Mumbai’s Comrades Marathon runner Amit Sheth becomes the first Indian to win the Old Mutual Spirit of Comrades Award 2016 at the annual awards gala of the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA), held in Durban, South Africa.
Amit Sheth, being passionate about the Comrades Marathon, has successfully completed The Ultimate Human Race five times. He is the first Indian national to have run the Comrades Marathon in 2009. In that same year, he was appointed as the Comrades International Brand Ambassador for the Indian subcontinent, a role which he has fulfilled with enthusiasm and pride.
Over the years, Amit has inspired, mentored and encouraged hundreds of people to spread the word of the world’s greatest footrace. In fact, Amit Sheth began his marathon journey at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon promoted by Procam International.
His book, Dare to Run, which was published in 2010 became a bestseller in India and has helped to motivate people from all walks of life to get into running, and more specifically to come and take up the Comrades challenge. To this end, nearly 100 runners from India had entered the 2016 Comrades Marathon, up from 1 runner in 2009.
The Old Mutual Spirit of Comrades awards gala celebrates remarkable individuals every year for their very human attributes of selflessness, dedication, perseverance and ubuntu; combined with their love for The Ultimate Human Race. The awardees are nominated by CMA members, Comrades Marathon runners and the general public; and are subject to the discretion of the CMA Board
Old Mutual Head of Brand Karen Thomas warmly congratulated all the winners: “Just doing this great race makes you a hero in our eyes, but the Old Mutual Spirit of Comrades Awards winners have gone even further, each of them enriching the event through their selfless conduct”.
“These are people whose selflessness, compassion and humanity have given rise to extraordinary acts,” she added. “Old Mutual is very proud to be associated with an event that salutes these people and honours the very best of human nature.”
Despite his everyday job as the CEO of a successful engineering company in India, Amit makes the time to blog about his running experiences and share his running hints, tips and general motivation to runners all over the Indian subcontinent and across the world. He is a motivational speaker of note and also an amazingly great heart when it comes to charitable fundraising. Till date, Amit has collected over twenty million rupees for the cancer treatment of underprivileged children at the Tata Memorial Hospital – the largest cancer hospital in Asia. With his quiet, unassuming nature and huge heart, Amit most certainly epitomizes the true spirit of the Comrades Marathon like few others can.
