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The running community proved yet again that the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) is indeed India’s leading and Mumbai’s most awaited annual sporting event, this time by way of an overwhelming response to registrations. The 12th edition of the run - which will be flagged off on Sunday, January 18, 2015 - has experienced a remarkable 40,485 registrations in all categories of the event, drawing attention to the incredible running movement India’s towns and cities are continuing to experience.
Registrations for the half marathon category oversubscribed and closed in a record 7 days after they opened. The full Marathon, DHL Corporate Champions and Champions with Disability race categories also experienced a surge in registrations.
The Marathon has received 4325 entries, 725 more than last year, representing a healthy 20-percentage increase. This is definitely an encouraging trend as all the full marathoners are timed athletes, making them serious runners, which goes to show how this event has encouraged amateur runners to train hard and attempt the distance of 42.197 km.
81 Corporate Champion teams will participate in the run compared to 15 last year. The DHL Corporate Champions is gaining tremendous popularity among organizations and is being viewed as a highly effective team building exercise for employees. This year, the run has received overwhelming participation from many of the leading corporate houses like Standard Chartered Bank, Tata Motors, Morgan Stanley, L&T Technology Services Ltd, Infosys Limited, Hindustan Unilever Limited, DHL Express, Bank of Baroda among many others.
The half marathon will have 14321 participants compared to 14200 last year. In view of the fact that 1000 running places in the event have been reserved exclusively for non-timed women applicants, the category will witness a rise in the number of women participating – a fact, which will in turn encourage more and more families to get involved and embrace running. In an event like the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, the influence and involvement of the family and community is vital.
20050 individuals will take part in the Dream Run, 1175 participants above the age of sixty will be seen in the Senior Citizens’ Run, and 290 runners will participate in the Champions with Disability event.
Endeavoring to evolve and improve while providing the best possible running experience to each participant and in order to encourage the participation of serious runners, the event gives priority in lineup to confirmed applicants of the marathon and half marathon category who have provided timing certificates from earlier running events along with their application forms. This year, timing certificate criteria has been brought down from 2 years to 18 months to improve the running quality at the event.
Daniel Mobley, Regional Head, Corporate Affairs - India & South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank, said, “Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon has not only grown to become one of the premier marathons globally, but has actually built the sport of marathon from scratch in the country and on a larger scale, a case for health and fitness across age groups in major Indian cities. What is really special and satisfying for us, is that this event has become the single largest platform to generate funds by over 270 NGOs to help communities and causes, thereby reinforcing our commitment of being Here for good.”
Speaking about registrations, Vivek Singh, Jt. MD, Procam International said, “We are just under a month away from the 12thedition of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon and thrilled to experience such an overwhelming response to registrations across categories. As we prepare to bring you yet another spectacular marathon, we thank you for embracing the marathon as your very own and demonstrating this by participating in such large numbers. Together, let’s make this yet another day to remember!”
Mumbai is all set to witness a bigger, better and stronger marathon where runners from across the world will come together to participate in 7 categories - the full Marathon, DHL Corporate Champions, Police Cup, Half Marathon, Dream Run, Sr. Citizens’ Run, and Champions with Disability. Besides changing the lives of thousands of people in the city by introducing them to the benefits of running, the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon has also set in motion a running movement that has now taken the country by storm.
