrej Eon as our title sponsor as the event sees a definite connect in its brand philosophy of producing energy efficient products. Garnier is also onboard as one of the prominent sponsors while John Abraham has been announced the Event Ambassador as of earlier this month.”
For a detailed list of all the running events across the country you can refer to the following link:
http://indiarunning.com/marathon-calendar-2013.html
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